mikeexplorer

I am an Arctic Cat fan, last year I picked up a brand new Alterra 400 for $4,500. Mike

If at first you don't succeed , don't try skydiving.

Gotcha, thought you bought it to work on machines where it would be on the jack for hours, possibly days. Mike

Looks like it will be perfect for working on bikes. ATV's not so much with a 300 pound limit. Mike

I use the maintainers sold by NAPA, They output 850ma which is enough to maintain/charge an ATV battery. Never had an issue with overcharging. They are not cheap but they work well. One thing to watch out for is some maintainers switch to that mode and never switch back to charge mode. They only sense it when it is disconnected and re-connected. They should have an indicator light to tell you if its charging or on maintain mode. A test I did was once it switched to maintain, I would turn the quad on (but not start it) The draw from the ignition circuit should be enough to drop the battery voltage a bit to tell the charger to kick on again. Turn the ignition off, and it should switch back to maintain mode within a few minutes (I do the test without turning on a larger draw, like the headlights) I have a larger 2 amp version to maintain the battery on my camping trailer (full size battery) Mike

Been done, did it over the summer. Its a 5 X 8 so it only holds one machine and not practical to have a storage box. I keep the straps and towing gear in the vehicle. My other trailer is a triton which holds two machines, the deck is flat, so it cannot have a storage box either.

Keeping the battery on a charger / maintainer will also prolong the life of the battery. I keep all our machines on them. Mike

I replaced the wiring and lights with LED lights. Picked up the kit at an auto store. Old lights were dim and wiring was damaged. That is not wood, it is HDPE plastic sheet cut into strips. I got it for free at my former job. The grating on the floor was shot and broken in several places. I cut and ground off all the welds and repainted the frame.

I bought a grinder from there this past summer and ran the crap out of it to restore this 5 by 8 trailer. Mike

Check the kill switch, left handlebar, red switch, that would prevent the fuel pump from pressurizing. Check ignition fuse (IGN on the fuse block) it could have popped and you would still have dash and headlights, but the pump won't pressurize. On these machines, the start circuit would only prevent the starter from engaging, the fuel pump will still pressurize. Arctic cat machines allow you to start the machine in gear only if the brake is engaged. There is a relay called "start in gear" but I don't think this is his problem. It is either the kill switch or something in the IGN circuit. Since this is an EFI machine, battery condition is very important, battery may appear to be OK, but only a load test could verify that. Mike

Well I bought a new machine in 2017 before the name change to Textron, so I can wait and see how this all works out. Oldest machine I have is 11 years now but still runs well. The Textron name was not really known, my local dealer told me customers were seeking out leftovers with the Arctic Cat name instead of buying Textron, even though they are basically the same machine. One good thing Textron did do is lowered the prices on all machines and made them more competitive. Mike

Does this plate attach to your frame or fender ?

Hmm yet Textron also announced bringing back the Arctic Cat name to ATV's and Side by sides. https://www.arcticcat.com/the-cat-is-back/

This is so true 😀

Yes, mounting bracket would be specific to the make and model machine. Some utility quads have this already in place, ready to add the winch. Mike

It was consumer demand. Nobody liked the Textron name. My local dealer told me customers were looking for leftover machines rather then buying current year because they wanted the Arctic Cat name. Any machine he had that still had the Arctic Cat name was sold out. Before the name change, I pulled the trigger and bought a new machine for Michelle in 2017. Her old machine was still running well but I wanted to sit back and wait to see what the change was going to do, since it would be a few years before I would need another machine. (The black quad I showed plowing is her old machine) Mike

ARCTIC CAT BRANDED SIDE-BY-SIDES AND ATVS ARE COMING BACK Passion can change people. Change minds. And in the end, it can take us back to where our family has been all along. Because Arctic Cat fans and powersports enthusiasts demanded it, the Arctic Cat® name will be returning to ATVs and Side-by-Sides in 2019. With a legacy of innovation, performance and fun, our legendary lineup of ATVs, side-by-sides and snowmobiles are built to take you anywhere you want to go — from carving up mountain snow on a Mountain Cat Alpha One in British Columbia, to flying over the dunes in Glamis in a Wildcat™ XX. And these high-performance vehicles are still made proudly in Thief River Falls, Minnesota. https://www.arcticcat.com/the-cat-is-back/

This last storm was a bust, was supposed to be mostly snow, instead a lot of rain mixed in making for a slushy mess. Having a plow on the quad was a huge help as this snow was heavy wet mess, and falling temps making it a frozen mess. Snow blowers were pretty useless, I saw several people trying to use them. 2010 Arctic Cat 366

I use one inch straps, but check the rating on them, the material is much thicker then the cheapo ones. Auto part stores usually have good ones. Mike

I have heard good things about this brand, bolt pattern should be the same as any WARN winch. Mike

It wasn't "life saving" the driver of the side by side was ready to bail if the machine let loose. (Passenger already got out of the machine and is sitting on my girls machine in picture) She had to sit on her machine to add weight because the quad was lighter then the side by side and was being pulled back towards the drop off. She winched to my machine, I was winched to a tree holding everyone in place. The side by side in trouble can be seen in the background. I was winching in and had Michelle run her machine to help pull the side by side out, her quad lost traction and bam, that blew out my winch's gears. (but the winch held, I just could no longer spool in) Her quad is also equipped with a WARN winch and was more powerful then my old one. (at the time my machine was a 2007 400, came with a WARN 2000 lb winch) Hers was 2500 lb winch, With the added weight on her machine and careful winching, we pulled the side by side out. The side by side had some kind of aftermarket winch and was not strong enough to pull the machine out, this is why we had to do it this way. In the end, nobody was hurt, and we all got out safe. This was a true test of winches. Mike

I do agree WARN winches are pricey, but I have always had a WARN winch on all my machines and it has never let me down. One time I blew out the star gear in mine, but the winch was overloaded in a desperate attempt to pull a side by side out of a dangerous situation. The gear gave out first rather then destroying the whole winch. $30 in parts and the winch was good to go again. I also use it for plowing, the winch gets a good workout with the plow. I personally think they are worth it since when you need it, you need it. Maintenance is also needed, every two years I take them apart and clean them out and re-grease the winch. I have an excellent PDF guide on how to do this (attached) Winch Cleaning Guide.pdf

I purchased from them tires and rims several times and a soft rear pack for my girls quad. I never had an issue with them. Mike

Agreed with what you posted, sounds like it jumped timing. backfiring through the intake is a symptom. Mike

countrycat.com will have a parts list for what you are looking for. You may also find the service manual for your machine under technical information. One option for the winch is to buy a 2 inch receiver plate mount and put the winch there. You can get a set of high current connectors (like ones used for jumping vehicles) and make the winch removable. Other option is to weld a plate at the rear bumper assembly and install a winch as shown in this picture.