Home Forums Gear Horses and ATV's Can Am or Polaris for my son

Polaris obviously does very well with their ATVs as they sell a lot of them. They also have a large share of the snow machine market in Alaska - probably a bigger share of the rural market than anything else, though that seems to be on the decline. But their ATVs just don't seem to be as durable or reliable as many others when put to the test in our conditions.

I would take a Polaris sled over any if the others.

Most people in this area seem to prefer Polaris to the other brands. I have a Kubota diesel used for work mostly feeding horses. I like mine because of its load caring capacity, cab and air conditioning in the hot summers.

I'm the opposite on the Polaris sleds I would take the atv over them. I like the reliability of the 4 strokes other manufacturers are making. Seems like all 800cc sleds have a tendency to need lots of rebuilding but they sure are fast!

There is no question that EPA/CARB regs have created challenges for the 2 stroke engines (of every make). That said, it's pretty hard to say that Polaris isn't in the game considering that their machines too 60% of the top 10 places in the 2000-mile Iron dog snow machine race while Ski-Doo took the other 40%….and these all 600cc machines in both brands.

But even the older fan-cooled engines would often outlast the chassis of many machines used in rugged conditions.

I see many an older fan cooled trail/utility sled being ridden in the summer months north of here.

Makes it easier to get around in the swamps and tundra but can be hell on hifax if you don't keep them lubed.

The newer (2011 on up) Polaris mtn sleds are nice machines but their 800 motor just plain sucks. I know a guy in Anchorage that took a brand new 2016 AXYS RMK Assault 155 with the new 800 HO motor out for a test ride, he never made it to the mtns. That supposed awesome new motor blew on the way out.