I'm interested in hearing from owners of these machines-
Do they tend to push more as you make turns?

How do they perform on the trail?

Do they handle well when packed for camping trips?

Outlawd

 

I rode my neighbors a coupla winters ago(350L, I think) while getting sap to make syrup, and going through the snow with an empty bed was useless. The 4 rear tires and 2 front tires just spun and spun and spun, until the guy I was with gave me a push on his 4X. Once there was some wieght in there(we got tired of getting stuck and packed snow into the bed) it went pretty good. It rides a little stiff with out a load, but seems to push on sharp corners (without the front wheels engaged) when it was wieghted down. But this was in snow too, so it probably doesn't push to bad on dirt. This was the old Trailboss(big boss?) type, so I don't know about the new sportsman 6X's, but they're probably about the same.

 

My 2000 Sportsman 6X6, steers great without the all wheel drive engaged. When the front wheels are engaged, it is tougher and adds to turning radius, actually have to stop/reverse, etc in tight places that you could normally turn. I now have the tracks on the back, and never use the awd, and it steers fine. The only exception is when there is lots of weight (600 lbs plus) in the bed and I am in mud, the front end is lifted high enough that it doesn't steer extremely well. I still have yet to get stuck (knock on wood), and have been through marsh and mud that no 4 wheeler would even consider. Of course the tracks make a huge difference. The tracks also work great on the trail, and I probably will never know how they do on snow.

 

OH BOY, A QUESTION FOR ME!!!
It rides a little rough without a load but if pushes through a lot of stuff in 4wd but when you switch it to 6wd all I can say it " steer into, hold on, and have fun." This machine will out climb, out mud, out pull, and out do almost every machine in every categorie. Crawling over downed trees or logs is an ease and mudding abilities are great. I added Vampire tires on mine and it just goes where I steer it. If you have ever driven a long wheel base truck, then you can drive the 6x6. It's just like driving a 4x4 with a few extra feet. If you want a work horse with a low LOW GEAR that crawls over logs/trees, hauls almost anything, pulls whatever is hooked up to it, trenches through the mud and climbs like no ones business, then you will like the 6x6. If you would like any more info e-mail me. Take a look at my pics also.
RYAN

 

It looks like Sportsman 6x6s are big in the lone star state! Great pix Ryan, and some interesting mods too. That looks like a very SERIOUS machine.

I’m considering a new Sportsman 6x6 myself, to add to our “fleet.” (’97 Max IV, ’99 Mag 500 and two ’01 SP HOs. The Magnum is for sale). All our current machines are used for recreation, with the exception of occasional snow plowing (8” yesterday). I won’t trail ride with the snow blade attachment on my SP so that means going through the hassle of installing it for plowing and removing it for riding. With a 6x6 I would leave the blade on it all winter and use the two HOs for trail riding. In the summer I’d use the 6x6 to move trailers around and transport whatever I’d want to put in the box. It could be used as a “spare” machine to offer quadless friends that might want to join us on a trail ride and when we trail camp (twice a year) I’d use it to pull our equipment trailer and to offer some extra payload. Too bad Polaris doesn’t put the EBS clutch on the 6x6.

We cringe at the thought of riding double, preferring to ride our own machines, but if we had another couple who wanted to ride and didn’t have machines, how comfortable would the 6x6 be for riding double? It can certainly handle the payload. How about seat size? With that backrest it looks like it might do very well.

And just out of curiosity, how does it perform with tracks? Top speed? Ride quality? Reliability? Putting tracks on machines like our Max is a pretty popular subject. Most who’ve tried them find them to be problematic to say the least. Complaints like rough ride, throwing tracks, very low top speed and burning up axle bearings are common. It seems like when they’re working they work very well but they don’t stay working very long.

 

I've only had my tracks on for about 60 hrs of ride time, but now problems yet (knock on wood again). I ride almost exclusively in low. 20-25 mph seems to be about my max speed. I was told by several people that have had tracks before that you end up with problems if you ride in high, especially when you try to start from a stop with any amount of weight in the bed. I also keep chain well greased as well as the entire machine. I disagree with anyone who claims a rough ride with the tracks. If anything it seems to be a little smoother, especially on roads with potholes, etc. I have a custom bed on mine, with three seats, dog box, and rack for duck decoys. I load it up with three 200 lb guys, my 100 lb dog, and another 100 lbs in gear, never have the need to go faster than 10 - 15 mph, and I have a dependable machine that will take me anywhere I want to go. My only concerns have been when I strayed into deep water because it doesn't turn rapidly to get back to shallow ground. Luckily it seems to have a bit of "float", even with all that weight, keeps the front end up and I keep on going.

 

About how deep did you have to go to get the front end to float??? I got about bottom of the fender or a little higher and only the rear would float in those pictures. Floodrunner, thanks for the complements and yes it will tear it up in the mud. It has yet to fail on me in the mud or water. I tried the racing course at Fun Wheeler Park and it didn't push through the water as fast as the 4x4's did but, it pushed on through without any straining of any kind.

 

Sounds like you have one heck of a “duckin” machine there. That’s what we use our Max for, that and deer hunting. We have a ¼ mile of river to cross to get to our hunting area on the other side, then another couple miles to ride through the woods and “swamp holes” to get to our blind. We have to have a machine that “swims” if we want to go anywhere here in the flood plane. If not for that I’d sell this Max in a heartbeat. We’ve had two of them since ’93, bought them both new (a ’93, then traded it for a ’97). Neither has held up well. They’ll do some impressive things but it breaks so often I only use it when I absolutely need to. That rules out recreational riding. Quads are LOTS more fun to ride anyway. The design of the quads and Polaris 6x6 is far more sophisticated and superior to the “agricultural” tolerances of the Max design. And the Polaris 6x6 costs less, unfortunately it’s not amphibious.

It sounds like you’ve made some modifications to carry 3 adults. What about two adults on the stock seat setup. Is that a reasonably comfortable way to ride?

 

In regards to being comfortable with two on the stock seat, I would say for short distances, ok, for extended riding no. There is no rear rack on the 6X6 to hold onto for the second rider, so they have to hold on to the front rider. Not too bad if it is your slim/petite girlfriend, but not that great if it is your hunting buddy Billy Bob. Also there is a release lever for the bed that would be a tempting grab if things got rough. You can put a pin in under the bed to avoid unplanned releases. The seat seems larger than a quad (although I haven't compared and I've never owned a quad), and the rear rest makes it a pretty comfortable. Overall, I prefer to not ride double.

 

The deepest water I have gone through (and not on purpose) is about 4 to 4.5 feet deep. I think having the back weighted down with people helps to keep the front end up. I don't have the snorkels that you have and try to avoid deep water when possible, and always get nervous when it starts to get too much over the floorboards. Nervous withstanding, it hasn't failed me yet.