I use to have a 2002 Prairie 650 and I really liked it. It seamed to be the best of both worlds, 4x4 and sport, in fact it got me hook on sport ridding and that is why I decided to buy a Raptor. But I miss having a 4x4 and would like to buy another one. Like I said, I liked the Prairie 650, but the belt on it started squawking at less than 500 miles. This didn't affect the performance of the quad, but it was very frustrating to me, as I don't think that a quad with only 500 miles on it should have belt problems or noises, and it seams to be a very common problem with the Prairie 650. A riding partner of mine has a Polaris SP700 with almost 3,000 miles on it with no belt noise or trouble.

Anyway, to get back to the question, how is the belt system on the Grizzly 660? Does it give you any problems? Does it make any noise? How long does the belt last in the Grizzly 660 transmissions? And if it is better than the Prairie 650's belt transmission, why? How is it designed differently?

I know these are allot of questions, but if I buy another 4x4 I want to make sure that I will be completely satisfied with it. I'm not knocking the Prairie 650, like I said, the noise didn't affect the performance, but I am just the type of guy that can't stand to have something wrong with my quad that always needs, or can't be fixed. No matter if it is a little thing or not.

I like the features on the Grizzly 660 and Prairie 650 better than the SP700, but the SP700 definitely performs.

So if you guys could just take a little time and tell me about the belt transmission on the Griz 660 I would really appreciate it. Has anyone had any belt problems, and if so, was it just a rare case, or does the Grizzly 660 suffer from belt problems like the Prairie 650? I have heard something about a "Sprag Clutch" or something to that effect on the Grizzly 660, but I don't know anything about the design of belt transmissions. Does this sprag clutch make it better? Is this similar to what Polaris uses? Why is one belt transmission better than another? How does Yamaha?s belt transmission experience compare to Kawasaki?s, I know Polaris has been making them forever.

Thanks for any info that you guy's can give.

 

Anybody have any info on this? I know that there are allot of proud grizzly 660 owners out there, lets here from you.

 

I am no expert on the transmissions in any ATV, however I do own a 660 Grizz and spend lots of time on this board and others reading everything. I can honestly say that I have rarely seen anyone have any real problems with their transmissions, other than flooding out the belt housing, which is their own fault if you ask me. I would say that transmissions are definately not too much of an issue, if at all for the Grizz. There are other problems though, but none of which have not been resolved by individuals with a little work (overheating, vapor lock, weak floor boards, cv joint) but like I said all of these issues have been addressed by many different people by many different approaches, and pale in comparrison to some of the major problems that some other makes and models are experiencing. I have had a few "fits" with my machine, but I love the thing and wouldn't even consider any other machine on the market, IMHO.

 

Thanks for the info Mak660. I'm very interested in the Grizzly 660. I will have to spend some time reading the old post about it. I do hope that someone can tell me more about the transmission though. Thanks again.

 

I own a 2002 grizz 660, I have about 700 miles on it so far and haven't had any belt problems. I do live in the desert so not much experience muddin on one, therefore my belt case hasn't been under water. the belt vent system is in stock form pretty good unless you go really deep (headlight level) and there are some on the board who go deeper than that and have snorkled their belt system.

I did experience some of the vapor lock and gas boiling problems. I contribute most of that to my dealer not setting up my machine properly. I live at 4200 feet above sea level, my dealer is at 5000 ft and yet my machine was jetted at sea level. I ride mostly in the 6000 - 10,000 foot range.

once I took it back to dealer, made him re-jet me, he also adjusted my valves, all my heat problems went away.

I haven't had any other problems (except punctured tires) than those I list above. I am an experienced rider, and ride hard all the time.

I am very satisfied with my grizz! I don't have any experience with the other brand you mention, so I can't speak to any issues on the Kawasaki.

good luck on your purchase! if you go grizz, welcome aboard!!!

scoobie

 

Thanks Scoobie, I live in the desert as well, so I'm not to concerned about water, but we do have a lot of fine silt power type dust and dirt. I think riding behind people in that powdery stuff is what led to the belt sounds, but it seams that all Prairie 650 owners have their belts start squeaking. I was just curious about the differences between the Praire 650's belt trany and the Grizzly 660. Trying to find out if it is better than the Prairie?s and if so why. Thanks though.

 

Area51,
Keep in mind that with any belt drive 4x4, most premature belt wear is do to not using low-range when it should. My Grizz is up to 1500 miles with no belt problems. Also if you do ever get the belt wet, it sure is nice to have a drain plug.

Jeff

 

Hi! I can't believe you werent flooded with replies on this one! Oh well, here goes: Why the Ultramatic is different (better) than any other belt drive. The ultramatic is unique in the fact that the belt is always under tension. While other quads use a snowmobile type clutching set-up where the belt is loose until the belt is engaged at the pre set rpm's the ultramatic belt is always tight and uses a seperate wet clutch to engage the CVT. The belt on the Yammy is used for driveline power only, and is not used as a driveline engagement/disengagement tool as the others are. This means substantially less wear as the machine does not require the belt to slip initially to operate. As far as how long they last: I recently approached a client of mine who happens to be the shop foreman at a local Yamaha dealer, and asked him just out of curiosity how hard/how much is it to replace a belt. His completely honest answer after he thought about it for a minute was: "Don't know, never had to replace one". One other thing, the Yamaha's use a one way sprag clutch to utilize true engine braking on all four wheels. This works awesome.
Sorry for the long answer, I hope this helps.

 

Thanks RyGuy660, that is exactly the type of reply that I have been hoping for. I thought that I would get a lot of replies on it to, but I didn?t. I was about to give up on this post. I had heard that the Grizzly 660 belt transmission was different, but I didn't know how. This type of system does sound much better, as I would imagine that most ware on the belt is the initial slippage as the quad takes off. Tanks again.

 

Just for your ino the Arctic Cat and Suzuki use the same type of belt drive system. The belt is allways tight and the clutch only turns when the quad is moving. It makes for a longer wearing belt but these belts are more expensive than the Polaris belts. I know of no one that has replaced one. The Kawi uses a loose belt system and an electric engine braking system. The Kawi clutch needs to be shimmed quite often from what I have seen out of the ones I ride with. The Kawi belt is quite expensive also. It seems that most all are reliable though, with few problems out of any of them. The Yamaha, Cat and Suzuki systems seem to be the most maintenence free from what I have seen.