I have read many posts in the past from folks with Traxters. I am deciding between an AC 500 manual and the Traxter. I lean towards the Traxter in everyway, although I am hesitiant becuase I do not know about the reliability of the Bombardier. In fact, I'm a little "scared".

My plans are 90% work with the machine, but I'm certain that will change once I own it. This is my first ATV. I have some rough and hilly terrain on my 40 acres...and want something to help collect firewood, plow snow, haul, etc.

So, how have your traxter's been?? Problems over the years? How many miles? What kinds of problems/maintenence? How do you like the auto shift feature now that you have had it for a long time? How about the visco-lok front differential? Is it as nice and effective as it seems?

Seems like most of these posts here are the DS650....how do they hold up?

Thanks to all...

 

I don't have a Traxter but I just bought a new Quest 650. See my post earlier today with the heading: Update on Quest 650. I was like you, loved the unit but was "scared." I went with it and am crossing my fingers.

 

Hi bp22,
I've had my Traxter '03 just over a year now. We use it for hauling hay for horses, snow plowing, pulling yard wagons, and trail riding. The only trouble I've had was from a cut CV boot from running through heavy brush. I've added the a-arm covers to prevent that happening again. I've done several days trail riding in Penn. mountains. The Traxter has been extremely stable, powerful uphill, well controlled downhill (the engine braking is very useful), and it can haul a large amount of gear and has been used as the lead quad for passages that were possibly chancy and for pulling other quads out of trouble. With the Hi/Low trans in the Lo setting you can go very slow pulling loads or equipment - the Traxter is set up for doing just that. With the auto trans, new riders can let the bike do the work, with the push of a button you can up/down shift at will, or with the flick of a switch, run the bike with manual shifting (no clutching). For the "farm" work I especially like the fact that the Traxter doesn't use belt or chain drive. It has direct gear-to-gear drive. Solid and no slip. With the snow plow mount I lose about 1.5" of ground clearance. I'm considering adding a lift kit and/or larger tires to regain the clearance. I've rolled it once - my fault- driving beyond my skill/experience. Slight bend to handlebar, rearranged brake fluid reservoir, dented speedometer. The bike restared immediately.
I'm proud of the Traxter and my choosing it. It does everything I could expect, and more, and does it with balance, power, and some well thought-out technology.

 

Hi bp22,
I've had my Traxter '03 just over a year now. We use it for hauling hay for horses, snow plowing, pulling yard wagons, and trail riding. The only trouble I've had was from a cut CV boot from running through heavy brush. I've added the a-arm covers to prevent that happening again. I've done several days trail riding in Penn. mountains. The Traxter has been extremely stable, powerful uphill, well controlled downhill (the engine braking is very useful), and it can haul a large amount of gear and has been used as the lead quad for passages that were possibly chancy and for pulling other quads out of trouble. With the Hi/Low trans in the Lo setting you can go very slow pulling loads or equipment - the Traxter is set up for doing just that. With the auto trans, new riders can let the bike do the work, with the push of a button you can up/down shift at will, or with the flick of a switch, run the bike with manual shifting (no clutching). For the "farm" work I especially like the fact that the Traxter doesn't use belt or chain drive. It has direct gear-to-gear drive. Solid and no slip. With the snow plow mount I lose about 1.5" of ground clearance. I'm considering adding a lift kit and/or larger tires to regain the clearance. I've rolled it once - my fault- driving beyond my skill/experience. Slight bend to handlebar, rearranged brake fluid reservoir, dented speedometer. The bike restared immediately.
I'm proud of the Traxter and my choosing it. It does everything I could expect, and more, and does it with balance, power, and some well thought-out technology.

