I am new to the list and need some feed back from you old timers. I have an 02 honda foreman 450ES. I use it for house work- plowing, moving mulch/dirt, cuting the grass (I pull a 54 inch deck with seperate motor), exercising the dogs and of course riding. Overall the machine does fine, but getting ready to upgrade (wish I got bigger the first time). I am scheduled to get new P700 (camo) and I'm having second thoughts. My main concern is the ongoing discussions of honda's drivetrain vs. belt driven systems.

Question: Will the P700 be capable of performing these choirs? If so will the machine not work as hard? I would expect out of raw size and power it would or should out perform. Should I expect to experience ongoing belt troubles? What about extended warranty from kawa? My moto is if I buy it nothing will go wrong and if I don't I'll get the 1 lemon out of a thousand. Also the 450ES is no heart bounder when it comes to speed. I would like to have the best all around machine for work and some weekend fun- I ruled out SP700- to heavy and priced to deep and I also ruled out Grizz 660- IRS isn't a big deal for me. Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated.

 

The P700 will have no problem doing chores.

I used my P650 to pull trees and a trailer overloaded with 8 foot cut logs. I also have a 220 foot driveway that drifts over badly in the winter. My Prairie makes easy work out of it with the plow.

No, you should not expect ongoing belt problems. I have heard about more people having electronics problems with their Honda shifting than catastrophic belt failures with the Prairie's. However, if you neglect your belt then it will come back and bite you possibly. If it squawks then it simply needs to be adjusted. The process is a piece of cake. Are you handy? If you can change a set of brakes on a car then you can easily handle belt adjustments. Otherwise, take it in for the dealer to handle. I am just impatient that way. Many of us got 1,000-1,400 miles (rough guess) with one or two belt adjustments on the P650. The P700 has a better belt that should last longer and possibly require less adjustment. We will find out eventually as we put on some miles. Don't let the belt BS scare you is all I am saying.

Have you ridden a P700 yet? You gotta love that power. It is second to none (stock).

 

You shouldn't have any problem with using your Kawi. I have a Sportsman 400 that I have hauled many, many things around with; one of which was 1 1/2 pallets of ST Augustine sod around on a trailer when I was sodding my back yard. My daughter had to sit on my front rack so I could actually steer the bike, but it never even whimpered about pulling that much weight around.

 

DWB-
I haven't driven the P700 yet, but have riden the P650. I thought the 650 had some attitude and not even comparable to my current machine- but obviously they are in different classes. I found the 650 to have as much attitude as some sport machines i have riden while weighing 600lbs plus. Nevertheless, very excited to get new machine- sooner or later that devil on the other shoulder (wearing red) will stop wispering ride red- probably when he goes for his first ride on the P700. What do you think about extended warranties? I don't plan on dumping the P700 anytime soon- worth the extra cash?

 

I was a die hard gear only man. The biggest bore gear quad I could get my hands on was an Arctic Cat 500i, I found the power to be insufficient with my outlaws. So I looked at a big bore. Only thing is that all the big bores are belt drive, except for Honda. I took a chance on a belt driven quad and let me tell you I will never go back to gears lol. I love it, its so much more fun, easier to drive. It does get wet on occasion but it has never left me stranded in water. The belt will need adjustment once it stretches, once adjusted you will have virtually no problems. I have a black sping to help belt wear and I do believe it helps with belt slippage.

If it is any indication, I used to have Z400 now I have V-Force, a much more fun ride. Gears have their place and I do miss them the odd time. If you get the P650/P700 you will have no regrets, such a nice quad, power up the ying yang, good ride, sporty, fast, stable. I love my P650. What else can I say but high praise?

 

I’ve owned two belt driven utility quads, both Yamaha Grizzlies – a 600 (sold) and a 660. I’ve spent many hours pulling a 628 lb Swisher 50” rough cut trail mower for cutting abandoned hay fields and pasture (sometimes my over-temp light would come on after several hours of mowing on a hot day because of the ultra slow speeds). Before I had the heavy 50" mower I had a lighter duty 44" model trail mower.

I tow logs out of the woods in the fall (some are large, heavy and long). I’ve towed a Dodge Caravan to it’s final resting place through about 250 yards of fields (some uphill), also a large ensilage wagon (empty) along the same path and I’ve even towed an old John Deere model A tractor (over 5000 lbs) for about 50 yards along mostly level ground.

During winter snows I’ve kept a farm lane (6/10ths of a mile long) open with a winch driven snow blade (it’s a 48” blade which I found was really too small since the machine could easily handle more so I’ll eventually be getting a larger one).

The 600 had over 1800 miles on it when I sold it and the 660 currently has about 1500 miles on it. I have not had any belt problems with either machine. In fact except for breaking the hitch on my new Grizzly twice (broken when “jerking” loose logs that had gotten hung up), all that either machine has needed so far were oil / filter changes.

On the first hitch failure I broke one of the two bolts that held the hitch to the frame. Then I broke the tongue itself. So I drilled out the holes on the frame a little to receive larger bolts (I used grade 8 bolts) and made a new tongue with a piece of ½” steel cut from the tongue of a class 2 automotive hitch.

Both machines “played” well when used for recreation, with the 660 being more enjoyable with a significant power advantage and a noticeably smoother ride because of the IRS.

Bottom line is that I wouldn’t be too concerned about belt issues because they are pretty reliable in general. The P700 has even more to offer in the way of raw power than the Grizzly so I’m sure you wouldn’t be disappointed in your choice.