Winter means cold temperatures, snowstorms, gray skies, and, if you’re not prepared, a whole lot of letting your side-by-side sit in the garage while you’re inside doing nothing.
What a waste! Not only is riding in the winter a whole different experience from riding in any other season, but having the right parts installed on your machine can make your day-to-day life so much easier when the snow threatens to seal you in.
SuperATV has your winter supply needs covered. From snow plows to windshields, having the right gear can make a world of difference and keep you riding every weekend during those cold, snowy months.
We’re starting with the basics here—get a winch! You should have one all year round and you should never go riding without one. That’s doubly true in the winter when everybody (including you, maybe!) starts sliding into ditches and getting stuck. A good winch on your side-by-side means you can be the hero of your neighborhood for the day.
Speaking of good winches, SuperATV’s Black Ops Winches can’t be beat. We’ve got 3500 lb., 4500 lb., and 5000 lb. winches to meet whatever demand you have. They’re compact and powerful, with motors ranging from 1.2 HP to 1.5 HP. They also use synthetic rope because synthetic rope doesn’t wreck your hands, doesn’t weigh a ton, is super flexible, and can handle nasty winter weather better than steel cable.
Riding in winter will always suck if you’re not keeping yourself comfortable. Flying down the road in 20° weather without something to stop the wind is the number-one recommended way to get frostbite (the second is visiting your in-laws, in case you were wondering).
So how do you stop the cold from killing your coziness? You get a cab enclosure! Get front and rear windshields, full cab doors, and a roof to ride in comfort and keep the cold out.
We’ve got you covered with a selection of cab enclosure components for dozens of the most popular UTV models.
Now that your cab keeps out the cold, it’s time to bring in the heat! Get a cab heater for your machine to divert that engine heat where it helps most—your body.
Keeping yourself warm isn’t the only reason you should get a heater. They’re also great for keeping ice and snow off your machine. Imagine riding without a heater. You’ve got your cab enclosure, you’re bundled up and comfortable, and it’s snowing hard. You won’t be able to ride for long with snow blocking your view.
A cab heater makes a world of difference, but let me clear up a few misconceptions you may already have about cab heaters. They don’t generate heat. Instead, they pull the heat from your coolant lines and blow it into your cab. In that way, they work just like your car heater. The main difference is that UTVs lose their engine heat more quickly, so simply turning one on and letting it idle doesn’t generate enough heat to heat up your cab. Cab heaters work best when you’re actually driving around and keeping your engine warm.
If this sounds like something you might need (and trust us, you do), here are some SuperATV cab heaters that might suit your fancy.
This one’s obvious, right? If you live where it snows enough to make getting out of your neighborhood dangerous, or you live far enough in the country that it takes two days for your road to get plowed, then you need a snow plow. When SuperATV’s parking lot gets covered, you better believe we’ve got a couple of Rangers out there clearing it first thing in the morning.
You don’t want to wait to get a snow plow, either, because that’s what everybody else does. You want to get one before there’s snow on the ground if you can. We see this year after year: snow plow sales are slow month after month. A few start shipping out to the north, where it snows a little earlier in the year. And then, BAM! A snowstorm sweeps across a large swath of the US and suddenly we sell through most of our snow plows overnight.
Grab one of our Plow Pro Snow Plows now, while you’ve got the chance! We’ve got complete kits that come with everything you need. They’re designed with a frame that you can leave on year round and a quick connect for the plow blade. All you need is a winch to operate.
Staying inside is a big mistake! Look, you’ve already got this awesome side-by-side that was a major investment, and now you just want to let it sit in your garage for three (or more) months out of the year? Not only is packing up shop a major bummer, but you’ll be missing out on some of the most fun riding conditions of the whole year!
Snow makes everything new, including that same old trail you’ve been riding over and over again. A little snow on the ground makes everything a bit looser and a bit more wild. Less traction means easier drifting, tougher climbs, and an overall unique experience you can’t get any other time of year. So take advantage of it while you can—just be sure to wear a seat belt.
But there’s something else you can do if conditions are just right. We’ve all skidded around a frozen parking lot in high school (and never once since then, right?), but if you live in a place where it gets real dang cold and has a big body of water, you might just get to participate in the holy grail winter fun: riding on a frozen lake. Before you do this, familiarize yourself with the DNR guidelines for ice thickness and don’t take any unnecessary risks. They recommend a clear ice thickness of at least fifteen inches before putting large vehicles on it, and twice that for white ice. But once you know it’s safe for you and your UTV, you can hit the gas, pin that speedometer, and drift like you’ve never drifted before.
And there’s more to winter riding than just snow! Even the hottest sand dunes cool off in the wintertime, giving you some relief from soaring temperatures and the sun’s beating rays. If you’re not in the mood to deal with snow and ice, consider making a trip to the nearest dunes park. The cooler weather will allow you to rock crawl and desert race to your heart’s content, without even breaking a sweat.
If you’ve never experienced winter riding to its fullest, what are you waiting for? Your buddies here at SuperATV have everything you need to winterize your side-by-side and get the most out of those cold, snowy rides. Whether you’re tearing up icy trails or plowing snow from a parking lot, a winter-ready UTV makes the task way easier and a bunch more fun.
