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Posted by: Kraw
I've seen Polaris, Suz, and Yam all being used at Ft Polk over the years.
Posted by: Specta
Has this turned into another "Polaris is better because" thread?
Why would anyone ever think that an ATV picked by any government agency makes it any better than any other ATV? It must be all that "government intelligent" they use to make their decisions. It was probably a cook that wrote the specs when he wasn't peeling potatoes.
Just take a look at the one that BigBadScrambler posted, it looks like something that Bombardier designers were involved in.
If I was out in the middle of no-where in a foreign country with my life in harms way, I would hope I was on something other than one of those, perhaps a Rancher.
Posted by: DanW
The military has issued new contracts for different versions of the Polaris 700, including the one posted by BigBadScrambler, so I doubt that they have been as bad as some have said.
When the US first went into Afghanistan, they were equipped with some Polaris quads, but they came under such demand that they went to ATV stores near their home bases and bought up everything they had. They also equipped as many as possible with all the Goodyear run-flat tires they could find. They bought examples of every brand on the market. They have run them hard and well beyond their rated load capacities, and that is why many auto tranny's failed, including Hondas, Suzuki's, and Kawasakis. The new Polaris that BigBadScrambler posted has a much beefed-up tranny in it. The environment that they are running them in is FAR more rugged and treacherous than many realize. They are also running them 24/7 vs. occasional weekend use that they see back home. They are putting thousands of miles on them very quickly. It is also one of the dustiest environments in the world, which doesn't help. They are also running them at high altitudes, so I would imagine that the EFI 700 is looking pretty good to the military right now and may have been the main reason that Polaris introduced it to the civillian market sooner than AC or others working on EFI.
I have a picture sitting here on my desk of an Arctic Cat 500 auto 4x4 being used by troops guarding aircraft in Kuwait. You'll find just about every brand represented over there.
Posted by: DanW
Quote
Originally posted by: RhinoOffRoad
Quote
Originally posted by: DanW
The military has issued new contracts for different versions of the Polaris 700
your information is outdated. check your source.
The development of the Polaris Sportsman MV is part of a military contract to several manufacturers. They are currently undergoing evaluation. There are other manufacturers providing prototypes as well.
My original source is a soldier who was home for 2 week leave last month. He said they use any brand they can get their hands on. His unit mostly uses Polaris, but has others as well. He said they have broken every brand at one time or another. He said they also extensively use John Deere Gators.
He also said that the military strongly prefers automatic transmissions on the ATV's.
Hey, I'm not a loyalist for Polaris. I'm just sharing what I was told in an interesting conversation.
Posted by: DanW
Quote
Originally posted by: scaboy
What individual would want spend $16,000-$22,000 on the Polaris SP700
that the Military uses ?
A recent issue of I think" ATV Magazine" published this info.
peace
scaboy
The contract for the Polaris Sportsman MV, which is heavily modified, is for just under 12,000 dollars, which is not bad considering the history of bloated charges to the military. That price is good through 2007, according to Polaris.
Posted by: DanW
Quote
Originally posted by: akfireman
hey dan, whats the possibility of scanning the pic of the Arctic Cat and posting it for the non-cat fans, that would be a great pic to see.
I don't have a scanner. I cut it out of an issue of Aviation Week and Space Technology, but I don't remember the date. I might try to take a pic with my digital cam and post it in my picture page on the forum.
Posted by: DanW
Quote
Originally posted by: Specta
Has this turned into another "Polaris is better because" thread?
Why would anyone ever think that an ATV picked by any government agency makes it any better than any other ATV? It must be all that "government intelligent" they use to make their decisions. It was probably a cook that wrote the specs when he wasn't peeling potatoes.
Just take a look at the one that BigBadScrambler posted, it looks like something that Bombardier designers were involved in.
If I was out in the middle of no-where in a foreign country with my life in harms way, I would hope I was on something other than one of those, perhaps a Rancher.
Re read the thread. Nobody is singing big praises of Polaris. I simply pointed out that they are not the only ones that have broken down in Afghanistan. The military beats the heck out of these things and in many cases they have hauled loads beyond their rated capacities over some of the toughest terrain in the world. They have used just about every brand of utility ATV that they could get their hands on, so they are certainly not all Polaris machines. I spoke to a soldier who told me that they have punished the machines and that they had breakdowns among all of the brands. He did not say and I did think at the time to ask which ones held up the best. He did say, however, that they have continued to purchase new units, including all the makes, and use them. His experience there with ATV's led him to the sport. I met him and talked to him at the Badlands when he came over to talk to me about my Arctic Cats.
Posted by: raptor8
ive seen some pics of them in daylight, and while i dont know much about utes, I think theyre polaris.
Posted by: raptor8
yeah man that would not be the place for a reliability problem whew!
they gotta be strong to be thrown out of helicopters and such.....i saw a MAIL CALL where the PJs were using one as an ambulance... pretty cool!
Posted by: raptor8
personally I would prefer my tax dollars be spent here in the States... and the one they use is prob not stock, so I hope they're getting MY money's worth! hehe BR>yeah and an automatic would be the only way to go.
Posted by: raptor8
wow i didnt know that... so many diff brands... of course we call 'em "world market" units nowadays eh?
i'll bet it depends on who's in office too?
