Which wheeler??

[BigWormin]

I'm looking at getting a new wheeler in the next week or 2, will mainly be using it for hunting, ice fishing, chores around the land, and occasionally a ride on the trail here and there. I'm looking at the Arctic Cat 650 H1 4x4 SE, Polaris Sportsman 700 Twin, or the Sportsman 500 HO.

I'm just looking for a couple opinions from anybody that has owned one of these and what there thoughts of the machines are.

thanks

[Walleyeguy31]

I vote for the newer 500 HO. Smooth, power, and handles well.

[norm]

If it was me looking for a wheeler I would definately check out the Suzuki King Quad 700 and the Kawasaki Brute Force. Also, I would stay away from Polaris's. I have an '02 Sportsman 500 H.O. and a friend of mine has an '04 Sportsman 400. It seems like we spend more time fixing the darn things than we do riding.

[kb1965]

Have you considered a Bombardier? I have an 04, 650 quest that I use for fishing, hunting and chores at home. Lots of storage, I can place my deep cycle battery in the front storage box for my lights when ice fishing and close the lid on it yet. Lots of power, I use it to pull out 1000 pound round bales for my horses also.

[only ice]

I agree with norm. I got a new Suzuki King quad and love it. I was a cat man and did look at the 650 twin. Its 758 lbs dry!! My King is 602 lbs dry. Thats a lot of extra weight on the ice. go try one out, It was the atv of the year for 2005!!!

[pikechaser]

I also have a kingquad & love it---Had it out in Utah in june, ran the same in the lower elevations as it did in the mountians/hills..about 11,000 feet...Ride & power same or better than any polaris and Suzuki has much better track record on reliabilty than Polaris does...not to mention weighs a whole lot less...

[ice_shack]

Been riding a new 500 HO for almost a year with no problems except one recall. Has good clearance for snow on the ice and all kinds of power. I'm happy with it. If I was going to buy one today I would get the same except I would look at the Bombardier a little closer just because of the warranty going 3 yrs.

[Blaze]

In the class size you're looking at, I would certainly consider the Yamaha Grizzly as well. Great reliability, locking differential, and as only ice said above, the weight factor is huge when thinking of early/late season ice fishing. The Griz runs 600lbs - that's 100 less than the Arctic 650 and 165 less than the Sportsman 700! I've seen new ones around town for $5700 right now with $49/mo for 2 years financing.

[jltimm]

Another Suzuki Kingquad owner here.I to would stay far away from polaris as I owned one as did several friends.I did nothing but get them fixed over and over again until I finally got rid of it as the friends did also.Yamaha is also a great wheeler,and Arctic cats all have Suzuki engines in them except for the 650 H1.But Arctic cats are very heavy as noted earlier.Suzuki Kingquad 700 is Fuel Injected (no need to choke in the cold) and also has a recoil backup starter which the polaris 700-800 do not. Good Luck!

[Northland Sportsman]

I have an polaris sportsman 600 and have had no engine trouble or trans issues at all. I think it is a great machine although a bit on the heavy side. I wouldn't hesitate to buy another one. I think they are all good machines so buy the one that you like the best. I would recommend that you look around and test drive if possible. Good Luck!

[BigWormin]

Thanks for the input guys, my couple weeks came alittle quicker than expected, I test drove a couple different ones and ended up getting a sportsman 500 HO, I pick it up on saturday The deal was pretty hard to pass up!

[Dave]

Congrats, BW! I'm sure you'll enjoy it. Ride safe, join a club and you'll enjoy it even more.

[tripper]

congrates bigwormin, I have a 01 500ho and have no complaints and I use mine about the way you said you were going to. Just remember, when doing heavy work, it does have a low range. I have done a lot of heavy work with mine and after several thousand miles it still has the orignal belt.

Enjoy your new toy and as Dave said join a club for even more enjoyment and to let your voice be heard in St. Paul.

[Walleyeguy31]

Good choice! I have an 05 500HO LE, I as well, have had no problems at all.

[sportfish]

If it doesn't say Honda on it,it better be a good deal.

[fisher_king2004]

I was suprised that there was only one Honda response. My buddies have them and love them. I'm looking at buying one myself. Anyone ever bought one off hsolist? Just looking for someone who has tried that before.

Also wondering if any of them come fuel injected instead of carburation. Anyone know if that's a big deal.

