Sarge; These guys make great points about finding a good Polaris dealer, I am fortunate enough to have a top 100 dealer near me that is great but... from what I have seen a polaris franchise must be pretty easy to aquire because there are a lot of little mom and pop dealers out there that just don,t offer the service that you will find at some of the better dealers. Choose you dealer carefully also its not just a Polaris thing our local Kawasaki and Yamaha dealer is just like I just described They started off selling Ford tractors and then decided they wanted to get in the 4wheeler buisness and as one can imagine tractor mechanics just don,t make very good 4wheeler mechanics this dealer really has suffered due to his poor service dept.

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Kevin Gowdy aka Kagey 1999 Polaris Magnum 500

 

You say you want to use it for hunting, trail riding and plowing. Well, your not a small man, so the first thing is to get on each one and see which fits you better. There's nothing worse than being deep in the woods on a quad that kills your back and rear! As far as comfort and size, the magnum is likely to be better. Same with power, no doubt. This extra power will come in handy for dragging, hauling, and plowing. I'm not sure about the Kodiak, but I know the magnum has TRUE 4wd, this is a HUGE plus for plowing. I have a 99 sportsman, and I do agree it is high maintenance. But that's what is expected with that setup. independant suspension has alot of moving parts; gotta keep 'em moving. I knew this when I bought it; I do the maintenance, and it performs well for me. Had I wanted a solid rear axle on my atv, I would have probably gone with a magnum, just for the fact that it has true 4wd. I have seen too many 3wd quads get stuck where you wouldn't expect them to. And don't think it won't happen to you, because it will. The Kodiak looks like a fine machine, if it had more cc's and true 4wd(of which I'm not sure) I would consider one myself. But for power and comfort, the Magnum's the choice.