I have recently been looking for an atv. It has to have 2wd/4wd selectable to go through snow, mud and pull a large boat.

The choices I have been looking at are the

POLARIS;
magnum 335 or 400.
Sportsmen 400 or 500
explorer 400

ARCTIC CAT
cat 300
cat 400
cat 500

of these which would you recomend, or any others you believe are good.

 

You could go to Mies, Inc. in Watkins to test drive a Polaris or two. And you could go to Country Cat in Sauk Centre and test drive an Arctic Cat. Then you would have some idea of what you would prefer. Not to far of a drive considering where you live.

 

Both are excellent towing/hauling machines. The magnum/xplorer line may not be your best choice. The Sportsmans are new for 04, but have always been sturdier and a little nicer than their cheaper stablemates. The polaris tranny has held up well for towing, but it is still a belt.

The cats are made for low geared power. They have a HI, LO and Super Low gear, to compliment the 5 speed auto clutched tranny. that means 15 forward gears and 3 in reverse. Polaris has a HI Lo option as well. The 300 cat may be too small to move a large boat, especially if you want to launch it. The tranny will not have to worry about getting wet, but polaris has solved many of those problems in thier machines.

If it were my money, I would purchase a cat 500i or sportsman 500HO. Both have the power needed to haul the larger boat, and just about anything else you can imagine. I would go with the cat, partially because my stepfather has had a lot of problems with his sp500. And also because my uncle in wyoming has a cat 500i and he hasnt been able to get it stuck or break it. He does have a winch though[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img][img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-wink.gif[/img]

 

I will obviously lean towards the Arctic Cat's. Either the 400 or 500 will do fine for you. Note that the 400 and 500 both have "Hi" and "Low" gear ranges (on both the auto's and the manuals). You won't find "Super Low" on them, though, only on the 300 and below, which will help the smaller machine haul your boat, but I suspect you won't be as happy on the smaller machines for other activities.

Of the Polaris machines, I'd stick with the Sportsman 500 HO. It seems to be a very popular machine (I see them everywhere) and will certainly have the power and performance you desire.

 

Arctic Cat because they have the Suzuki motor's. 400 or up because they are so heavy. How big is your boat and what is it made of?

 

The boat is a 19ft. fish and ski made out of fiberglass it has a 130 horse inboard

 

You need a BIG quad to pull a boat that big. I used to pull an 18' Chap. open bow with my Wrangler and it was heavy for that. I can't imagine pulling my 18' with a quad because it was just so heavy. Although a local boat/polaris shop used to use one of their polaris's to take boats in and out of the garage. I guess Polaris is cutting out some of their models to concentrate more on quality. I had read that somewhere. I like the looks of the Polaris better but I think I'd trust the Arctic Cat slightly more. How about some of the quads in the 650/700cc range? In your case, I think bigger is better.