I want to know if anybody has ever had problems with the Ultramatic tranny, cause someone told my dad that plowing snow could cause tranny problems and he refuses to drop the plow against the ground....he sets the skids on the plow fully extended so the plow is like 1-1/2" off the ground....

 

Our family has owned eight Yamaha ATVs with the ultramatic transmission in the last six years. I had a problem with one of them. I installed a clutch kit, and when it came time to reassemble everything I could not remember if one of the washers went on the front shaft or the rear shaft, so I put it on the front shaft. It turned out that the washer should have went on the rear shaft, so the "extra" washer on the front shaft kept the nut from tightening down fully against the sheave, and the front sheave wobbled around on the shaft and stripped the splines on the sheave. That happened within a day of installing the parts incorrectly, so it was pretty obvious what had caused the problem. It cost me something like $60 for a new sheave, and after putting the washers where they were supposed to go I never had any more problems. All I had to do to see where the washer was supposed to go was look at the microfische at the dealership, which I should have done to begin with. Other than that one problem our Yamaha transmissions have been trouble free, with an estimated 15,000 miles worth of total use. We have two Jeeps for daily drivers, so don't even bother plowing snow around our place, because the more snow we have, the more fun we have getting into the driveway. But we have used the ATVs pulling logs, pulling other ATVs, etc., when out in the mountains. Hope that helps some. I suppose the answer to your question is : No they are not indestructable. Just let me work on it for you, and I'll bet I can screw it up, LOL. If you leave it alone they work pretty good though.

DV

 

My Kodiak has over 2000 miles now, with zero problems. I did dunk it last weekend, and got water in the belt case. Water was up to the racks. I just drained it and had no further problems. I also plowed snow last year, pulled logs out of the woods, and pulled many different kinds of trailers, and have not had to change the belt yet. Plus it shifts so much better than most Polaris, Kawasaki, and Arctic Cats that I have ridden.

 

I had the moose set up for a while with no issues what so ever. Just keep it in low. You could burn out the belt if you drive to slow in high. The only issue I had was the plow push tubes scraping on the ground. That cleared up by the way with the 26" tires. If that was an issue, crawling in the mud or the steep would pose the same risk. Or pulling a trailer for that matter. If you don't go with a plow, that's just too bad. They work pretty good for what they are.

 

Oh yeah, and captainskodiak, the water filling up. Happened to me, but it entered in a different spot then I thought. I noticed the belt air breather in the front. If you follow the tube going to the belt housing. My slipped off some reason. Water entered there, never went over my front or rear racks. go figure. Other people had this issue also.

 

I had that problem with my 01 400 Kodiak (nothing a fernco coupler and silicone couldn't fix) but I've heard they supposedly fixed the problem on the 450's. I keep crossing my fingers because I LOVE the water& mud.

 

The Ultramatic System is hands down the best CVT setup you can get. Just as long as you don't get it wet haha. You should never have to replace a belt with the Ultramatic System.

Put it in low and drop that plow. That thing is built for work.

 

In my opinion both the Yamaha and the Arctic Cat transmissions are the best and most reliable made. I have worked on all of the machines mentioned above and that has been my experiance. TORK.

 

I think the Ultramatic is one of the best set-ups out there right now, I never hear of any problems with it and the belts last a long time and don't need adjustments! Sure it's not a sealed unit and you will get water and mud in there if you go deep enough, but drain the water and clean the mud out and it's ready to go again. I'm on my fourth auto Yamaha and no troubles yet!