Posted by: raptor8
wow! rhino and woods, did you guys get that recent survey of a quad that looks like a little dune buggy? I wondered who it was.
it looks cool, like a little side by side dune buggy. i cant see how theyll keep it under 50" wide tho.
maybe a civilan version...
I'm not big on utes, but I'd like my Dad to have one of those Rhinos....he'd love it!
Posted by: raptor8
the one i saw on tape from Iraq had to be similar, cuz they loaded a stoakes crosswise on the back. I dont rem that weird rack sticking up tho.
Posted by: BigBadScrambler
This is the Polaris SP700 that the Military uses
Posted by: reconranger
OK, I'll go ahead and say what I know the rest of you non-Polaris owners are all thinking: You KNOW whatever bike it is, the main factor in the choice is that it be an AUTOMATIC! My hunch is AUTOMATIC and made in the USA, are the ONLY reasons Polaris is seeing any action!!
Posted by: reconranger
Thing is, most of those "Japanese" bikes are make here in the states. And, most of those "American" bikes, are probably made from parts from the orient.
Posted by: reconranger
Back when, I saw video of some Honda Foreman 450's coming out of the back of a C-130 in Afganistan. Don't know if they got purchased in any large numbers, or how well they held up????????
Posted by: Coyotechaser
The USA uses Yamaha Warriors for border patrol between Mexico and North America.
Posted by: Coyotechaser
They should mount a machine gun on the front to shoot while driving. At least it had the gun rack. Do they ever drop them from the plane while in the air? Some 589's and camo tape would do that Rancher wonders. Maybe a bar mounted spot light. Thanks for sharing the pic, it was interesting.
Posted by: Senater
Lets face it, Uncle Sam uses the lowest bid contractor at the time. I have hauled several makes over to the desert. I have a picture of a Rancher in my photos.
Posted by: Senater
AKFireman,
Those fuel cans are awesome! They hold 3.2 gallons. You can still stack stuff on top of them. They also make a potable water type that is white in color. Rockymountainatv.com or Cabellas.com sells them for around $65.00. Rocky mountain would not sell them to me in CA because they don't have a no-spill spout (CA law). I had to have it shipped to a friends house in NV.
Posted by: trailrider500
Quote
Originally posted by: DanW
The military has issued new contracts for different versions of the Polaris 700, including the one posted by BigBadScrambler, so I doubt that they have been as bad as some have said.When the US first went into Afghanistan, they were equipped with some Polaris quads, but they came under such demand that they went to ATV stores near their home bases and bought up everything they had. They also equipped as many as possible with all the Goodyear run-flat tires they could find. They bought examples of every brand on the market. They have run them hard and well beyond their rated load capacities, and that is why many auto tranny's failed, including Hondas, Suzuki's, and Kawasakis. The new Polaris that BigBadScrambler posted has a much beefed-up tranny in it. The environment that they are running them in is FAR more rugged and treacherous than many realize. They are also running them 24/7 vs. occasional weekend use that they see back home. They are putting thousands of miles on them very quickly. It is also one of the dustiest environments in the world, which doesn't help. They are also running them at high altitudes, so I would imagine that the EFI 700 is looking pretty good to the military right now and may have been the main reason that Polaris introduced it to the civillian market sooner than AC or others working on EFI.I have a picture sitting here on my desk of an Arctic Cat 500 auto 4x4 being used by troops guarding aircraft in Kuwait. You'll find just about every brand represented over there.
Well put!!!
Posted by: scaboy
What individual would want spend $16,000-$22,000 on the Polaris SP700
that the Military uses ?
A recent issue of I think" ATV Magazine" published this info.
peace
scaboy
Posted by: sp600towtruck
They are Polaris Sportsman 700 Twins. They are set up with about 2-3 hundred extra supply stuff: extra shielding, etc. All running gear is stock though. I've also heard that they have not had any major problems with them.
Posted by: Bobman
I have seen the grainy night vision footage of our troops (mostly special ops kind of guys) riding 4 Wheelers in Iraq, Afghanistan, etc. The footage is never clear enough or long enough to figure out what make and model ATV the military uses. That's not necessarily going to effect my purchase decision (lack of cash already effected that) but I was just curious. Any information would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.
Posted by: akfireman
hey senator, how do you like those flat fuel cells that you have on your back rack in the middle picture.
Posted by: akfireman
hey dan, whats the possibility of scanning the pic of the Arctic Cat and posting it for the non-cat fans, that would be a great pic to see.
Posted by: WoodsRuner
RhinoOffRoad is correct. My nephew was in Afgan. (Army Intel.) and he told me the Polaris were failing
continuosly. He rode them on some recon missions and had two fail on him. Both were trany problems. When he came back he bought himself a Rancher, which is part of the reason I bought one also.
Posted by: WoodsRuner
What you say is very true. However, Polaris had the most breakdowns of all the brands, and only they
were required to make major modifications to their quads driveline to get another order from the gov.
My nephew wrote me an email while he was in Afgan. telling me he was riding a SP700 and how much
he liked it, thinking about buying one when he got home. A month later he wrote again, saying all 4
of their Sportsmen had broken down, 2 while he was on them, and that they also had a Grizzly that was broken down, and now he was riding a Rancher.
The Rancher never left him stranded in the desert. 'Nuff said.
Posted by: WoodsRuner
No one in his right mind, except our illustrious military. LOL
