By Fred Sowerwine, Montana's Max dealer (Fred4dot) on Unrecorded Date: Edit

As far as I am concerned the only machine that should be used in steep terrain is a skidsteer. This weekend, I watched a Polaris 500 Sportsman 4x4 come over on top of my "new addition" son-in-law. Thank goodness he only has a lot of scrapes and bruises, but we had one hell of a time getting his battered and broken machine down about 1/2 mile of extremely steep, littered with down timber, mountain side. He bent his handle bars, broke off his brake handle and tore up his electric 4 wheel drive control (with no brakes and no 4 wheel drive is was something coming off the mountain). I have a new intensity about safety and am wondering if I really should be going so far off the beaten path "just because I can". The Polaris did better than I expected (he is a very good rider), but we should have never had it where we did. When things go wrong and you have a difficult drive to get out, it makes you ponder your choice of entertainment.

What I am saying is be safe and have a plan for if things go wrong. Just because you can get there faairly easily does not mean that you will be able to get home with the same amount of effort. Machines can be fixed or junked, but the human body can take a long time to heal.

By Motown's (Bigwolf) on Unrecorded Date: Edit

The topic of Safety is a very good topic to talk about. Speaking from experience I would have to say that having a roll cage and seat belts is probably the most important piece of equipment that a person can install on any ORV, including the 6x6 and 8x8 machines.

About a month or so ago, I had a major roll over accident while riding my Max IV-950T. The accident happened right out back behind the house and it was a big one! Normally I do not take stupid risks or ride with my hair on fire! There is a real nice straight away area that I like to open up the throttle and let the beast breath some fresh air. At the end of the straight away, I like to do a side ways power slide at high speed, and stay on the throttle and then run back to the house. Nirmally I do this little stunt during the winter and spring, when the ground is snow covered or soft and muddy. Well this time the ground was hard and I hit a tractor rut while sliding side ways at about 30 MPH. In an instant the entire machine went airborn and started rolling side ways in the air, it was airborn for about 20 feet, and it hit the ground on the top corner of the roll cage/hard top, and it slide about 25 feet more on the ground.

This accident happened so fast that I did not even realize what happened until after It was over and I was hanging by the seat beat with my shoulder and arm on the ground, and the steering sticks jammed between my legs.

It took me about 20 minutes to collect my thoughts again, and get over all the little pains that I felt, and roll the machine back onto the wheels.

There is no doubt in my mind that if I did not have a roll cage and seat belt, I would not have survivied that wreck. The safety equipment did it's job and allowed me to walk away from the wreck to enjoy another day!

The extent of my injuries were minor this time, thankfully! I had and few bumps here and there, and my shoulder was very sore for a few weeks or so. There was no damge to my machine at all! The roll cage needed to be straightened and there is one weld broken that can be repaired very easily.

For the time being I have removed the custom roll cage and reinstalled the factory roll cage. I plan to leave the factory cage on for a while, and make the minor repairs to the custom roll cage when I have time available.

By mr. tinker on Unrecorded Date: Edit

still gonna do power slides?

By Motown's (Bigwolf) on Unrecorded Date: Edit

No, I think my big air power slide days are over!

The one piece of advice that I would like to pass on to others, including the old timer die hards that have been riding ATV's for years. Do your self a favor and install a roll cage or roll bar and seat belts on your machines. The freak accidents usually happen when you are least expecting it, and at times when you are feeling the most confident in your riding skills and the terrain you are in! The added safety equipment may just save your life, or minimize the amount of injuries that you would sustain in an accident.

By Bob Eells on Unrecorded Date: Edit

Hey BigWolf!
Us old dogs do'nt heal like we used to. Ole MOTHER NATURE makes sure we feel our friskyness the next morning when we try to get out of bed. Best to leave the hotdogging to them youngens. Glad to hear you were not hurt. except maybe that old thing called PRIDE!!!! Just goes to show you that as tame as these things can be they can still deliver some big surprises when you don't expect it. Enjoy reading your posts and like your stories about your experiences.I totally agree with you about the roll cages/bars and seat belts. I always were mine in case I do something too stupid. Without em it tends too ruin your day if you get run over by your own machine. Oh well, be safe and good luck.

By Motown's (Bigwolf) on Unrecorded Date: Edit

Amen to that Bob, the older we get the more it hurts!