A lot of things slow down in winter. The long nights and short days tends to make you go home early, and inclement weather keeps you from leaving the house at all. For a lot of you, it’s time to put your UTVs and ATVs in the garage and cover them with a tarp. Maybe you’ll pull them out to plow snow off the driveway once or twice, but you’re planning on leaving it in the garage until spring when you can replace a few parts and get riding again.
How about instead of hunkering down, you turn that winter frown right-side around! In a lot of ways, winter’s the best time of year to go for a ride. Snow has its own special way of being fun that nothing else the rest of the year can offer. So here’s why you should be outside on your side-by-side instead of sitting on your couch and dreaming of spring.
When the temperature drops and the snow starts to fall, the outside world changes drastically. There’s a reason why it’s called a winter wonderland, and you can take full advantage of it on the back of a UTV. The things we love most about UTVs in winter are:
Now hopefully we can convince you to love it too.
Kids know it, we know it, and you should know it too—snow is fun. That cold, fluffy white stuff changes the landscape and the terrain dramatically. Tired of running that same old local trail? Try it again with snow on the ground. It’s guaranteed to look and feel fresh. Is that hill you climb too easy? Give it a shot in deep powder and see how you do.
You’ll find in all cases that your traction is a little loose and you can drift around those turns. You can have a lot of fun thanks to sub-freezing temperatures. It’s easy to kill a winter afternoon with a frozen parking lot—you know what I’m talking about. So take advantage of it while you can—just be sure to wear a seat belt.
If you live in a cold enough area, the lakes may freeze solid enough for you to ride on. The Department of Natural Resources recommends a clear ice thickness of at least 15″ before putting large vehicles on it, and twice that for white ice. But if the ice gets thick enough you’ve got acres and acres of perfectly flat and wonderfully slick ice to play around on. You can’t even come close to that experience any other season.
UTVs are awesome toys that make life more fun, but in the winter, they can save the day. You have this amazing off-road vehicle that’s perfect for picking up dinner when everybody else is snowed in during a blizzard. No plow required.
Maybe your neighbor has to get to work but their compact is stuck on a patch of ice. Well, you can just pull up in your Maverick and winch them right out! Easy peasy.
The only thing keeping you from going out and having a blast this winter is the fact that it’s cold outside. There are a few easy ways to take care of the cold. Obviously you want to dress warm, but the best way to keep warm is to get a windshield. Because no matter how warm you dress, you’re going to freeze your pants off with 40 MPH, ice-cold wind in your face.
If that’s not enough for you, then you can grab some full doors, a roof, and a rear windshield as well. That should keep the elements out. There are only a couple things you really shouldn’t do.
First of all, you don’t want to get covered in mud, even if it isn’t frozen. Thick, ice-cold mud all over you will really make your day miserable. You also want to avoid creeks and ponds at all costs. There’s no quicker way to hypothermia than dousing yourself in freezing water. Basically, just don’t get wet!
If you ride somewhere where it get’s seriously cold, follow our guide to make sure you stay safe.
If you’re ready to take advantage of the winter season, head over to SuperATV.com and get yourself outfitted for cold!
