how do you do in the ice and the snow?

 

i have a scrambler 400. it goes pretty good in the snow. you can get around pretty decent in snow up to around 8". i had mine out today and we have about 10" here. it goes, but it definitely pulls and slides and spins alot. there is an amount of snow that any quad, even with 4 wheel, won't go good in. i burried mine today in a snow drift of about 16" deep. it sucked, i had to dig it out. i would have to say that the polaris' are probably one of the best quads you are going to find when it comes to snow.

bigdevil/'99 scrambler 400

 

My Xplorer 250 goes through the snow great, it would would even be better with taller tires the 23 inch front and 24 rear don't give it allot of ground clearance. The true 4 wheel drive really pulls it through the snow well.

 

The scrambler 400's do great in the snow even with the stock tires on them since I have a 98 scram 400 and my buddy that I ride with all the time has a 97 scram 400 and we have gone through 16 to 20 inches of snow at least for at least a couple of miles of trail and just keep pushing the snow with the front end.

98 scrambler 400
97 scrambler 400
99 scrambler 400

 

I just got a Scrambler 400 and I think it does awesome in the snow within reason. I was riding some back snowmobile trails last night, they had about 9" of loose snow on a packed trail. I made a wrong turn onto a side trail and got stuck, when I got off the quad I sunk up to my chest in snow. It took me about 5 minutes to dig myself out and the quad was to sunk in to get it out by myself. I had to hike out and leave it for the night, I hiked back up today with a come-along and my two brothers for help. We got it out in 15 minutes and all three of us got on it and rode out. I felt like I was on a snowmobile untill I got stuck, it is a blast to ride in the snow.

 

Not bragging,but I think that my 99 Polaris Sportsman with 26 inch Mudrunners,AWD system that spins ALL 4 tires and heavy weight of 697lbs dry is probably the best 4x4 quad in snow currently on todays market.Giving the above stats,one can see why I feel that way.====BILL

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My 00' Mag325 4x4 works great in the snow. In southern MD here, we had about 18 inches of snow. I couln't even get my new Mazda 4x4 out of the driveway it was so deep, but the 325 went everywhere. I think people in my neighborhood were pissed as I drove by them while they were trying to get their vehicles un-stuck. I went through some pretty hefty snow drifts as well. Not to say that I didn't get stuck a few times, but I could easily rock it back and forth to break free and continue on my way.

 

My Scrambler 500 works great in 2-4 inches, but when it gets over 6 inches, there's trouble...because 6 inches in general translates to occasional drifts of nearly 12 inches. The Scrambler will sit up on the snow while the tires slowly spin /dig out the hole.

(learned that the hard way this weekend, so I went in and got the 'ol Jag 440 running. The ZRT needs some clean gas and she'll scream again too)



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Rich Weinssen 1999 Scrambler 500 2000 Scrambler 500 2000 Trail Boss 1998 Magnum 425

 

I went ice fishing sunday to a remote trout lake in northern minnesota. There is about 10
inches of snow. Part of the trip was on a logging road and snowmobiles had already gone
through and packed the trail down. My expedition 425 cc 5 speed road on top, so no challenge yet. On the lake, there was between
8 and 10 inches of snow. My atv drove through
it all, but I noticed that in 4 wd. the front
tires try to dig down in the snow instead of riding on top. Sometimes it was better driving in 2wd. as the front tires did not dig down. Im still using stock 25 inch tires untill this spring when I get 26 inch mud bugs. The atv would swing from left to right quite a bit too as the tire lugs in the front
would grab on one side or other. Not really a problem. The atv kept moving. My son took off
on my atv and said he got it stuck once, when
he turned it around in the soft snow. He got off the machine and pushed the atv and pegged
the throttle a little bit and it popped out. So as I see it: 1. We need some kind of proper tire in the front. The stock rear tires work fine. 2. atv's unlike snowmobiles that have flat tracks that pack down the snow
as they go, do not bog down. Atv's on the other hand. The snow piles up underneath the belly plate because the plate does not move as a snowmobile track does. Eventually the snow wants to cause the atv to get hung up. I
will have to wait till next winter to find out if the mud bugs make a difference. Im not
saying that atv's are no good in the snow. Of
course chains improve the situation to. I took a spin around the lake by myself and I had to keep my atv in 2nd. gear as when I switched to 3rd. I did not have enough power to keep my atv going. Gearing back down to 2nd. and it would keep going. I dont get that
much speed in 2nd. gear so, I could not go fast. I guess these are all, minor inconviences for snow travel. Maybe someone could brain storm a real good solution for the front tire problem that might make a big improvement. I think that if the snow had been 12 or 14 inches or so, it might have been too deep for my atv with 25 inch tires.

rangerchet, polaris expedition 425 cc 5 speed.

 

Ranger;let me start off by saying I'm not putting your machine down,but as you say with the shift either you have speed or power.I rode my buddies Kodiak and found that out if I had enough speed to attack snow drift was ok,till half way through then needed more power if you tried to shift, down you went.That to me is good side of automatic,I know they aren't for everyone but have found auto fits my situation.Your definately right about the chains they will give you considerabley more traction.I bought mine at garage sale for like $5,then cut them down to fit.You definately have to use chain tightners with them,we just use black rubber tie down straps.COB

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THE FORMER CORNCOB2