Does anyone know if the 2004 Sportsman 500 H.O. requires a winch plate? There is a space between the lights for the winch but I'm not sure if it needs a mounting plate...

 

Yes it does. You can get one from Polaris, Warn or Ramsey. The warn and Ramsey are the same mounting holes dimensions. I bought the Ramsey winch and mounting plate but I don't like the mounting plate for the roller fairlead. I would buy the Warn or Polaris mounting plate. I ended up welding some straps to the Ramsey plate to make it work like the Warm mount.

It is nice to have the winch up high to stay out of the mud and water a little better but when you tie off on another quad to pull yourself out of the mud you really don't get any lift because the winch in the headlights is so high. Those dam trade offs!

 

THANKS FOR THE INFO!

HOW LONG HAVE YOU HAD A SPORTSMAN?

 

I'm on my second one, first was a 2002 HO with the Rawhide Grips. My 2004.5 has the Carlise Badlands radials and I have already poked a hole in the side wall (50 miles). I like this one better for the front diff and having a better shift pattern and park.

 

But the front diff does not work when the AWD is activated, right?

 

I don't care for the ramsey mounting plate either, I ran braces up to the front rack so it would lift my plow without bending. Will the ramsey winch work with the warn mount??

 

WELL, IT'S POSSIBLE THAT FOR THE 2004 MODELS POLARIS HAS DESIGNED IT SO THAT NO AFTER MARKET WINCH PLATES WOULD FIT. THIS WAY YOU ARE FORCED TO BUY THE WICH PLATE OR POSSIBLY THE WHOLE PACKAGE FROM POLARIS.

 

You can buy an aftermarket winch mounting kit all day long on ebaY for about $40 bucks. I have one of those on my 500HO behind a new Warn 3.0ci. It comes with the winch plate, fairlead mount, and the contactor mount which goes right alonside and just aft of the battery.

 

HEY TREEDOC,

WHERE DID YOU MOUNT YOUR WINCH?
BETWEEN THE LIGHTS OR UNDER THE BUMPER AREA?

 

On an '04.5 model year, there is a name plate that says "Polaris" between the lights in the bumper. The name plate is removed by pulling 2 screws and thats where the winch is intended to be mounted. The mount plate is set up to match all the holes for the brackets. Check out my Pics by clicking the camera icon under my name and you'll see the winch set up on my 400 I think. The 400 and 500HO are identical.