Polaris Magnum 325 4 wheeler. 4x4

[Gale Hawkins]

The daughter has been asking for an ATV after the passing of her grandfather in 2009 and his going to an uncle. We do not have really open space on our place like my father in law did. He actually taught her and her brother how to operate his nice size Honda ATV that he got at the age of 77 and rode until his death in 2009 and may other things like gardening, etc so for her riding the four wheeler takes her back in time it seems.

Well over the years I have been looking at ATV's and when the last request came I was actually talking with a guy with this Polaris Magnum 325 4x4 that was for sale so I took off Wednesday afternoon and the two of us went to look at it and bought gambling it was OK. He had traded an old car for it and had three others and decided he wanted some cash and cut his price to just below dealer trade-in per KBB.com

Last night we peeled off the snap on plastic parts and wash it down with just hot water without any soap or other chemicals. It is about 12 years old and the story I got it was a used ib a farm. The plastic is far from mint but it is not broken from hitting things. I got the dying at idle issue faddressed and four of the U-joints that I have found greased and was surprised they are relative tight but have not inspected the drive belt yet but it pulls and performs well. So far it seems we got a solid work horse. They are on the heavy side and under powered to many that want to get airborne. I expect I will keep it around for years but if not I think we can get our money back short of an accident or it blows up.

It has good power and an electric winch that we unfouled the cable and neatly rewound. My sister has a much newer Arctic Cat but I would not trade it for this Polaris 325 (about equal size machines I think) but do like the Arctic Cat's receiver hitch.

The golf cart we got instead of an ATV in 2010 is nice and handy and gives the kids a good way to get down to the church with the push mower, etc or when I am not around to drive them but there are places that I go with it spraying around fields, etc that are hard on it. The Polaris will work as a small tractor to pull a small trailer when picking up limbs, roots and hauling small stuff around the 15 acres.

Now if I can just manage to convince them not to speed and to keep all four wheels on the ground at all times.

 

[whistlepig]

I think you will like the Polaris. I have a Sportsman and also a couple of my friends own Sportsman's. Some will say that the belt on the PVT is very fragile but we have not found that to be the case with our Polaris ATV's. I have done a great deal of heavy pulling with my Polaris with no belt issues. They are heavy ATV's. I would hate to flip one and be swatted by it. Of all the ATV's I don't think that the smooth ride of a Polaris can be beat. I have owned a few ATV's. For the rough and nasty stuff I would pick the Polaris over any other brand I have tried.

 

[Woody65]

I have a 2001 Polaris magnum 325 that I purchased new. It has served us well and we have used it not babied it. For its size it does a good job. I have had no issues with the machine and it has performed flawlessly. Proper maintenance and it has never let me down. Good luck with it.

 

[Gale Hawkins]

Thanks for sharing experiences. So far we are pleased.

At lunch I had a question/concern but ran out of time.

My preferred trailer is a 5x10' tilt with a solid steel deck. It is still not hard to move around by hand. Having some hills I was wondering the issues others may have ran into when using a trailer. While the Magnum is over 600 and I am over 200 pounds I know not to develop a negative tongue weight or over load the tongue either.

Like when picking up roots, limbs, etc I plan to have it in LOW range. 4WD makes it harder to steer but would it be safer to run in 4WD when working with a loaded trailer?

When coming down a steep bank with just the naked ATV in Low it did not free wheel as I expected. I have found in High it will go down a hill slower if I give it enough gas for the clutch to stay engaged.

Being the first ATV that I will have 'worked' I expect there is a bit of a learning curve to stay out of trouble.

 

[jerrybob]

You will enjoy your Polaris. I have an Artic Cat but my neighbor has a Polaris Mag. 425.....great ATV! We ride a lot......lots of logging roads in our area......that Polaris will go anywhere! Have fun....wear a helmet!

 

[whistlepig]

I did a bit of research and I think your Magnum 325 has EBS like mine does. The EBS is very predicable and reliable on my Polaris. I have to issues pulling a trailer in either high or low range with EBS.

 

[Gale Hawkins]

Video: Polaris ATV Thumb Throttle Maintenance Tips | eHow

This info on how to fix a dying while idling Polaris was a 60 second no tools required fix on our 2002 Polaris Magnum 325. I demoed this to the daughter yesterday because you can hear the RPM change when the engine is running. Too fast and you have gear clashing. Too slow and the Run Away safety feature will cause it to die while at idle.

 

[Gale Hawkins]

I did a bit of research and I think your Magnum 325 has EBS like mine does. The EBS is very predicable and reliable on my Polaris. I have to issues pulling a trailer in either high or low range with EBS.

Whistlepig this is my first ATV and I do not have a manual yet. I have learned going down a steep hill in High it will go slower if I will goose the gas a bit from time to time when it starts to free wheel. I went down one steep hill that was rough from cleaning up ground with the backhoe and in Low it just idled all the way down with No free wheeling but I was not towing anything.

After reading about EBS (Engine Braking System) feature that comes with some Polaris machines it sounds like a good feature. Just do not know if it is on ours 2002 Magnum. It seems like the 2002 has some of the 2003 parts as they were gearing up for the change over the the 330 model in 2003.

I will read more on EBS but it is my guess I do not have it at this point.

http://www.rzrforums.net/hunterworks/99425-polaris-engine-braking-ebs-explained.html

A good Polaris EBS write up.

 

[whistlepig]

I did a little more looking and it appears some 325 Magnums had EBS and some don't. Mine doesn't free wheel down hills no matter what gear range it is in.

 

[Gale Hawkins]

Well today was long but got bushing hogging done for a few weeks and in three hitches sprayed out 45 gallon of round up by dark just before the golf cart batteries got weak but I did work it hard for about three hour. With the head lights I took the 325 Magnum for some test runs. Forward and backwards it will free wheel when on a steep hill when I let off the gas when the ground speed get very slow. If I keep hitting the throttle ever so slight the engine braking effect is good.

While we do not have the EBS I can stimulate it to some degree. I think with EBS it was a few hundred more new.

Since it ran out of gas when we did the test ride after about 10 minute I filled it with Shell V-Power on the way home and put about nine oz of Sea Foam with the three gallons of gas. I see some fine trash in the groves in the bottom of the tank. Besides the Sea Foam cleaning the tank I think the three gallon fill at full pressure may have knocked some varnish from inside the tank.

Anyway it is running stronger and if we have burned most of it out I will refill with fresh gas and the remaining Sea Foam in the tank will be enough to stabilize the gas. While it runs OK it is hard to judge how well it is running/smoking with that 3x dose of Sea Foam. From a standing idle it will take a wide open throttle jab without any hesitation so that is good.

About using a trailer on steep slopes for picking up roots, etc I think it is doable in a safe manner. Now I have to mount the 1 7/8 ball and test pull the trailer. I did order a shop manual today since I do not have even the owners manual.