Hello:

I am new to Can Am. I just traded a 2012 Honda Rubicon 500 for a 2014 Can Am 500xt but now I am worried as I do not see much on the Can Am forums about using them for work. I bought the Honda for farm work. Primarily to tow a manure spreader daily from stall to stall, pull a drag in my ring once or twice a week and basic farm chores such as hauling hay, etc. The Honda was supposed to be a work horse but after a year and a half, I was done. As it did not have fuel injection, it hated the being turned on/off at each stall (4 stalls daily) and would constantly stall out. I would have to sit n the machine for 10 minutes to feather the gas to even get it to warm up which got old fast in the winter. Even once warmed up, it would stall out frequently when I was spreading the manure. In any event, after the dealer could not help me (after several tries and adjustments), I decided to trade it in before next winter for a fuel injected machine I could turn up and let warm up on its own without my assistance.

I was going to get a Yamaha Grizzly but the dealer near us is not great and it turned out that, after rebate and with the Can Am dealer waiving the $400 freight/handling charge, the Can Am 500 XT was the same price as the Grizzly with a winch installed. The Can Am dealer has a great reputation and has been good to us with service on our Ferris ZRT mower.

Anyway, I bit the bullet yesterday and left the Rubicon there while they find me a 2014 500 xt. I then got home and in looking at the forums, it seems I may have been better off with the Grizzly for the work I need it to do. I cannot find many people who purchase a Can Am for what I need it for and found many threads about the Can Am overheating when in low and working hard. I will be running the Can Am in low almost 80-85% of the time with towing, plowing, etc....

Also, I need it to be able to go deep into corners when dragging and plowing and it seems it may not be the best machine for that either.

Did I make a mistake? Does anyone here use their Can AM 500 XT for this type of work? If you do, is it reliable? Thanks for any input here....I may still have a chance to back out as they may not find a 2014 500 and I havent yet signed papers officially turning over the Honda.

 

The 500 Twin has lots of hp but a twin does not have the grunt toque of a single cylinder in the 500cc class.
The 500 twin needs rpm to make its incredible 40hp mark while the 500 foreman only makes 28hp it can do it at a idle.

read for yourself http://www.world-of-atvs.com/4x4-atvs.html

 

Thank you for your help.

 

As TLC said the twin 500 cc Can-Am is more speed oriented than a single cylinder thumper. The single cylinder will give you a bit more torque but that's not to say the twin won't do what you need it to do. Been on my son's Renegade more than a few times and it has the torque to wheelie the machine in low range. I'd just crank up the shock adjusters for working loads and go for it. I'd give the Grizzly 550 a slight nod for work over the Can-Am but it's not enough that I'd be concerned with it.

 

Its a utility machine. Granted most people buy them because they want a cvt machine with 4x4 and great power and irs and seldom get used for work. Most Grizzly 550 and 700 owners don't buy theirs to work with either. I think most cvt automatic machines will eventually overheat if ran in low range and worked hard for extended periods of time. That's why Honda Foremans are so popular on farms and ranches, they're the best choice for work. Not the most powerful or exciting machines to ride but solid and dependable. I've heard of this stuff called engine ice, supposed to make liquid cooled engines run cooler, was going to try it back when I had my 660 grizzly but I sold it before I gave it a try. Not sure if it would void your factory warranty, I would check before I tried anything like that. Its basically like a high performance antifreeze. Might be the trick to keeping that v-twin cool while putting it to work. Sounds like your 2012 Rubicon was a lemon. I have an old Honda 300 fourtrax now that I bought because it was cheap and it starts and idles fine. I shut it off and it starts right back up and its 15 years old. I can't picture a new machine having trouble starting and idling, even if it has a carb. You had a defective unit, that's not normal for any new machine. I thought by 2012 basically all machines were fuel injected except the smaller 250 class machines and some sport quads but I see even the 2014 models still have a carb. If you really just want a machine for work, I probably would have bought a new 500 Foreman instead, they're fuel injected now. Though no fully auto transmission if that's what you want, though I do like the electric shift myself, I've rode a friends 500 foreman es and its a nice machine. I guess the first time I read your post I didn't even realize that you hadn't actually taken the machine home yet, did you even test ride one? I would think that no deal would be final until you actually take the machine home, seems odd that they wouldn't have one in stock in the first place.

 

Polaris and Can-Am have both made their quads with better cooling. It's not as much an issue as it was in the past. Whether a Honda, Polaris, Yamaha, or Can-Am, a big key is to keep the radiator clean after going through mud holes and water holes. Caked up mud makes the radiator pretty much useless.

 

Our 2004 Bombardier (name later changed to Can Am) Quest Max 650 is a single cylinder workhorse we use on the farm quite sucessfully. While rather difficult to find, they are usually priced reasonably. It does, however, have a carb.

We are planning to use our newly acquired 2009 Outlander Max Ltd. 800R for trail riding and trips.

 

Any ATV with a low range will snap a axle before running out of wheel turning power. Its just about gear ratio rather then hp while in low range.