ATV Purchase – What engine size?

That makes perfect sense. I had thought of that possibility too… but in 30 some feet of water, I thought that was less likely and also didn’t want to assume. Great slabs!!!

Although Scott and I primarily stuck with frozen shiners, tipping the spoons with just the head, throughout the day Scott and I did some experimenting with artificials going through a number of different baits with the fish show a strong preference for baits in white and pink colors. The body shape didn’t seem to play a large role in putting fish on the ice. As far as size goes, all artificials were kept very small in the 1 – 1.5 inch range.

Interestingly those same plastics fished on a plain jig did not perform well at all. And the same held true for a shiner fished on a jig. I think we caught a few smallish perch and not much else when we went with the standard leadhead jig and plastic or shiner. When the plastics and minnow heads were combined with the small Demon jigging spoon the fish responded in a much more favorable manner with the glow demon spoon with the pink head really putting a hurt on the slabs.

I attached a photo of that spoon for reference.

http://www.customjigs.com/icefishing/hardspoons/demon_spoon.html

Great questions guys, thanks for asking them.

I’m looking at Polaris ATVs and I’m wondering about engine size and the overall size of the ATV.

I’ve been mainly looking at the 400 to 500 Polaris Sportsman, but I get a lot of guys saying that anything less than a 700 is no good as a “working” ATV. Fine for trail rides, but not for food plot work, etc.

My main concern is that I don’t want an ATV that’s so big that it doesn’t fit down narrow trails and one that’s heavy and hard to handle on trailers and takes up too much storage space.

How much bigger are the 700 Sportsman units compared with a 500?

Is the extra power REALLY worth it of common situations? I other words, does the extra power really matter for ordinary use? Or is this just bigger=better thinking without any real-life practical issues that the average owner would experience?

Grouse

The bigger machines are nice for food plot work and pulling small trailers like for hauling bear bait. They also burn twice as much fuel.
While thats not a big deal unless your trail riding a ton but it is a inconvenience when your running bear baits that are miles apart.

The smaller one’s are a lot easier to get unstuck by your self. Burn less fuel. They also dont go as fast or have the extra power to pull a lot.

I am not sure on overall size difference between a 500 sportsman and a 800 be a good question for a dealer.

I can handle a 700 on a trailer moving it around if I have too. Not so much if you get it stuck in mud or up on a log.

Whenever I buy a new one it will be in the 500 range with efi. If you ever plan on going out west efi is a must so your not having to re jet your carb to adjust for the altitude.

In a perfect world a guy could have a lightweight small 4wd 400ish atv for riding and a big frame 800 for a work horse.

I would buy it for what you will use it for the most, not the one weekend a year your going to pull a food plot implement.

The polaris 500 HO has been one the best work horses I have ever used. I do use my 850 ho now But am considering going back to the 500 HO.

I can pull a 1200 lb trailer of firewood or a 700 lb log with no problem. It is also an incredible snow plowing machine, just go through belts more often for that chore. Sold my 500 sportsman and got a 500 Ranger for hauling hunting buddies around, use it much more than the Sportsman and the dump box is invaluable. I got $3400 last April for my Sportsman 500 HO and it was a 2001!

I’ve found myself in the same situation as grouse, do I need the more powerful, heavy unit or is the fuel efficient, lighter unit just fine? Whats the real difference with plowing snow? getting stuck? I assume efi is most desirable for mn winter? is power steering worth it or just a nice novelty?

I can’t side on the bigger is better when it comes to ATV’s. I’ve been around these things since their beginning and with motors as small as 250cc, I’ve never run out of power. Traction? Yes. Power? No. Do the smaller motors work a little harder? Sure. They still last and last and last. Will a bigger motor make something faster or appear easier? Of course. But the point is this….. how often are you plowing 12″+ of wet heavy snow? The same 250cc models are pulling trailer loads of wood like it’s nothing. Dad used to take his 225 Yamaha and plow up to 8″ of wet heavy snow. If the weatherman called for more, he did it twice. 2 wheel drive and chains. Country driveway. Meanwhile, these “little” machines maneuver thru the woods WAY easier than even their next step up. Dad would still use his ATV but he rediscovered a thing called a tractor. Does all that “work” far better than any ATV could dream. The ATV drags deer out the woods, the swamp, goes on cross country rides, and more of the like.

My opinion is that if you need a truck, buy a truck. If you need a tractor, buy a tractor. But if an ATV is the goal, think ATV and go from there. Light duty/chore/pleasure………

A 500 is plenty in the Polaris, I can’t speak for the others as I have only owned Polaris. I have always owned 500’s and never had an issue with power for plowing snow, pulling implements.

