Bogs in Fwd, Lots of Power in Reverse
 

Let the kids out on my Polaris Sportsman yesterday. Big mistake.
When they brought it back it Was overheating, and they said it was going real slow.
So I decided to check the radiator, fill it up, all good. Take it out back down the hill to do some field work, she is great.
Now she won't come back up the hill, even small hills, she just bogs. Won't spin the tires, just can't seem to get enough drive to make it up hills. Going forward on level or downhill she is like her old self.
Turn her around and put her in reverse and she has lots of power, no bogging.

Any ideas?

I'd check the belt before I did any thing else.Kids and atv belts are like mixing oil and water,they don't mix.. Plus pull the radiator cap,let it run awhile until the fan kicks on several times.This should remove any trapped air in the system that may have remained after you filled the radiator. Trapped air can cause over heating again. Hopefully sounds like they just glazed/burnt up the belt.Even a burnt belt can sometimes run better in reverse than forward.. Kids, I love em to death. Had several mounted on the wall at the shop or at least had a couple kids in mind I wanted to stick up there so they couldn't tear up any more stuff :)

Thanks. I had noticed a real burning rubber smell when the kids came back, so I am hoping it is the belt! Not I'm off to YouTube-land in hopes of finding a video that will cover this process. Of course, I need to find the belt before I get too crazy!

Hardest part is pulling the cover.Just pull the belt up in the middle,roll it off the rear clutch an off the front clutch. Plus stay with oem belts,less problems than with aftermarket ones on fitment.

Hey Old Polaris Tech.

Thanks for the video. The old belt came off real easy, was pretty stretched, some chunks taken off the sides and the outside. Inside looked pretty good really. Made me doubt.
Went to the shop, got a new belt. In your video putting it on is pretty tough, with an audible SNAP when it lands where it belongs. Mine went on fairly easy, no big snap, and still looked loose. But fired her up, and she went right up the hill she couldn't get up before.
As a bonus I found a great shop that told me to call if I had any trouble, they would walk me through the install over the phone. I'll probably take both in for a pre-season check.

Now i gotta fix my damned winch which wound up the cable OUTSIDE the spool....ooh I hate it when that happens!

Thanks again for the help.

Either hide the key,install a dead man switch that the kids don't know about or mount em on the wall as I suggested.. :) Good luck..