That was quite a trail report you had! Very interesting. I bought mine almost exactly one year ago - 2000 model - green. I have now about 500 miles on it and the only problem I had right away was the backfire problem. The dealer tuned the carb and it hasn't b.f.ed since. I also have gotten it stuck with the stock tires. I also have the winch - a wench would be nice to have too. I'm from northern MN - the Grand Rapids area. I got the snow plow too and was hoping to have some fun plowing last winter but as you can probably remember we had no snow. The machine is truely powerful although not unstoppable. I found out that it couldn't pull a 1500 lb. load of fire wood up about a 10% grade. Well, I had to try it didn't I? Other than that it does seem to shift a bit hard at times. When cold, it won't shift out of 1st gear until it warms up after a few minutes. Also last winter, it wouldn't start in below zero weather unless I warmed it up in the garage with a kerosene heater. The thing I do like alot is that you can ride it in really hot weather and you don't get burned by the heat of the engine or muffler. My friend has the 500 Arctic Cat automatic and he gets so hot from the engine heat that he can hardly stand it. My first machine was the Honda 4Trax 4X4 300 and there is no comparison as far as power, or riding comfort to the Traxter. All in all, I am very pleased with my Traxter and the only other machine I might consider sometime would be the Rubicon but not for at least a year or two.
Good luck with your Traxter and Have Fun too!

 

JamesDS650, Thanks for the scoop on the carb. Up the thread a little bit, Sprintpusher indicated something about the backfire or misfire in 3 reverse as well. I'm bringing both responses to the dealer for him to look at. The dealer is sending 1-2 or his mech's to the Bomb course in WI before the end of the year. I have no detail on this, it's just what he told me. I'm assuming you have a 650? Being in farm country I haven't been close enough to a 650 to talk about it. What do you think?

 

KSK, Grand Rapids? My brother has a place up by Squaw Lake, off of 46. He used to run the Dixon Lake Resort about 10-20 years ago. I have not rode up there for years, but plan to go up sometime before hunting starts. Have you ever rode in Paul Bunyan? How is the Chip for ATV's?

I just got chains for the tires but may change tires altogether for next year if they don't work out as planned. Someone else said tires as well. Here I thought it was me but Traxster's really do need warming up to run. Like yourself testing the limits with wood, thought I'd take up to gramps and try the plowed field and some old hay wagons. In my evaluation, it was humbling to get stuck but even tractors and tanks get stuck so I got over it.

Thanks for the reply, I'll have to look you up on the way through Grand Rapids.

Take care,

 

*laughs* I will reserve judgement on mine till it is fixed....otherwise it is fast.

 

Fishbones -

You wrote "The machine is truely powerful although not unstoppable. I found out that it couldn't pull a 1500 lb. load of fire wood up about a 10% grade."

This really surprises me since my dealer told me that he knew of a test where someone with a Traxter, pulled a 7,000 lb. Dodge Ram up a 'hill'. He didn't mention the grade of the hill, but just said that it was on dirt. I 'assumed' that he was telling the truth...

When you said that yours couldn't pull the 1,500 lb. load of wood, did it just spin, or just stall out on you?

- Tim

 

CyberTimbo, The pulling was from a post by KSK. I had not pulled anything yet but did get stuck. Gonna try chains in a plowed field later this year with some hay wagons. Will post the results.

Take Care

 

Why not use the AG tires, they work great and you will not need chains. The AG tires steer real easy and pull real good. Been using them for a year, the origional tires look new and are fine for general riding etc, but if your gonna work it, I would certainly use the AG tires, they are 27X7X14, in real life, they are about 3/4 inch taller than the stock Traxter tires (not XT).

No other ATV comes close to a Traxter for working, I think every Company makes quicker ATV's but none make a better utility working buggy.
Have tried the Honda 400 & 450ES, Yamaha Grizzly, Terra Pro and the Polaris Sportsman. Of the 5, the Terra Pro is a better scrapper.
Don't want to get into the others. Found the automaitc V-Belt drives are jokes for utility work.
Enuff for now,

Smile

 

SprintPusher, did you put that size of tire all the way around? What was the travel (distance between fenders and tire) difference like? I'd like to skip the liftkit if the travel still gives me enough distance to let the shocks work. Still gonna tryout the chains on the trailwolf's but now I think they may be a hassle. Thanks for your response in advance.

 

Yes, the 14" AG tires and wheels are on all 4, I dont have any problems with them hitting the fenders unless im in a real hard bind/twist, then they will just touch so that you know they are touching but dont hurt anything, so Ive never worried about it.

As for chains, I doubt Ill ever try riding on glare ice so am not thinking chains at this point.

The AG tires work so well for my use, I dont ever expect to use anything else.

Good Luck

 

I am just sort of guessing at the actual weight of the load and the % grade. I had my 12 foot long double wide snowmobile trailer piled up pretty good with firewood - a full load for sure -and I could easily pull it on a fairly level stretch of the gravel road but when I went to go up my driveway (the estimated 10% grade) to my cabin I started spinning the tires so I just stopped and backed down to level ground and went and got my truck to pull it up the hill. I really doubt if anything less than a full size 4WD truck could have pulled that load either and I would have been truely amazed if my Traxter would have done it. I don't think the Traxter could pull a 7,000 lb. vehicle up my hill either. I'm sure it could pull it on level ground though or even a slight upward grade. Anyway, that is my experience with my Traxter pulling a sizeable load.