[jerkin'm]

Did they throw in a free mechanic? That would be the only way to buy a polaris, unless you are one....Honda for me from now on, I learned from my polaris buying mistakes, sleds and wheelers...

[Macgyver55]

I'm on my 12th Honda in 29 years. Never had to bring one back for warranty yet....for anything! I personally wouldn't own anything else. But that doesn't necessarily mean they are for everyone. Different people expect different things from their ATV and each one has its strong and weak points.

The only reason I didn't chime in at the beginning is that Honda wasn't listed as one of his considerations. There is a lot of material available to research the strong and weak points of any particular ATV. Hopefully he made his choice based on that and how he intends to use it.

Good luck with your new ride BigWormin... Enjoy it!

[PierBridge]

[quote I learned from my polaris buying mistakes, sleds and wheelers...

---

So now Polaris Snowmobiles are dump too?

ROTFLMAO.

[rundrave]

From my personal experience I think that if you are looking for a 4x4, Polaris is the way to go. I have thrown everything at ours, and yes stuff breaks but it comes with the wear and tear. From my own research and test driving etc. I feel that Polaris was the way to go for me.

As mentioned do research, and just test all different models out and make your decision on what works best for you.

On a side note, if you expect to buy a 4 wheeler and use it to its full potential you should be also be aware of normal maintenance to prevent damage and repairs.

[ice_shack]

Quote:

---

Did they throw in a free mechanic? That would be the only way to buy a polaris, unless you are one....Honda for me from now on, I learned from my polaris buying mistakes, sleds and wheelers...

---

My step son listened to guys like you and was convinced that there was nothing better than a Honda. He rode it for 3 weeks and then went on vacation for about a week. When he came home all of that Honda oil was on the garage floor underneath. It was a poor casting that cracked and created a slow leak.

Honda oil is just as hard to clean up as anybody's.

If you look at my earlier post you'll see what I bought a month later.

Not saying Polaris is better, just saying that Honda ain't perfect.

[BigWormin]

Quote:

---

Did they throw in a free mechanic? That would be the only way to buy a polaris, unless you are one....Honda for me from now on, I learned from my polaris buying mistakes, sleds and wheelers...

---

Soo far so good, still breaking it it, but couldn't be happier! I love the feel of it and it's come in handy already, made it a whole lot easier getting back to my deerstand to fix things up abit.

I also own a polaris snowmobile, it's never done me wrong, I've hardly put a dime into it in over 3000 miles.

Thanks for the input guys!

[jerkin'm]

Just stating my luck with both a wheeler and sled-not trying to get into a debate, had a 250 trail boss with low hours, fried the crankshaft bearings...can't remember the year...Had a 95 xcr 600..crank bearings went out twice...apparently not heavy duty enough for the power of this motor is what the mechanics told me....So for me, no more polaris's....Never had a problem with my Honda's, that includes a 1970 70cc trail mini bike....04' Foreman wheeler..I thought we were giving our inputs from our personal experiences? Oh yeah, have had 2 newer Arctic Cat sleds and beat the tar out of both, never even changed a plug....

[BigWormin]

I was looking for experiences and luck people have had with there machines, and thanks for sharing yours. I looked/rode a Honda Foreman, a Yamaha, didn't care for the ski doo, cats and the polaris. I even looked and test drove an old Big Red, which I liked alot! I got a really good deal on the Polaris and it felt great so that's what I went with. I also owned a zr440 cat years ago, beat the heck out of it and to tell you the truth, don't know if i ever changed the plugs on it either, I know for a fact i've put way more plugs in my polaris xc600.. which is the only thing i've put into it.. soo far.

Here's a question for you guys.. i'm a noob with a wheeler. So i've got a big chunk of land up north that has alot of down trees because of the storm that hit quite a few years ago, can I just drive over the downed trees without any worry's? Most of the downed trees are around a foot in diameter, give or take a couple inches. I'm not saying fly over them, but can I drive over them somewhat carefully and not have to worry about ripping something off the bottom of my atv? Is there a skid plate or something I should get for it?

[Dave]

Most ATV have skid plated areas underneath from the factory but some riders like to add some aftermarket skid plates as well. I've had good luck with the one piece plastic Polaris skidplate. It's one solid piece, doesn't add any real weight and slides over most objects easier than steel skid plates.

To answer your question, a 12-inch log shouldn't pose too much trouble to get over but, I'd cut a section out. Riding over logs gets old and it only takes one whoops to send you over the bars or off the back.