c/canadian-outdoors-atv

Trail mud got me thinking about tire pressure all wrong

Spent the long weekend near Sudbury and watched three guys air down to 4 psi in the same mud pit. They all got stuck. I kept mine at 8 and walked through because I actually spin the tires instead of crawling. Lower isn't always better when you're carrying weight or hitting roots. Took me two seasons and a bent rim near Cochrane to figure that out. Anyone else find their sweet spot by trail type, not just the mud depth?

Mud tires vs all terrain on northern trails, no contest after two seasons

I ran all terrains on my Outlander for two summers around Sudbury and thought they were fine. Swapped to proper mud tires this spring and the difference in the boggy sections near Wanapitei is night and day. Anyone else find that mud tires just chew through stuff you used to winch out of?

Small salvage job on a flooded quad turned into a full engine rebuild

Pulled my 2005 Polaris out of a creek near Thunder Bay after spring melt, figured a carb clean would do it, but the crank bearing was shot and now it runs better than it did 3 years ago, has anyone else had a disaster project turn into their favorite ride?

Picked a winch over a come-along for my Quadmaster last spring

Got stuck axle deep in a mud hole near Sudbury, and hauling out with the come-along took 40 minutes of swearing. Swapped to a 3500lb warn winch and pulled myself out in 5 this past weekend, anyone else make the switch?

Mud season tire choice is not a debate, it's a safety issue

Watched a guy on highway tires sink to the frame in a bog near Timmins last month, then he blamed the trail itself, so has anyone else had to talk a friend out of buying 'all-season' tires for real ATV work up north?

Picked a 4-stroke over a 2-stroke for my fishing trips, no looking back

I was torn between a lighter 2-stroke and a 4-stroke for hauling gear into Algonquin Park, ended up dropping $1,200 on the 4-stroke because I hate mixing oil. First trip out it bogged down on a muddy hill but still pulled through, and the fuel savings alone paid me back after 6 weekends. Anyone else made the swap and stuck with it?

10,000km on my Can-Am in Northern Ontario, is that rookie numbers or decent?

Hit 10,000km on my Outlander last weekend riding the trails near Timmins. That took me just over 2 seasons of weekend riding and a few long trips up to Cochrane. Some guys in my group say that's nothing, they'll do that in one summer, but I only ride maybe 60% of the weekends. Others say I'm burning through the machine too fast with that kind of mileage. Where do you all land on this, is 10k km a solid benchmark or just the start of actual wear and tear?

That time my winch died 14 km past the Kakwa River crossing

Last October I was out near Grande Cache on my old Suzuki King Quad and the winch just quit while I was winching through a muddy ditch. Turns out the solenoid was corroded from all the river water I'd pushed through the summer. Had to dig out the hand winch from under the seat and spend an hour pulling myself out by hand, which was a real workout. Anyone else carry a backup hand winch or do you trust your electric one more than me now?

Just realized my winch hook was frayed for 2 seasons

Last weekend near Thunder Bay, my buddy pointed out the cable on my winch had snapped strands before I even used it to pull his stuck side-by-side out of the mud. I checked it for rust but never looked close at the actual hook and connection point, which was the real weak link. Anyone else had a close call with winch cable wear that you only caught by chance?

My winch cable snapped on a trail near Bancroft, took 2 days to fix right

I was out last Saturday on a rutted logging road and my winch cable snapped clean while pulling a buddy's stuck quad. I thought it was just a frayed line, but it turned out the fairlead roller had seized and was cutting into the cable every time I spooled it. Took me a full day to find a replacement roller in stock anywhere, then another afternoon to re-spool the new cable properly with tension. Has anyone else had a hidden wear point on their winch setup that bit them at the worst time?

Stuck in a mud hole near Sudbury for 4 hours, here's what worked

Skipping the winch was my biggest regret on the Ontario trail

Last fall I ran the Ganaraska Forest trails on my 570 and figured I'd save weight and cash by skipping the winch. Thought I'd never need it solo, then 14 km in I buried the front end in a bog hole that looked solid from the other side. Three hours of digging, chopping brush, and using a tow strap around a tree finally got me out, but I was shaking by the time I hit the truck. A buddy with the same machine and a cheap 3500 lb winch pulled himself out of worse in 20 minutes flat. I'd rather carry the extra 40 pounds and pay the 400 bucks than ever do that again. Why do folks still ride deep mud alone without a recovery plan? Anyone else learn this lesson the hard way?

Trail repair kits are way lighter than I thought, like half the weight

I always packed this huge toolbox in my sidebags for riding up near Cochrane, figured I needed every tool imaginable. Then last month I weighed it out of curiosity, 18 pounds just for tools and tape and spare parts. Turns out modern trail kits with a multi-tool, tire plugs, a small air pump, and some zip ties can cover 90 percent of what I dealt with in 5 years of riding. I stripped my kit down to 9 pounds after watching a buddy fix a snapped brake lever with nothing but a socket and a leatherman. The only thing I still carry heavy is a tow strap because getting stuck in mud near Kapuskasing is no joke. Anyone else running a minimal kit and actually using it, or do you still pack for every worst case scenario?

