who's got time on a 14 kitty

[ARICH]

Looking into buying a 14 holdover (or maybe a 15 if anything good happens) need some honest opinions from people with seat time on both 14 pro's and proclimbs.

My main concerns with the pro are the engine, have the 14s been holding up any better than the previous years and how has warranty been with them? and judging by looks they seem to be built a little on the weak side, anybody bending tunnels, boards or rails?

So my main question is what makes you ride the pro over the cat?

Thanks

 

[snowman80]

I put some miles on a friends 2014 m8000. It was a nice sled for sure. I felt that the front end dives in deep snow but I suppose you'd get used to that. The thing that really surprised me was the power. The cat felt like it didn't have much low end power, it had to be pinned to make any power. Once it was revved out it had good power but I'd rather have responsive, low end power that the pro has. As far as a arms being weak, well he just bent one after hitting a rock under the snow. I've hit similar with my poo goo a arms and they are still intact for now. I've never seen a bent tunnel in person and we have sleds go through the shop that get used hard. We've also only had three 800's go down. A lot of the sleds have over 3000 miles now, hard to believe I know. Out of roughly 250 that we've sold from 2011+up that isn't bad. In the end it comes down to what you like. Ride them both and decide for yourself.

 

[turboless terry]

I have had all the years of pro except 14. My buddies told me they run better than the 13. Until I have a problem I am not going to say they are unreliable. Out of 200, in all the years, my dealership sold they told me they only had 3 go down. I have a buddy with a 12 pro that had 4000 miles on theirs. I told him he better do something with it before it goes down. He long rodded it. I wouldn't worry about all the bad stuff you hear. Buy the one you like the best. Get warranty and have fun.
I have rode the 14 cat and I thought it was a hoot. Power was good and no diving. I think it is in the set up. Also, the one I rode had powder pros on it. I never let out of the throttle so it didn't have much of a chance to dive. I ran it through the paces in the meadow and in the trees. I know it got out climbed by a 13 xm but ski doos have always climbed good. I am currently on an xm and kind of liked the cat better because it doesn't feel like the body and running boards drag like they do on the xm. To me the pro is the best sled out there. It doesn't have the most power but it has the total package which enables it to be right in the mix. I don't know if this is what you wanted to hear but that is my two bits.

 

[ARICH]

thanks for the input so far guys, to tell you the truth i had my mind set on a xm, and after spending some time on one last week (13 xm) in deep pow in cooke it changed my mind. probably just need to spend more time on them, but it felt a little doggy and it seemed like it wanted to throw you over the bars every time you let off the throttle on a side hill.

 

[turboless terry]

If you are used to the pro you need to ride the xm for at last an hour or two to get used to it. They are a great sled but have a tendancy to dive and stuff the front end. They drag really bad if you lay them on their side pretty hard. In the right snow they are effortless but I think they are fussier on snow conditions. I think they have more power and climb better but I think the pro has better power down low. 2/3 throttle is where you here the xm really turn on. The only draw back on the pro is that once in a while a ski will turn straight up and down. They could use a touch more cooling but not mandatory. They have the worst ride of the three. All three have a good sled now. Heck, even Yamaha probably has an awesome sled now but I've been down the 4 stroke way and don't want to go back.

 

[OuraySledder]

Why the Pro over the others.... It is the lightest and best handling of the three. I rode an XM all day last spring, the first hour was terrible, the rest of the day went well. Nice sled but I do not like how it rides and I hate it when manufacturers add gimmicks like t-motion. It wont sidehill like a Pro and the Doo's my buddy has been riding for years always seem to fall apart, his sled always has broken plastics soemwhere.

The engine on the Pro has been improving. I find it comical for dealers to say out of 200+ we have sold only three have blown up.... except for the other 10-20 that didn't come back to the dealer because they were no longer under warranty. It is a poorly designed and built engine that uses substandard interal parts (pistons). The biggest problems can be addressed with one of the fix kits for not a lot of money, most even add some power which evens it out with the other brands.

I decided to put up with potential engine issues to get the sweetest chassis on the snow. No regrets so far, I have ~650 miles on my '13. One blown QD belt at 150 mi, and a blown drive belt at 500 miles.

 

[jakey-boy]

Looking into buying a 14 holdover (or maybe a 15 if anything good happens) need some honest opinions from people with seat time on both 14 pro's and proclimbs.

My main concerns with the pro are the engine, have the 14s been holding up any better than the previous years and how has warranty been with them? and judging by looks they seem to be built a little on the weak side, anybody bending tunnels, boards or rails?

