Home Forums Gear Horses and ATV's What the word on Polaris SXS's ?

Anybody use anything made by Polaris for m hunting ? How do they hold up, etc. ? E

I have one of their General models and its been a wonderful machine. Had a Can Am Commander. Difference as day and night

We have a '12 Polaris RZR 800. Where we hunt they aren't legal so we use it mainly for trail riding. It's been great so far. Lots of power and very reliable. It's 50" so we can take it on ATV trails.

I have a 900 full sized regular cab with the power steering. We enjoy it, great machine. (ranger)

You need to consider where all you'll use it. We have many miles of 50" atv trails where full size UTV's can't go. A full width one would seriously cut into our trail riding. OTOH, I don't think anyone makes a 4 seater in 50".

Hey, don't beat my next ranger up too bad.

My first Polaris was a 1997 Sportsman 500 ATV- Great machine, used it on several elk hunts, and it saw a lot of use in clearing snow.

Our current Polaris is a 2013 RZR EPS LE 800, also a great machine. No mechanical problems whatsoever, and here in the Rockies, it sees a lot of, well, Rocks. We also trail ride in areas that have 50" gates, which makes the trail models kinda a necessity if you want to ride them.

Based upon my experience with them over 22 years, I can recommend Polaris.

Thanks, guys. E

Between my brothers and I..... We have 5 Rangers.......They have been perfect....No issues ..... The oldest Ranger Has 360 hours on it.....Just a couple of flat Tires....I just got a new 570 full size and put 80 hrs on it in 4 weeks no issues....These Rangers are run in the Mountains of South East KY.......Rough terrain and they take it like a champ.....

E. I have a 900 which is stock and been fine so far. All of the models seem to have their fair share of inherent problems for what they cost. So does the Honda Pioneers. If you are on Facebook, join the Polaris Ranger group and you will see some of the problems folks encounter. Seems lots of the problems occur after adding big tires etc. Also, they don't have much warranty.

The one thing I don't like about my RZR is the lack of engine braking. It will hold great on steep downhills fine until the engine drops to a certain speed, then it drops out of gear and you're freewheeling. You can add an aftermarket EBS but it involves modifying the clutch and adding some other parts. It'll cost a few hundred.

We had a 2006 500 Ranger until we traded it for a 2017 Ranger 1000. Great machine, never had a single issue with it.

Use a New 2010 for work. There are better machines out there.

I have a 2013 Xp 900 that get used hard year round for hunting and work. Held up good but I maintain it well. Thinking of a new Honda but will be hard to move away from Polaris. No other sxs is of interest to me.

Have 3 Honda converts from Polaris in our club with a membership of 25. A couple more are talking about making the change to Pioneer 1000's.

Come to think of it, I have never known anyone to make the change from Honda to Polaris.

Hondas are too wide.

new Talon down to 64"

Trails in Utah are going to 66"

where practical........

https://powersports.honda.com/2019/talon1000x.aspx

We have many miles of 50" trails. A wider UTV seriously limits where you can go on BLM and FS land. We opted for a Polaris largely because we found a good used 800 in 50". At the time, the only 50" Honda was the Pioneer 500. Currently, Polaris makes 50" machines with the 570 and 900 engines. I don't know what other companies make 50" UTVs.
I've often wished someone made a 50" 4-seater but admittedly it would be at a serious disadvantage on tight corners. We've often inched around corners that would be impossible with a longer machine.

I’ve hunted a large western ranch for years that routinely sees 300 elk killed (plus deer and moose). It sits at about 8000’ and is quite rough in places. There are 8-10 Rangers up there at anytime owned by the guides. They prefer them for the combination of weight and power. They’ve all needed warranty work (6 mos warranty), and to keep hunters in the the field, they keep numerous spare parts in camp to replace commonly failing parts.... I’ve never been there when there werent a couple machines sidelined. Most of the guides will admit they’re not as reliable as the Japanese brands.....but find the weight/power/capacity worth the headaches. They trade them out after a couple years because the downtime is too disruptive/expensive.

Couple of thoughts: these get worked real hard. I’ve watched a number of times as guys hung off the back or front of the machines to keep wheels on the ground in steep country when retrieving game. The roads/trails are rough and beat the hell out of suspension systems (bushings are constantly in need of replacement). It is doubtful 99% of the Rangers sold will ever see this kind of use. Still, they regularly are replacing parts and having common problems that should never go tits up on couple year old machines.

I don’t use my side by sides that hard. I will say the build quality of my Teryx and Mule Pro FTX is such that I’ve never needed the 3 year warranty...for anything. Same with my Yamaha atvs....