Trail map app bug sent me down a logging road near Timmins

I was following the GPS on a ride last month and it routed me onto an active haul road that wasn't marked on the map. A loaded truck came around the corner and I had to ditch into the ditch to avoid it. Has anyone else had close calls trusting these apps over the paper maps from the MNR?

Bought a $90 traction mat set, used it once on a mud hole near Timmins

Last spring I dropped 90 bucks on those folding traction mats after a buddy got stuck twice in the same weekend. First real test came on a logging road off Highway 101, my 4 wheeler sunk right up to the skid plate in that orange clay mud. Threw both mats under the tires, gave it gas, and the thing walked right out like it was dry pavement. Not a scratch on the mats, but they took up half my cargo rack for every ride after that. I figure they paid for themselves versus a winch line and a tow from a farmer. Anyone else find those mats useless once the mud gets deeper than a foot or two?

Winch remote vs handlebar switch, picked wrong one first

Last fall I finally got tired of hopping off the quad to work the winch every time I got stuck in the mud near Pembroke. I bought a cheap handlebar mounted switch because it looked cleaner and cost 30 bucks less than the wireless remote kit. First real test was a deep bog hole and the switch wiring got soaked, started shorting out, and left me standing in water up to my knees trying to yank the cable by hand. Ended up buying the wireless remote the next day, it worked right out of the box and I can stand back on dry ground while the winch does its thing. The handlebar switch might be fine for light duty but if you ride in wet conditions like we do up here, the remote is worth every dollar. Anyone else had a winch control fail on them in the bush, or do you just stick with the manual cable?

Finally replaced my winch cable after it snapped on a muskeg pull

Last month I was pulling my quad out of a deep mud hole near Timmins and the steel cable let go at the drum. It whipped back and took a chunk out of my front rack, lucky nobody was standing beside me. I had been using that same cable for 8 years and figured it was fine since it looked okay from the outside. Swapped it out for a 5000lb synthetic rope kit, cost me about $180 at the local shop. The difference in handling is night and day, way lighter and no more worrying about rusty strands. Anyone else made the switch after a cable failure, or am I the last guy to learn this the hard way?

Hot take: that 5 mile mud bog we did last weekend near Timmins proved everyone wrong about stock tires

My buddy Josh kept saying I'd get stuck in his old Skidoo tracks with my stock ATV tires, so after I made it through all 5 miles without a single winch pull he just sat there quiet for like 10 minutes, has anyone else found stock tires actually hold up better than people give them credit for in deep Canadian mud?

PSA: My 'perfect' weekend on the trails in Algonquin Park was a total disaster

Everyone always talks about how great the Algonquin Park trails are in the fall, but my trip two weeks ago was brutal. We hit the Kiosk Loop early Saturday morning, and within 10 kilometers, my buddy's ATV threw a belt right on a muddy hill. Then my own machine started overheating because a beaver dam had flooded the path and we had to push through water that must have been two feet deep. The whole group spent four hours stuck in the bush trying to fix things, and we barely made it back to the truck before dark. I don't get why people rave about that place so much when the trails are that unpredictable. Has anyone else had a trip there turn into a nightmare like that, or do I just have the worst luck?

That one old guy at the trailhead who changed my tire

I was up near Timmins last fall and blew a tire on a rocky section of the A21 trail. No cell service, rain was starting to come down, and I was struggling with my scissor jack. This guy in his 70s pulled up on a beat-up 2005 Polaris, took one look, and just handed me a Hi-Lift jack from his rack. He said "you'll break your back with that little thing" and showed me how to use it in about 2 minutes flat. Has anyone else run into a random stranger on the trail who saved their day like that?

Got stuck in a bog near Timmins last fall and learned why you never ride alone

I was out on a trail I'd done a dozen times before near the Mattagami River. Hit a soft patch I didn't see and sunk the quad up to the racks in about 3 seconds. No cell service, nobody around for 45 minutes until some moose hunter with a winch pulled me out. Now I always pack a tow strap and a handheld radio. Anyone else had a close call riding solo in northern Ontario?

Wasted $200 on a cheap ATV tire repair kit that fell apart after one use

Bought a no-name patch kit from Amazon for my quad last fall and the rubber cement dried out before I even opened it properly. Anyone else had luck with a specific brand that actually holds up on rocky trails?

Why does nobody talk about how much weight a cheap ATV winch can actually pull?

I was loading my Can-Am onto a trailer last weekend near Sudbury and decided to test my new $80 winch from Canadian Tire. The box said 3000 lbs rating but when I checked the fine print online it's only rated for 1500 lbs on a single line pull. Turns out those Chinese brands cut the rating in half for actual working load. Anyone else get burned by those inflated numbers?

Swapped a Can-Am for a Polaris after 5 years, here's why

I was dead set on sticking with Can-Am after my Outlander ran like a dream for 5 seasons. But after test driving my buddy's Sportsman 850 through a boggy section up near Sudbury, I changed my tune - the electronic power steering felt way better on my wrists after 6 hours of trails. Anyone else made the switch between brands and regretted it or loved it?

Was dead set against using a winch damper until I almost lost a cable

Honestly, I always thought those weighted winch dampers were just an extra cost for no reason, but after my cable snapped on a steep trail near Banff last weekend, I saw how it caught the recoil. That $40 investment saved my buddy's truck window. Anyone else have a close call that changed your mind on safety gear?