buying a first atv for use on mountain trails and light work around the property. i am hoping some of you more familiar with these can provide your opinions pros/cons of the 3 i have narrowed down.

2004 Polaris Sportsman 500 HO 4x4

2005 Yamaha Kodiak 4x4 auto (note the 05 now has IRS)

2004 Arctic Cat 400 4x4 auto

I am more familiar with the AC and Yamaha but love what I've read about the Pol. Thanks for your help.[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-cool.gif[/img]

 

I'm not sounding biased, but go with the sportsman-I myself have an 04 500 HO-it rides better than any other quad out there and the power is awesome. the on demand 4 wheel drive is incredible-no need to stop and engage the 4 wheel drive-it is there when needed and you won't even feel it shift into 4 wheel drive-it works very well. I have no experience with the yamaha, but the arctic cat 400 is very underpowered and the ergonomics are cheap-the only good thing about the cat is the suspension.

 

I say go with the 500 HO , the Cat is underpowered as stated above and some of the Yamahas dont even have a low range, not sure about the 05 Kodiak, but it should be a fine machine with IRS, the Sportsman is king.

 

I had the same problem.
until i got my Bike a week ago today got the sportsman 500h.o
never regret it yet.
my co worker who believes in kodiak loves my polaris and now wants to sell.
:-)

 

The only thing in it's class that can compete with the SP500 is the Outlander 400. Ride those two and decide which suits your needs better.

 

Thanks for the responses and info guys. Interestingly I cross posted this to the yamaha and AC forums and have no replys... hmmm [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-wink.gif[/img]

 

i just bought an 04.5 500 H.O. my brother bought the 400 and put the EBS kit on it. all things considered, I would have been just as happy with the 400 for my purposes, trail riding, hunting, etc. i wnated to make sure I had enough power but the 400 is plenty as well..... about $700 difference

 

I have a 2002 500ho and if the new ones are as good or better then I'll give it a thumbs up.

 

Even though I don't own a Sportsman, I do the landscaping for a big corporation and they agreed to let me use the Sportsman they have stored there to help me out with the work. It's great and handles well with hard labor. And since they agreed to let me use it, I can ride it around the 25 acres of land they own behind the corporation during lunch break. It's great. I also help both of my grandfathers out with there landscaping, and I use their 2004 Yamaha Grizzly's. It's great too. But I prefer Polaris just because my Predator is polaris. It's a great company. But whichever you want. Grizzly or Sportsman. Both are perfect machines for labor and fun.

Not sure about the Kodiak. Never used it before.