I have an 02 SP500. When I purchaes it I got a 2000lb winch. I recently purchased a polaris double tube bumper expecting it to bolt righ on with the winch. After struggling for sometime I gave in and starting looking around on the Polaris website. Evidently there is a different winch mount for those using a bumber than for those who do not. Does anyone know exactly what the difference is? Can a winch mount that is not for use with a bumper be modified to make it work. It amazes me that you would have to have a whole new mount to simply add a bumper. You would think a more universal approach would be much better?

Thanks

Steve[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-disgusted.gif[/img]

 

Dont know if this helps or not. I have a Polaris brand full brush guard on my SP 500. The winch mount actually bolts on to the brush guard instead of the machine since the guard and the regular winch mount used the same mounting holes. The only mount that would work on it was a polaris mount. I e-mailed a couple of different winch manufactures and atv supply places and they all said the same thing. So more than likely you will have to have a new mount.

 

Yes, it will work b/c when I purchased my 01 sportsman, it was supposed to come with the 2,000 lb. winch and front tube bumper, but when I went to pick it up, it had a rear bumper and the winch with no front bumper. They used a torch to cut "something" off of the non-bumper mount to make it work. I think what they cut off had something to do with where the roller fairlead bolts up, but not sure. However, I am certain that the mount on it right now is one for mounting w/o the use of the tube bumper. Maybe you can tell by looking at your mount and bumper what I am getting at.

 

I think you are right about what they cut off. Is your fair lead now bolted directly to your bumper? I was concerned the bumper alone would not support the fair lead when really pulling against it. Also, I assume it actually raised your fair lead slightly from its original position. I was concerned that the winch may not work as effeciently, any problems? I willl probably end up trying that. I hate to pay another $60 or $70 for a new mount.

Thanks

 

I just spent about $1000 for accessories for my new Sportsman 500 HO. The dealer from whom I purchased the bike installed the winch without the brush guard and never said anything about the winch setup being different with the brush guard. Now that I'm buying the accessories, from a different dealer, I find that the front brush guard can't be installed because it requires a special mounting plate that allows the winch to be bolted directly to the brush guard. Seems the brush guard bots to where the existing winch mount is currently bolted. The dealer from whom I purchased the bike is 100+ miles away and in another state, a local dealer is installing the accessories. I'm told that I'll have buy a new winch kit with the proper mounting plate, $469.00, or have someone else build me a plate because Polaris does not sell the mounting plate seperately. This is a bunch of BULL. I will be calling Polaris on Monday.

 

Hold on guys, just go to a local Polaris dealer and order Polaris part number 2873671. It is the winch mounting plate for their SP400/500 brushguards. I don't know what you can do with your old one but you'll only spend $40-75 on this new plate. Hope this helps.[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img][img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-wink.gif[/img]

Polzook

 

Thanks for the part number, I will relay this info to the dealer from whom I bought the accessories. They had already told me that they could not purchase just the mounting plate. Seems to me that a winch mounting plate should automatically be included with the purchase of the front brush guard.
Polaris needs to read these forums and adapt its self to better customer service. It's called thinking ahead and solving the problems before they happen.

 

Yes, my roller fairlead is bolted to the bumper and if that thing hasn't come off yet, it's not going to. It's as tight today as when it was installed 1.5 yrs and 2,900 miles ago.

 

With your fairlead bolted directly to your bumper or brushguard, does the winch cable come directly out through the fairlead or does it have to come up and then out? The reason for the question is, it appears I could modify my existing mount for the bumper to fit. The only isssue I would be concerned about is that my fairlead would be about three inches higher than it currently is mounted on the winch mount. This would in turn make the winch pull from a little different angle than it now does since the fairlead is directly in line with where the cable comes out of the winch.

Thanks

 

Just went and looked. It appears that the roller fairlead is slightly higher than where the cable spools out. The cable actually rubs against the lower tube on the bumper, but only the painted is rubbed off, no grooves or anything. That kind of stinks if the mount for the bumper would eliminate that; especially since I PAID for it to be that way. It's the dealer's fault that they didn't read the work order. It seems to work just fine the way it is. Probably not worth spending the extra money on a new bracket.