So my main question is what makes you ride the pro over the cat?

Thanks

What is it you like to do? The polaris is hands down the best sled for people that like to spend most of their day in the trees going across more so than up & down. For the guy that likes to ride open meadows and climb steep hills there is no question the cat will outperform the Polaris. But honestly all 3 sleds are so close right now just go with whichever you can get the best dealer support from and enjoy. Hell even yamaha may actually have a semi decent mountain sled this year.

 

[Solby]

I have 600 miles on my 14 pro and my dad has 600 miles on his 14 cat. The cats have been greatly improved over the 12s. However when the snow gets really deep the pro has made the cat look silly. Maybe his setup isn't quite on, I'm not sure. It took me 500 miles to get 100% confident on my pro. There are a lot reasons why they are the best out there and so far I have had no reliability issues. It still makes me nervous because of all the horror stories online, who knows. You really need to get some seat time on each.
Most everything you read about how the pro floats, is light, wants to keep going, and just flat out works. These things are true.
The cat is better on the trail and it a good all-around sled. It doesn't really do anything better than the XM or Pro, but it does everything good. And probably it is better than most can ride it. Last year I felt like I had peaked at what I could do on my cat. This year I am finding and refining new skills on the pro.
Good luck and enjoy they are all good.

 

[bajah2x]

The polaris is way lighter,but the boards are junk where they mount to tunnel .We have broke two of them,just a piece of pot metal and poo won't sell you that piece,you have to buy the whole damn board.Cat tends to dive in powder for sure.poo motors are fine just vent your oil tank so it can get a steady supply of oil..

 

[die hard poo]

The polaris is way lighter,but the boards are junk where they mount to tunnel .We have broke two of them,just a piece of pot metal and poo won't sell you that piece,you have to buy the whole damn board.Cat tends to dive in powder for sure.poo motors are fine just vent your oil tank so it can get a steady supply of oil..

You can upgrade the boards on the pro to the burandt boards which are much stronger if the stockers don't hold up. IMO polaris has the best boards stock. I love that they are modular and can be unbolted and replaced, unlike the rest...

 

[CO 2.0]

Who ever says the 2014 Cat 800 is down on power or even bottom end power has no clue what they are talking about. My '14 PC 153 will smoke my modded 2010 M8 162 with 2.6PC in deep pow. And my 2010 M8 used to kill my Pro RMK with C3 belt drive in the same scenario. So it's a very safe bet to say my '14PC would have killed my Pro RMK climbing in deep pow. I had my Pro rmk dialed in perfect too. Yes the Pro RMK is still a better technical riding sled in the trees, but after putting a grand or so into my Proclimb it's a lot closer now (BDX front end, gripper skis, narrowed boards/panels). 10X's better sled than the '12 proclimb.

I went through 2 Pro RMK motors in 1100 miles. One was a '13 motor too. Reliability was not there so I went back to Cat thinking all would be good. Well it isn't. In 500 miles on my '14 PC I've gone through 2 primaries, 1 secondary, and engine (bent crank stub from clutch snapping in half), broken chain, worn aluminum bottom gear, etc. I pop Cat clutches like it's going out of style. Never had those kind of failures with Polaris clutches even dating back to the early 2000's. They are all unreliable pieces of junk IMO. When you ride them hard they just don't last. Thank god for warranties. Pick your poison and stick with it!

 

[assault11]

4200 miles on an 11 no major issues. 3000+ on another 11 and 3000 on a 12 no issues. 2000 on a couple 13s no issues. And 1000 on my 14 no issues. The motors are nowhere near as bad as what people think. You only hear the bad on here

 

[ARICH]

Good stuff guys, I like to hear about the problems, we all know every sled has weak spots but most guys just seem to have to much pride to admit it.

Most of my riding is climbing and trees which is reason i created this thread, because i know the cats have the edge on the hill and pros are better in the trees.

How has polaris been for warranty with the engines and cat for clutches?

 

[assault11]

Good stuff guys, I like to hear about the problems, we all know every sled has weak spots but most guys just seem to have to much pride to admit it.

Most of my riding is climbing and trees which is reason i created this thread, because i know the cats have the edge on the hill and pros are better in the trees.

How has polaris been for warranty with the engines and cat for clutches?

Warranty is only as good as your dealer. So the service you get really depends on where you go. People think it's polaris yhat has bad warranty but really it's the dealer that matters.

