Tie on to another ATV and see if extra cc will matter, it won't. I do it all the time for the heck of it. The both ATV just dig there ruts and no one goes anywhere, Try it one day don't type about it.

here is a you tube of how it always turns out.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ERSGqiOWnIw

 

For everyone you show me like that, I can show you one like this.

YouTube - ATV PULL OFF

I've already wasted too much time on this silly kid stuff.

 

The ATV pulls are all about traction...given equal traction to the point of stalling the wheels from turning without forward movement ,assuming the driveline will hold up,the more powerful machine will out pull the less powerful one. But that is neither here nor there since most ATVs will have less traction than power..ie the wheels will spin before the engine stalls..that or something else will give up. So what is the benefit of haveing more power than traction? There is a benefit IMO..is it a requirement?..no..but is it benficial..yes of course..otherwise we'd all ride 200 cc machines. What makes a 550 any better than a 400? I mean I bet you it with stock tires if you tied a 400 to a pole it will spin all 4 tires...so does that mean the 500,550,800 and 850 owners are all crazy for wanting more power than a 400 has? What is the benefit then? Accomplish the same tasks with less pecentage of maximum load on the engine IMO.

Let me add an analogy to drive home the point I tried to make in an earlier post. Now I know we aren't talking directly about towing but since I have no plowing experience I have to relate it to something. I'm sure you guys have hauled heavy trailers before...so have I. A 4cyl truck will tow a heavy trailer and get the job done,albeit maybe not safely,but it will tow a pretty amazing amount of weight. BUT you will have to push a 4cyl truck alot harder to tow a given load than you will say an 8cyl. Where the 4cyl may not maintain speed on an incline,even at full throttle,the 8 cyl will...herein lies the benefit of more power IMO..
Plowing is going to work a 550 harder than it will an 850....JMHO.

On a side note I was moving my camper today with the 850 and being in a hurry I forgot to raise the outriggers..I went to take off and didn't move but it spun all 4 32's with ease,as quick as I noticed it was spinning the 32's I let out realizing my goof. It had dug 4 holes about 6-8" deep in semi-hard ground/grass..oh and it towed the 1500# camper with ease once I pulled up the outriggers..lol.

 

Great example, a 500 Foreman or Rubicon will out pull a larger more powerful 680 Rincon,why because the the 680 has no low range.

 

Sure..heck a 5 hp engine can out pull a 50 hp engine if it is set up with a lot lower gear ratio final drive than the 50 hp engine...the tractor example mentioned earlier.. that is one of 2 main reasons tractors pull so well..in general gearing on tractors is VERY low,and they have traction/weight. Heck my lawn tractor will pull my 1500 # pop-up like it isn't even there..but it moves it VERY slow lol....but that is all gearing and that is getting way out of the relam of "all else being equal" except engine power.

 

Last winter I plowed tons of snow with the 850 and tracks.....Traction was about as good as you can get in winter conditions. In low, the machine just plowed and only stopped when I hit a wall of something hidden or a frozen mountain of ice. In fact, I bent the top of plow right over before I could get off the throttle. What does this mean.....not sure to this discussion except the fact that the 850 has little to no trouble pushing lots of snow. You hardly get on the throttle. It'll easily damage the plow gear. It's like a small tractor with the tracks. I guess my point is, with that much traction, you could run out of power, but I never came close; it just collapsed the plow before it would stop. It's a pretty efficient use of gas....not a whole lot of throttle. -It's late, not sure if I'm making any sense.

 