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I can’t side on the bigger is better when it comes to ATV’s. I’ve been around these things since their beginning and with motors as small as 250cc, I’ve never run out of power. Traction? Yes. Power? No. Do the smaller motors work a little harder? Sure. They still last and last and last. Will a bigger motor make something faster or appear easier? Of course. But the point is this….. how often are you plowing 12″+ of wet heavy snow?

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This is exactly what I’m wondering, Kid. Over on the fishing side when the question of outboard power comes up, a bunch of guys always say, “Max it!” Why? Because bigger = better.

You hit the nail on the head. What would I really NEED or USE 700-800 CC for? And then compare those uses to the downsides of a bigger, thirstier, heavier, harder-to-handle machine.

As long as 400-500 CC is good enough for pulling a trailer and a disk harrow and skidding the occasional 8 foot log that I want to drag out, that’s good enough for me. I have an ATV sprayer that I know works fine on the back of a 500 Sportsman, so that’s not an issue.

The rest of my uses, to be honest, could easily be done with any machine.

I don’t want to under-buy, but overkill isn’t desirable either.

Grouse

Grouse we have 2 newer Polaris 500’s. Power for doing work hasn’t been a problem. in fact I haven’t done anything with ours that we can’t do with my father in laws older model. My brother in law on the other hand has the 700 and I so far I have been able to do everything he can.

For utility purposes a 500 will do everything you want. Nice trail machines too. Like others have said I don’t recall the 250’s ever failing to get the job done. The big bores are for people that thrive on the faster acceleration and higher rates of speed and are willing to pay more to do it. They are more dangerous and not for everyone. If you aren’t into that kind of risky riding you don’t need a big bore. I still have my original AC 500 and use it almost exclusively to plow but also for guests to ride. Its a fine machine and has never let me down. For riding my wife and I have bigger machines because we are daredevils at heart, both sledding and 4-wheeling.

I own 500 Artic’s and couldn’t be happier with them. As stated above, plenty of power, I do about 45-50mph on road, plowing a 200′ drive, and countless tasks around the farm. I had a 250 for awhile and it worked. But i felt it was worked too hard. For my applications, I was stressing the 250 out and sold it.
We had a 700 Kawasaki & a 700 Yamaha Grizzly out while hunting in Colorado a couple times. Great riding machines, but holy crap did they drink the gas. Much more than I would be willing to pay for the little extra power and riding comfort

“I’ve been mainly looking at the 400 to 500 Polaris Sportsman, but I get a lot of guys saying that anything less than a 700 is no good as a “working” ATV. Fine for trail rides, but not for food plot work, etc.”

In line what a lot of others have said, a 400 or 500 sportsman will do anything you need it to do. You’ll run out of traction before power.

I had a 400 sportsman that I used a ton for work purposes-dragging trees and plowing snow and was always amazed at the pulling power of that thing. To give you an idea of the type of torque they have, I once pull started a 1 ton dump truck with a chipper behind it – up a hill. I also had a 2300lb ice shack I drug around the lake with. It squatted pretty bad, but there was more than enough power to get it on, around and off the lake. That machine never skipped a beat.

I started with a 500 Sportsman, plowed no problem most of the time. With the heavy stuff, it took longer and went through a belt with that about every other year. I have a 700 now, better traction when plowing, handles a bigger blade easier. I like the 700 because I do drop alot of trees, the way they typically do not want to and have yet to hit a building I pulled with my 500 too, but gimme the 700 anyday. Gas is cheap (“I have too much power” said no guy ever….)

I appreciate all the replies.

I think for my needs a 400-500 will be more than enough. A major hassle factor for me will be storage and transport of the ATV so from that angle I just don’t want the hassle of a bigger/heavier machine that will only give marginal benefits in a few limited situations.

My plan is to buy a tractor for the really heavy work, the ATV is a basic first-step solution to getting some work done, but I agree with the other member who said that only a tractor is a tractor.

Grouse

well let me tell you about the Kubota…

Well, a tractor would be the gold-plated solution from Day 1, Big G, but as I have no buildings on the property, there is no place to store a tractor.

Also, the trails we have cut so far (about 2.3 miles of them) are only wide enough for an ATV at most. We’re going to gradually widen the trails as we do regular maintenance, but as of now, even a compact tractor won’t fit down some of the trails.

I’m trying not to go nuts and overbuy so that I end up spending lots of time working on equipment rather than getting work done on the property. As a good friend once said, the more [censored] you got, the more sh1t you gotta fix.

Grouse

Mo’ carbs, mo’ problems.