 

Hi bp22,
I've had my Traxter '03 just over a year now. We use it for hauling hay for horses, snow plowing, pulling yard wagons, and trail riding. The only trouble I've had was from a cut CV boot from running through heavy brush. I've added the a-arm covers to prevent that happening again. I've done several days trail riding in Penn. mountains. The Traxter has been extremely stable, powerful uphill, well controlled downhill (the engine braking is very useful), and it can haul a large amount of gear and has been used as the lead quad for passages that were possibly chancy and for pulling other quads out of trouble. With the Hi/Low trans in the Lo setting you can go very slow pulling loads or equipment - the Traxter is set up for doing just that. With the auto trans, new riders can let the bike do the work, with the push of a button you can up/down shift at will, or with the flick of a switch, run the bike with manual shifting (no clutching). For the "farm" work I especially like the fact that the Traxter doesn't use belt or chain drive. It has direct gear-to-gear drive. Solid and no slip. With the snow plow mount I lose about 1.5" of ground clearance. I'm considering adding a lift kit and/or larger tires to regain the clearance. I've rolled it once - my fault- driving beyond my skill/experience. Slight bend to handlebar, rearranged brake fluid reservoir, dented speedometer. The bike restared immediately.
I'm proud of the Traxter and my choosing it. It does everything I could expect, and more, and does it with balance, power, and some well thought-out technology.

 

Hi bp22,
I've had my Traxter '03 just over a year now. We use it for hauling hay for horses, snow plowing, pulling yard wagons, and trail riding. The only trouble I've had was from a cut CV boot from running through heavy brush. I've added the a-arm covers to prevent that happening again. I've done several days trail riding in Penn. mountains. The Traxter has been extremely stable, powerful uphill, well controlled downhill (the engine braking is very useful), and it can haul a large amount of gear and has been used as the lead quad for passages that were possibly chancy and for pulling other quads out of trouble. With the Hi/Low trans in the Lo setting you can go very slow pulling loads or equipment - the Traxter is set up for doing just that. With the auto trans, new riders can let the bike do the work, with the push of a button you can up/down shift at will, or with the flick of a switch, run the bike with manual shifting (no clutching). For the "farm" work I especially like the fact that the Traxter doesn't use belt or chain drive. It has direct gear-to-gear drive. Solid and no slip. With the snow plow mount I lose about 1.5" of ground clearance. I'm considering adding a lift kit and/or larger tires to regain the clearance. I've rolled it once - my fault- driving beyond my skill/experience. Slight bend to handlebar, rearranged brake fluid reservoir, dented speedometer. The bike restared immediately.
I'm proud of the Traxter and my choosing it. It does everything I could expect, and more, and does it with balance, power, and some well thought-out technology.

 

Hi bp22,
I've had my Traxter '03 just over a year now. We use it for hauling hay for horses, snow plowing, pulling yard wagons, and trail riding. The only trouble I've had was from a cut CV boot from running through heavy brush. I've added the a-arm covers to prevent that happening again. I've done several days trail riding in Penn. mountains. The Traxter has been extremely stable, powerful uphill, well controlled downhill (the engine braking is very useful), and it can haul a large amount of gear and has been used as the lead quad for passages that were possibly chancy and for pulling other quads out of trouble. With the Hi/Low trans in the Lo setting you can go very slow pulling loads or equipment - the Traxter is set up for doing just that. With the auto trans, new riders can let the bike do the work, with the push of a button you can up/down shift at will, or with the flick of a switch, run the bike with manual shifting (no clutching). For the "farm" work I especially like the fact that the Traxter doesn't use belt or chain drive. It has direct gear-to-gear drive. Solid and no slip. With the snow plow mount I lose about 1.5" of ground clearance. I'm considering adding a lift kit and/or larger tires to regain the clearance. I've rolled it once - my fault- driving beyond my skill/experience. Slight bend to handlebar, rearranged brake fluid reservoir, dented speedometer. The bike restared immediately.
I'm proud of the Traxter and my choosing it. It does everything I could expect, and more, and does it with balance, power, and some well thought-out technology.