[quote=HIGHOCTANE;2797495]The ATV pulls are all about traction...given equal traction to the point of stalling the wheels from turning without forward movement ,assuming the driveline will hold up,the more powerful machine will out pull the less powerful one. But that is neither here nor there since most ATVs will have less traction than power..ie the wheels will spin before the engine stalls..that or something else will give up. So what is the benefit of haveing more power than traction? There is a benefit IMO..is it a requirement?..no..but is it benficial..yes of course..otherwise we'd all ride 200 cc machines. What makes a 550 any better than a 400? I mean I bet you it with stock tires if you tied a 400 to a pole it will spin all 4 tires...so does that mean the 500,550,800 and 850 owners are all crazy for wanting more power than a 400 has? What is the benefit then? Accomplish the same tasks with less pecentage of maximum load on the engine IMO.
Yes a larger engine will accomplish some tasks easier and pulling is a whole lot different than pushing(try pushing a snow shovel then try to pull the same shovel, pushing is a lot easier in this situation). When I look at ATV for plowing sidewalks commercially I take these things into consideration. Max blade width 54" so it will be 48" at full angle which is the width of a standard sidewalk here. The machine's footprint has to be 48" or less. Having plowed snow with a 700 grizz and an 800 popo twin on that blade size it is overkill. If I had a 60" I could see wanting more weight and power. Feeding the extra horses that are not producing any economic benefit gets old in a hurry. Plus the torque and throttle response and gearing with these big bores makes hooking up and saying hooked difficult. The 500 class has all the power needed for plowing. Even maxed out to all the specified weight capacities, the 550 and 500 has enough power to loose traction before it runs out of power. In my Lawn mowers I have run out of power before the belt slips while cutting thick grass, and then I have machines that will blow the belt off and never strain the engine. The perfect balance is right on the line between traction and power and efficiency. The macine that will blow the belt off if a 45hp 4 cylinder 72" cut and then the other is the same series machine with a 27 hp 4 cyl that the engine strains when in heavy grass. Running these machines side by side you see that on equal fuel tanks that you get 2 hours more work out of the 27 hp. So the only advantage is that the engine life expectancy to overhaul is almost 2000 hours longer with the 45 hp, almost 2.5 more seasons up here. The stress factor plays a role on this example. The funny thing is that these machines weigh 1900# and my 600# rubicon with my 270 has the traction to get it out of most situations. I could hook on to the back of that 45 hp mower with the 27 hp rubicon which gives up over 1000#'s and pull it all over the yard while it would be spinning its wheels trying to get away. This would be over once we hit tar, the the behemoth's weight and turf tires would get the best of wheeler.
A 4cyl truck will tow a heavy trailer and get the job done,albeit maybe not safely,but it will tow a pretty amazing amount of weight. BUT you will have to push a 4cyl truck alot harder to tow a given load than you will say an 8cyl. Where the 4cyl may not maintain speed on an incline,even at full throttle,the 8 cyl will...herein lies the benefit of more power IMO..
Plowing is going to work a 550 harder than it will an 850....JMHO.
Exactly right, except on plowing, power for the situation. The four clynder was designed for efficiency going down the highway with a box full of grocerys. Diesels and V 8's were designed to work hence tow ratings. If you have a 1500# boat and trailer you can pull it with a car efficiently, now if your pulling my dump traler that weighs 5300# empty with a 23600 gvwr then you deffinately NEED a heavy duty truck. While the may move the heavy trailer it wouldn't do it safely, efficiently, or for very long. What my point is, you don't NEED a 1 ton truck to get the groceries (unless your getting a TON of groceries). Plowing really does not work the engine at all I have never needed full throttle while plowing. Plus it says in the owners manual of any plow not to exceed 5mph while plowing LOL. Guess I better hold the brakes and not go 20 down the walks. Torque and power actually hurt traction on ice. The big bores want to shoot you sideways.

 

HO, you already know this but:
A turbo set up is still affected by altitude. 14 psi at sea level is different than 14 psi at 12000 feet. Its all relevant to current atmospheric pressure.

 

Yes...but not in the sense I was talking about...assuming a supercharger and a turbo both cabable of achieving the desired boost level at 12000 ft..a superchargers boost level is dialed in with the pulley ratio..so a set up that makes 10 psi at sea level will not make 10 psi at 12000 ft unless the pulley ratio is changed..,therefore boost and power power will fall at altitude...a turbo's boost level(pressure) is controlled by the wastegate..so as long as the turbo is of sufficient size and the wastegate is set up properly the turbo set up should make the same boost at 12000 that it does at sea level..where altitude noticably would affect a turbo set up would be if the turbo was not of sufficient size....at some point the turbo could not move enough air to maintain the desired boost level even with the wastgate completelty closed...so yes turbos are affected by altitude but a turbo set up with a good wastegate can be set up can compensate for altitude autonomously.

 

Thanks folks for all the inputs. I'm getting quotes on the 850 now. I can't decide between the EPS or non-EPS at this point but I suppose price will decide that for me! Thanks much to everyone for their inputs.
Cheers,
jlc