Low vs High gear on the trails

[bigmikeystylez]

Went out to bruderheim today......a family friend joined us with his quad (Can Am Renegade). My fiancee and i both drive polaris sportsmans.......anyways, he said that on the trails we should be in HIGH gear always unless its in the mud as riding the trails in LOW would be really hard on the transmission.

I have always been in the belief that LOW is the way to go on the trails (not wide open flat terrain - eg-roads - for that we always switch into HIGH)

Id love to hear some input on this......TIA

 

[AreWeThereYet]

I use high range for anything fast, other than that my 850xp stays in low range.

 

[the_real_wild1]

Really depends on the machine. My outlander is in high range most of the time. Same as my XPT. My wildcat 1000 spends most of its time in low as it will blow belts easily in high range.

 

[arff]

Depends on machine and gearing.

Tire size and terrain.

 

[SHREK1]

Whenever my speed is on the slower side I always ride in low range, machine is way more responsive and does not bog, if your really aggressive high range all the way, hard and fast, I'm just getting to old for that. I'm on a 700 griz but do the same on twins

 

[Zrock]

Depends on the trail if its easy slow riding ill leave it in high. If the trail gets technical, loose, hilly then i switch it over to low. Oh a high power machine leaving it in high when your going slow and get into some technical situations you can do some damage quickly. We had to leave a can am 1000 out in the bush due to snapped front diff from using high. If your buddy reads the can am hand book they recommend being in low range for anything under 20-30km

 

[imdoo'n]

Depends on the trail if its easy slow riding ill leave it in high. If the trail gets technical, loose, hilly then i switch it over to low. Oh a high power machine leaving it in high when your going slow and get into some technical situations you can do some damage quickly. We had to leave a can am 1000 out in the bush due to snapped front diff from using high. If your buddy reads the can am hand book they recommend being in low range for anything under 20-30km

ahh the old read the handbook trick!!!! funny most don't read it, until the old tranny or diff grenade trick. besides i'm of the crowd that likes to smell the roses on the trails, the time in a hospital in recovery cuts into riding and enjoyment time.

 

[Zrock]

Lol... funny I ride a a.c. but read the can am hand book

 

[DDrake]

I usually pick range by the terrain/speed I want to ride. As stated earlier I also am getting to old for high speed aggressive riding. Slow down and smell the roses works best for me. You will also be less likely to wreck stuff in low range when travelling at lower speeds. JMO

 

[j335]

Good rule of thumb is under 30 run low. You can tell when it’s too fast for low then stop and shift to high. I’ve seen a few people blow belts going too slow/hard for high gear

 

[Cdnfireman]

Good rule of thumb is under 30 run low. You can tell when it’s too fast for low then stop and shift to high. I’ve seen a few people blow belts going too slow/hard for high gear

Well said. This is what I do. Only takes a few seconds to stop and shift the ranges. Saves on belt and clutch problems.

 

[Megrizzly]

An additional thing to keep in mind if your atv/sxs has a wet clutch. In high range, the wet clutch doesn't lock in until a certain speed (ex. I believe it was around 10km/h on a grizzly).

 

[whoDEANie]

Honestly, I wouldn't worry too much about it. Just use common sense. If you're doing lots of starting and stopping at very low speeds, on hills, or in deep/sticky stuff then definitely use your low gear, otherwise high gear will be fine for damned near everything. If your RPM is climbing and your tires aren't moving, something (belt/clutch) is wearing. In my opinion, you are just unnecessarily burning through fuel and running at an unnecessarily high RPM if you run in low all the time. I only ever suggest leaving it low as much as possible to those who just can't grasp the concept of gearing or when low might be necessary. If I recall, you bought yourself a newer model Sportsman which has pretty good clutching that doesn't need to be babied they way some other brands do.

 

[bigmikeystylez]

well....we have been to bruderheim and redwater....simple trails with a little bit of snow on them but not much.....so not a lot of wheel spin. We have kept is in low.....no idea how fast we were going but it definitely didnt feel like we were high revving a lot (at the point where it felt like we should be using high gear - based on rpm). We dont go real slow on the trails but not really super fast either.

Can you damage the belt/trans if going to slow in high gear on the trails? (assuming the conditions right now - frozen ground with minimal snow)

 

[Cdnfireman]

well....we have been to bruderheim and redwater....simple trails with a little bit of snow on them but not much.....so not a lot of wheel spin. We have kept is in low.....no idea how fast we were going but it definitely didnt feel like we were high revving a lot (at the point where it felt like we should be using high gear - based on rpm). We dont go real slow on the trails but not really super fast either.

Can you damage the belt/trans if going to slow in high gear on the trails? (assuming the conditions right now - frozen ground with minimal snow)

On frozen ground with minimal snow you could probably use high range all day with no problems. Where you run into problems with a belt driven machine is when you’re going slow at low RPM and then something puts a big load on your tires (deep mud, crawling over a downed tree etc), and you lean on the throttle. At low rpm and low speed in high range the clutch has a minimum of grab on the belt. When you goose the throttle with a big load on the tires the belt slips until the rpm comes up enough to grab the belt tight enough to overcome the load and turn the tires. This slippage is what destroys the belt.
Running in low range keeps the rpm up and keeps the clutch tight on the belt. When the sudden increased load happens, the clutch is tight enough on the belt to prevent slippage.
As you get used to your machine you’ll be able to recognize when you’re at the edge of slipping the belt and know it’s time to use low range. For tigh muddy trails I’d use low range. When you get to an open area go back to high and move faster.

 

[whoDEANie]

Also, it's worth mentioning that you will probably smell the belt burning if it is slipping excessively. The smell doesn't necessarily mean that you just fried your belt, but it is a good indicator that it is either ready to be replaced or you are putting too much stress on it.

It's a really good idea to learn how to change your belt and carry a spare with you, particularly if you start going on longer trips where it's not as easy to get back to the vehicles like it is in Redwater or Bruderheim. I have never had a belt go on the trail but I do faithfully carry a spare on every machine along with the tools to change it.

 

[Ronaha]

I found the high low thing fusterating coming off a foot shift Honda, H/L shifting is kinda a pain in mixed terrain if your really braaaapn.

 

[brutematt750]

Run it in low. and if it sounds like your over revving put it in high. Low range isn't gonna hurt anything.

 

[pfi572]

Run it in low. and if it sounds like your over revving put it in high. Low range isn't gonna hurt anything.

Seems pretty straight forward doesn’t it ?

 

[hbar218]

Run it in low. and if it sounds like your over revving put it in high. Low range isn't gonna hurt anything.

one could say " run it in high , if it feels sluggish or boggy, or you smell burning belt, lol, put it in low"