I was out cruising in the snow today after mounting my Warn 2.5 winch and Moose 60" plow. I dropped the plow to venture in the woods. While driving in a culvert the 700 fell through the ice into 2 feet of mudd, and dam was everything hogged up. So I decided to take a dip in the creek which looked shallow to give it a bath. As I motored up stream it suddenly got really deep, I mean deep. The water was over the rack in front. I've never driven in water like this and after the panic moment I realized that if I just keep on the throttle it stayed up in the water pretty well. It by no means floated, but it all most felt like it as long as I stayed on the throttle. I was cold and wet from the waist down, and really impressed what it had just gone through.

 

[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-happy.gif[/img]

 

don't worry, polaris atv's act as make shift submarines when they have to. during the summer i do a lot of riding on the south canadian river (sandy river in ok) there's all kinds of suprises & very deep holes,i have had my sportsman in water over the handlebars many times. the key is however, how far is it to the other side. most of the time i can cross 4' of water for about 10 ft. anything after that, im down for about 30 min. i hate to sound like a gradeschool teacher, but if you do a lot of water driving make sure to change your oil frenquently & keep it greased!

 

oh yea, i forgot to say, if you ever get into really deep water, your 700 will float if your not on it. so don't worry about losing it at the bottom of some hole.

 

Really... It did feel kind of light when in the water, but at 800 lbs I would think it would be a rock.

 

I PUT MY 500HO THRU THE ICE IN THIRTY PLUS FEET OF WATER AND ILL TELL YOU THIS THEY DON'T
FLOAT IT WAS ALL I COULD DO TO HOLD IT UP WHILE LAYING ON THE ICE UNTIL HELP CAME.

A SPORTSMAN 600 OWNER TOLD ME HOWEVER WHEN HIS WENT THRU THE ICE IT CAME BACK TO
THE TOP AFTER 20 MINS. UNDER WATER. I think it may have something to do with what add ons
are on the machine but as far as a 700 floating I won't bet on it.

2003 sportsman 500ho
2003 kodiak 400
2003 breeze

 

VSchlitz,
COOL![img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-happy.gif[/img]

must have been fun!

BTW, be sure to pre-stretch that new winch cable. it's easy and will extend the life of the cable.

 

Pre stretch. So do I just pull all of the cable out, hook it to a tree and winch it back in with the weight of the atv acting as resistance.

 

YES!
note: when you spool it out, don't pull it all the way out. leave about 3-4 winds on the drum. use about 500lbs resistance when you spool-in and you'll be all set!

 

my 500 does float, it has rack extenders,front & rear bumper. i run 5psi. in my tires, my friend says that his 700 floats to, other than than the extras that you have on your ride, there could be something to the real cold water & tire inflation.