 

Hi bp22,
I've had my Traxter '03 just over a year now. We use it for hauling hay for horses, snow plowing, pulling yard wagons, and trail riding. The only trouble I've had was from a cut CV boot from running through heavy brush. I've added the a-arm covers to prevent that happening again. I've done several days trail riding in Penn. mountains. The Traxter has been extremely stable, powerful uphill, well controlled downhill (the engine braking is very useful), and it can haul a large amount of gear and has been used as the lead quad for passages that were possibly chancy and for pulling other quads out of trouble. With the Hi/Low trans in the Lo setting you can go very slow pulling loads or equipment - the Traxter is set up for doing just that. With the auto trans, new riders can let the bike do the work, with the push of a button you can up/down shift at will, or with the flick of a switch, run the bike with manual shifting (no clutching). For the "farm" work I especially like the fact that the Traxter doesn't use belt or chain drive. It has direct gear-to-gear drive. Solid and no slip. With the snow plow mount I lose about 1.5" of ground clearance. I'm considering adding a lift kit and/or larger tires to regain the clearance. I've rolled it once - my fault- driving beyond my skill/experience. Slight bend to handlebar, rearranged brake fluid reservoir, dented speedometer. The bike restared immediately.
I'm proud of the Traxter and my choosing it. It does everything I could expect, and more, and does it with balance, power, and some well thought-out technology.

 

Hi bp22,
I've had my Traxter '03 just over a year now. We use it for hauling hay for horses, snow plowing, pulling yard wagons, and trail riding. The only trouble I've had was from a cut CV boot from running through heavy brush. I've added the a-arm covers to prevent that happening again. I've done several days trail riding in Penn. mountains. The Traxter has been extremely stable, powerful uphill, well controlled downhill (the engine braking is very useful), and it can haul a large amount of gear and has been used as the lead quad for passages that were possibly chancy and for pulling other quads out of trouble. With the Hi/Low trans in the Lo setting you can go very slow pulling loads or equipment - the Traxter is set up for doing just that. With the auto trans, new riders can let the bike do the work, with the push of a button you can up/down shift at will, or with the flick of a switch, run the bike with manual shifting (no clutching). For the "farm" work I especially like the fact that the Traxter doesn't use belt or chain drive. It has direct gear-to-gear drive. Solid and no slip. With the snow plow mount I lose about 1.5" of ground clearance. I'm considering adding a lift kit and/or larger tires to regain the clearance. I've rolled it once - my fault- driving beyond my skill/experience. Slight bend to handlebar, rearranged brake fluid reservoir, dented speedometer. The bike restared immediately.
I'm proud of the Traxter and my choosing it. It does everything I could expect, and more, and does it with balance, power, and some well thought-out technology.

 

Hi bp22,
I've had my Traxter '03 just over a year now. We use it for hauling hay for horses, snow plowing, pulling yard wagons, and trail riding. The only trouble I've had was from a cut CV boot from running through heavy brush. I've added the a-arm covers to prevent that happening again. I've done several days trail riding in Penn. mountains. The Traxter has been extremely stable, powerful uphill, well controlled downhill (the engine braking is very useful), and it can haul a large amount of gear and has been used as the lead quad for passages that were possibly chancy and for pulling other quads out of trouble. With the Hi/Low trans in the Lo setting you can go very slow pulling loads or equipment - the Traxter is set up for doing just that. With the auto trans, new riders can let the bike do the work, with the push of a button you can up/down shift at will, or with the flick of a switch, run the bike with manual shifting (no clutching). For the "farm" work I especially like the fact that the Traxter doesn't use belt or chain drive. It has direct gear-to-gear drive. Solid and no slip. With the snow plow mount I lose about 1.5" of ground clearance. I'm considering adding a lift kit and/or larger tires to regain the clearance. I've rolled it once - my fault- driving beyond my skill/experience. Slight bend to handlebar, rearranged brake fluid reservoir, dented speedometer. The bike restared immediately.
I'm proud of the Traxter and my choosing it. It does everything I could expect, and more, and does it with balance, power, and some well thought-out technology.