Took my Prairie 360 out deer hunting for the first time this past weekend. My dad and I went up to our mine (from 2600ft to 8000ft elevation). Up by our mine is a steep solid granite face on the mountain. It has fine grained sluff from the granite, making it difficult to walk up (like walking uphill on bb's. I decided to see if the quad would climb up it. I put it in 4 low, and it went right up, with no slipping. Coming downhill was a bit scarier, as I had to sit as far back on the quad as I could, and the entire weight of my body was on my arms as I went nearly straight down the hill. The automatic compression, kept the quad slowly creeping down the hill. Later in the day, I had my dad on the back (driving in two wheel drive, high range), and decided to take a shortcut right up the mountain (on a trail). It pulled right up with no problems and didn't seem to even strain the least. Pretty impressive, for having around 400lbs on it, and climbing over 1/4 mile at a fairly steep trail. There wasn't a single trail that I couldn't take in 2 wd, high, with me and my dad on the quad. The only negative thing I have to say about this quad, is that it always has a pretty high rpm, even when going slow. Some other quads I see and hear, idle a bit lower while driving down trails at the same speed as I do.

 

Great!
Gave her a nice mud bath last week.
Just had a bumper guard and winch installed yesterday.
Thanks for asking.

 

Want to thanks all you folks for all the information. Great to be part of a site like this with everybody being so willing to share their experiences and knowledge.
Still in the research mode but am getting closer by the hour.
Been looking at the Polaris machines as well. They appear to be top notch too. Everyone I talk with says the sp 500 is bullet proof and been around for years.
Thanks,
Bob

 

The Sp 500 HO is a great motor and machine. It is good for trails and for doing some work around the yard, etc..
Although, it will only have a fraction of the power of any of the brutes. I had a Polaris 400 xplorer, and my buddy had a 500 HO. My 400 would keep up wioth it and beat it in a race. Now my 650 or 750 blows them both away. Power is one thing, but there is other things you may consider for personal reasons. I would first hand check them all out and ride them before choosing. I was close to getting a Sp 800 before I bought my 750, but glad I made the choice I did.

 

Yea i had a '98 Sportsman 500. The fuji 499cc engine is one hell of an engine mate. I rate it above honda engine reliability(except for the ole 300 fourtrax plenty of experience with it)because ive also had a '00 Rancher 4x4. Crappy part of the deal was Polaris at that time had terrible dealerships in my area and i mean terrible. We found out two years after we had alot of trouble with it, one of the mechanics that worked in the shop from where we bought it, told us we bought a used machine they had cleaned up and put back on the salesfloor, needless to say they were out of business within a year or two. We had the original Sportsman platform. Hub actuated 4x4, U-joints from here to kalamazoo. We broke two shaft yokes, burnt out electrical board, two starter bendix's, (had to have flywheel replaced once),ugh the old u-joint design was terrible under heavy usage, when the machine seen its last day for me it had right on 6800miles on it. BUT AND I MEAN BUT, that engine NEVER EVER even hiccupped, NO MATTER HOW HARD, it was ran---but damn it was maintenace heavy lol, i think i wore out a few grease guns on those u-joints(replaced many of um in those miles lol.) But even after all that i still like Polaris, we got a lemon, for the most part and polaris has worked on their quality. Our Honda Rancher didnt fair as well as about 2.5yrs into its life i shelled out $850 for a overhaul heh. I then went to a 450 kodiak and now my current ride is MEH BABY lol, BF 650i---my favorite out of all those. Kawasaki needs only make a few refinements in suspension and minor handling and its topnotch. My 25 cents gl bud -joe