Hi All,
I'm new, I just now joined to try to find some answers as to why I keep burning belts on my machine.
I've had it since May '07. Have had zero problems with it until I burnt the 1st belt this spring. I was stupid and went through what I thought was just a little mud in 2 wheel & high. It wasn't just a little mud. It was a hole. Before I realized what was happening the belt was burnt. Bad. It thumped all the way back to the trailer. I replaced that belt and burnt it again pulling my husband on his 800 out of our swamp. I was in 4 wheel, reverse, winching in, with the reverse override button pushed in when it burnt. This same situation burnt it the 3rd time and now for the 4th time on Saturday. Needless to say, I refuse to pull him & his machine's fat *** out ever again. I'm obviously doing something wrong. But I also thing this machine should be able to handle this... am I wrong? So anyway, I believe there's a bigger problem going on here, obviously. Are the clutches misaligned?? How do I check this? Need specific info, I do all the work myself and I'm just a dumb girl... well, not really, but I'm becoming a pro at changing that belt!
Don't be too hard on me! I just want to get my baby fixed!
Thanks in advance,
Tammy

 

Your clutch faces may be glazed from the first time. This will cause any other belt that you put on not to grip properly. If it is the drive sheave I have held sandpaper on it to remove the glaze BUT BE CAREFUL. On the driven have roughted them up manually with sandpaper.

Reverse gear ratio is kinda between lo & hi.

Maybe you should take the 800 so you can pull his "fat ***" out when he gets stuck.

 

If you're burning the belts out in high, it's because you should be in low. If you're buning them up in low then somehing really is wrong, like the clutch alignment. Reverse is kind of low but more of a medium range and should be able to your husband's fat ***. I would still try only using low range and not reverse if possible.

Frank

 

Thanks upnort! I will check for this. Can you see or would you more likely feel the glazing on the clutch faces?
Wouldn't ya know he wrecked his winch on Saturday too? Previous to Saturday, it wouldn't hold under really high pressure and now it won't do a damn thing. And, of course, not a tree in sight. And of course, he says the only reason I've got a winch on my machine is so that he always has someone to pull him out when he needs it. I try not to ride the 800 too much. All that power goes to your head. My husband is a prime example. Then put some 28" Mudlites on it and you get stuck a lot!
I see you aren't too far from me! We ride the Cattail trail pretty frequently. I really like the Intensive Use Area past Almena. It's nice to get to play a little bit.
Tammy

 

I guess I need to get a winch for the rear too! [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-happy.gif[/img]
The reason I say him & his machine's fat asses is because together they weigh about 1000 pounds then if you add in the 5 tons of crap that he's plowing on his way out, I can't even imagine how much I'm really pulling!
I usually brace myself against a tree and just winch him in, but there's not always trees around and me & my 500 just don't weigh enough to pull this kind of weight without using reverse.
So how do I go about making sure the clutches are aligned? Will I visually be able to see that they are out of alignment?
Tammy

 

Hi Tammy,

You will definately see it and depending on severity the face may even be grooved. It will have most likelt a dark shiny ring. If it has gotten as far as grooving you will most likely not get it out w/o machining it out.

To properly check alighnment you need a gauge as only a few thousanths differentiates between proper alignment and out, can't remember what it is off top of my head.

Your 500 actually doesn't weigh much less than an 800, think is like 40 - 50#'s

As you can see from my signature I have an 800 also but only 27" mudlites. I don't let it go to my head....... much. [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-wink.gif[/img] The mud tires don't keep you from getting stuck usually get you stuck worse.

When you are pulling him out is it a dead pull or is he under power to help?

I am a member of the Cattail atv club. Don't really ride the trail as it is pretty boring to me. When I do always have to hit the play area. Hoping they get DNR approval for their mud pit.

 

Thanks for the info!
I'm going to take it apart tonight hopefully and try to get to the bottom of it.
Yep. That's been my experience. They don't get him through it, they just help him dig deeper!
It's not a dead pull- he calls it a temporary delay... [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-wink.gif[/img]
I definately agree it's a BORING trail compared to some others I've been on. But it's nice to get out so close to home when you have a craving to ride!
Tammy

 

Tammy,

Use these rules of thumb and you will never, ever burn a belt:

1. Riding under 15 mph - low range always
2. Riding slow technical terrain - low range always
3. Steep climbing - low range always
4. Towing - absolutley anything - low range always
5. Never pull anything heavy when in reverse (geared much too high)

If you are winching him out - do just that. Sit still and winch him out with the Sportsman brake on and in park. Let the winch do the work, not the belt. You won't have an issue. If you are pulling him out backwards using the winch line, you are going to get in trouble. Turn your machine around and throw a static line to his machine, put yours in low, and haul his fat *** out!!

The Sportaman will go near as fast in reverse as it will in high range forward - reverse is geared way too high for pulling - don't do it!

I sold my '98 Sportsman 500 to the neighbor last fall. I bought the machine new and used it for pleasure as well as work. I pull cars around the yard with it. The heaviest thing I pull is the hay wagon. I always follow the rules above. The '98 still has the original belt on it and there is nothing wrong with it.

I now have a 2007 Sportsman 500 EFI with almost 1000 miles on it. It does the same work the '98 did, including pulling the hay wagon around the yard. In low range, these machines are beasts.

When you first take off the pulleys tighten against the belt. In a pulling situation if you ease into the throttle the pulleys move in and slip a lot on the belt. If you continue this way you will generate a lot of heat, destroy the belt and glaze the clutch faces. Get on the throttle a bit heavier so the clutches get a firm grip on the belt and hook up.

As for cleaning the glaze off the clutch faces (if there is any), be careful. You don't want the clutch faces rough or gouged. I have done this with fine sandpaper on my snowmobile clutches, but only if absolutley required, and not in the last 10 years.

We use our machines here at home on mostly flat ground - but we pull each other out of the swamps and ditches, cars around the yard, the hay wagon, aerators, sprayers, trailers, dead mowers etc. We ride at Casparis in Fayette County Pennsylvania, and let me tell you the hills and rock crawling there provide some serious pucker factor. We run in low range most of the day when we are there. The hills and river crossings there challenge the machine. We have never had a belt problem in all these years, but we live by the rules above (8 Sportsman of varying years and engines).

I hope this helps!!

deej

 

I have tried using park & just winching- I get pulled in. I will definately try your suggestion for pulling him out!
Thank you!

 

What I mean by "dead pull" is just pulling his fat *** sitting on the machine with your machine or is he helping by having it in gear & going also. Whenever I have to pull out I mainly use the winch as an assist to my AWD, it helps alot. He don't have a winch? I prefer to hook my winch to someones rear hitch and pull myself out using winch & AWD both.