The Big Bear; Rejuvenated “Better than your Average Bear”

A few years ago Yamaha teamed up with Warn Winch and provided an A2000 winch “free” with each Big Bear purchased. Well, with hundreds of these units out there, we thought it was time to do a little upgrade on one. We found a 400 Big Bear 4×4 that was in above average condition, e.g. the tires were not bald and all four wheels were still pointed in the same direction, the handlebars were straight and the plastic was not held together with “zip” ties!

WHAT WE DID
Warn Winch Remote Control

There are many things we could have done with this machine in the way of upgrades. But since we already had a Warn winch installed, it made perfect sense to install the Warn handlebar remote switch, so actuation of the winch could be done without removing your hand from the handlebars. The kit comes complete  with a removable remote control rocker switch, 10 ft. of lead wire, sealed industrial style contactor that has a higher amp draw capacity, and larger 6 gauge battery cables. The kit was a fairly simple upgrade thanks to the Warn “Express Install” wiring system. Why was the kit installation necessary? Why to make it easier to lift the new Moose snowplow!

Moose Utility 60 in. Snowplow

It made perfect sense, here we are in the middle of a nasty North Country winter with a 4×4 that already has a Warn winch with the new remote control so why not jack up the paint and slide a new snowplow under? We decided to go with a Moose Utilities plow because they are formed from 11-gauge steel, and feature a curved blade design that provides better snow roll-off at any plowing angle. The Moose plow blade mounts to a universal push tube which is then attached to the ATV with an ATV model-specific bottom mount kit. The plow frame mounts install to the underside of the ATV’s frame. Two quick detachable pins allow relatively easy removal / replacement of the plow and pushtubes. The advantages of this system is there are no large subframe pieces hanging down under the ATV’s frame to reduce ground clearance. With the plow removed, all that remains is a flat plate attached to the frame tubes under the motor and 4 ears to attach the push tubes to. The Moose Utilities plow blade is 16 in. high and features a replaceable wear bar. Even though the angle adjustment is manual, the release is easy to use and so far,

has not frozen up, even in sub-zero temperatures. The Warn A2000 winch with the new remote handlebar control easily adjusted the height of the Moose Utilities plow. “Testing” was actually fun and a lot easier than a snowblower! Straight ahead or angled to the side, we had little difficulty in keeping the driveway and yard cleared of snow. At times though, we had a bit of trouble keeping the Big Bear straight when angle plowing heavy snow. The OEM Maxxis tires were slipping sideways. We needed new tires. Tires that were more suited to the conditions at hand. And while we were looking, some extra ground clearance would be nice because the plow would dig into the ground when being driven off our trailer.

PART II: We test some prototype radial tires from ITP!