 

[Jkinzer]

i put a little over 300 miles on my 14 pro 858 before it sold earlier this season and the built a 14 925 cat and i'll admit i've been a polaris guy for the last 20 years and expected to hate this chassis but i have been pleasantly surprised. Have 150 miles on my cat now and this is how i feel between the two

for a down right tight tree riding sled that still has the power to climb i would take the pro858 with the 3". The pro's ability to side hill in any direction (up,down, left, right and every direction in between) at slower speeds is unbeatable for riding tight terrain. The Proclimb doesn't hold a candle to the pro in that scenario.

However, after spending a couple rides getting used to the chassis and knowing that theres even more power to be had once i get the right clutching in today and get my rpm's up to 8500-8550 where their suppose to be, i can honestly say that the overall fun factor is there with the 925! more low end and more top end (low on r's it was about a wash to the top end on my 858, the customer who bought it was with me)

On top of the power i have never felt so comfortable jumping a snowmobile as i did on the 14 cat, and it makes re-entries a walk in the park, the overall handling is great, down the trail not that it really matters but it is super stable through choppy whoops and you can really get after it. The stock ski's leave a lot on the table, grippers or powder pros would def. be a good upgrade, have been playing with the rear suspension to cure the wheelie issues and it worked well Sunday. I'm hoping with more time on it and i can figure out how to ride it to make it side hill slowly down hill and controlled as i do my pros, but we'll see.

The only thing i can honestly say that i truly hated about the sled is the steering post bushings.... their getting swapped out with zbroz today, steering slop after 50 miles is not acceptable.

last but not least the 2.6 power claw works very well, and i do not see a reason to swap out to the X3, i almost did the swap with out even trying it until i talked to a few guys on here that had, and i'm happy i didnt

 

[geo]

They're all great sleds today. I've had plenty of sleds. My '12 Hcr was dialed when I was done and not much heavier than a Pro. MOST the changes that were necessary have been done to the '15's Cat's.
For me, getting on the Pro was scary lol, but it has turned out to be the most dependable sled I have owned since getting off the Yamaha's in the mid 90's. All the little things are of good quality and well designed. That has meant less sealing, adjusting, modifying and more riding time for me.

The motor is light duty but so far more dependable than the 5 Doo 800's I had in the early to mid 2000's. I've always paid attention to my motors because they were not always as dependable as they are today lol. IMO the Suzuki 700 800 laydown motors are the best that have ever been dropped in a sled chassis (had a few of those).
Never felt the CFI as underpowered either. Track selection can make a big difference in point and shoot if that is your game.

What sets the Pro apart is the handles. How it works in the deep and how it works in the trees and how you feel at the end of the day. I believe everyone above has hinted at that. Like I said, they're all good but one is still,,,,"different".

I would suggest you ride them all. A few times in different conditions. Ride until you feel a "difference" then pick that one. If you never feel a "difference" then ask around locally and pick the dealer that has the best reputation because sometimes that is all the "difference".

 

[MTsled3]

I spent time on all 3 800's a few weeks ago in Yellowstone, before that I had been pretty set on handling being more important to me than power, and the pro does handle a lot better than the other 2, I couldn't even get comfortable on the doo. The cat handled fairly well, but the short handlebar turn bugged me a little bit. But I just had so much fun on the cat, the power was a blast. The handling was good enough that I could do just about everything I could on the pro, but not as easily. If I was buying a sled right now, between the 2014's, I would either get a pro and put on an slp stage 3 kit or something similar, or I'd get the cat and put on a front end kit for handling, and a can to drop easy weight

 

[bajah2x]

I have an 11 assault that we put burandt boards on,and our 13 and 14 come with them stock.The burandt boards are nice except for the cheap piece that mounts to tunnel,its junk and you can't just replace it .first ride on new 14 pro it snapped at tunnel.

 

[rmscustom]

I just don't feel the lack of power some of you guys are describing on the Pro. I get on the other 2 and they just feel doggy with no throttle response on the bottom and mid. Once they get wound up they might have a little more on top but not much...
Makes me wonder if some are mistaken the excessive front end lift on the Cat and the Doo as lots of power and the planted front of the Pro as a lack of power. Just my 2 cents, lots of good honest reviews above.

 

[rmscustom]

I have an 11 assault that we put burandt boards on,and our 13 and 14 come with them stock.The burandt boards are nice except for the cheap piece that mounts to tunnel,its junk and you can't just replace it .first ride on new 14 pro it snapped at tunnel.

How are you breaking these? We used to snap em on the Ms all the time but I've never seen a broken one on a Pro.