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2019 Prowler Pro XT 3 seater.

8K views 9 replies 5 participants last post by  Fairmont79 
#1 ·
Just wanted to say hi. And give some feedback on the 2019 Prowler Pro XT and get some responses on my observations. Not many post on the net about it.

I have owned this SxS since Jan. I use it in AZ on a small desert ranch and around April we headed north to CO and use it on a larger mountain ranch at about 9000 ft elevation. It definitely gets a daily workout. From hauling rock, wood, pulling stumps, and the occasional fun rides through the mountain forest and desert sands. It's like a small plastic truck that can go where normal pickups can't go.

Obviously, the bike is known for it's quiet ride. It's quiet until the cooling fan kicks on. It has a comfortable ride and the suspension handles well. The shocks are adjustable, but I have not needed to adjust them. I have put 3 fullsize backhoe buckets (2ft bucket) of gravel in it, which I am sure exceeds the 1000lb payload capacity. With the dust and workouts, the suspension began to squeak, but the greasable joints put it back in order. It easily tows it's own JP 12ft trailer and tools around after offloading itself from it (~2000lbs).

The plastic half doors don't latch correctly. I have tried adjusting them to no avail. It's a PITA when the door comes open when driving.

The biggest negative is the heat from the muffler gets so hot under normal operation it actually causes the bed to swell and warp bubble up. I am starting to see cracks where the bolts hold the bed to it's lifting frame. I have some heat wrap coming in so hopefully that will fix it. It should come from the factory with a heat shield!

I installed the Warn 4500lb winch on it after purchase and found it a very easy self install, plugged into the existing wiring harness. I replaced 1 of the 2 12volt outlets with a USB charger for device charging. Added front brush guards and rear bumper, half front window and rearview mirror.

Access to the engine for maintenance is exceptionally easy.

The 4x4 engagement causes vibration under the feet.

Foot spacing for the driver is impeded by the wheel well. I am 6'1" and head room is not a problem.

The column shifter is stiff to change gears. The CVT transmission goes into a nuetral when going downhill and not using the gas. This means you can only use the brakes going downhill, not the tranny. When you get to the bottom of the hill and press the gas, the tranny kicks in abruptly. The tranny and shifter need better refinement from the manufacturer.

I would give it a value rating 7.5/10 based on the sale price of $13,600.

Would like to hear feedback from others.
 
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#2 ·
2019 Prowler Pro

Have hade UTV for 6 months, put on 400 + easy miles. Really enjoying the quite engine and the Pwr Steering. No mechanical issues, preforms as good or better than previous owned Yam Viking. The 2 cons that I have noticed is the heat in the cab from front radiator and roll back heat from the Engine from the front of bed. Did not notice until roof and fixed windshield with vents were installed. The other involves the composite bed floor warping in the sun...I have not noticed the issue with the muffler heat. I have found that if engine braking is needed low gear works well or by feathering the rpm's the trany will stay engaged.

The forums need more inputs on this Model!!
 
#5 ·
Have hade UTV for 6 months, put on 400 + easy miles. Really enjoying the quite engine and the Pwr Steering. No mechanical issues, preforms as good or better than previous owned Yam Viking. The 2 cons that I have noticed is the heat in the cab from front radiator and roll back heat from the Engine from the front of bed. Did not notice until roof and fixed windshield with vents were installed. The other involves the composite bed floor warping in the sun...I have not noticed the issue with the muffler heat. I have found that if engine braking is needed low gear works well or by feathering the rpm's the trany will stay engaged.

The forums need more inputs on this Model!!
The composit bed is warping from the muffler heat. I bought a wrap for it and it solved my problem.
 
#3 ·
Welcome to the forum!
 
#4 ·
looking forward this is most likely to be my next ride. quiet is the biggest option im looking for. not just for hunting but for talking. my wife and i do alot of zipping around the countryside at slow speeds, never over 35 mph. ok maybe once in a while ;). im hoping alot of the issues are correctable like the older prowler models. all models have their quirks and heat seems to be across the board on all of them.
alot of the guys riding here tend to trade every two years or so. they always have new quirks. i prefer the long haul and put money into my ride yearly to make it better. once you see guys like that buying these we will start seeing alot more DYI fixes\corrections.

that shifter issue is a new one for me. i cant get my old prowler to jump out of gear if i wanted to. i wasnt so hot on the column shifter either. it looks big and easy to bump. maybe a guy can find a spot to install some UHMW on a shift bar that can give some resistance for the shifter. might be enough to keep it from popping out? shot in the dark without knowing the machine. i got that idea from the old john deere 316 hydro i got. it utilizes two pieces of UHMW and a hydraulic ram for resistance. the ram only provides resistance during movement so you cant throw it from WOT forward to WOT reverse. i found that once the UHMW wore out, the machine would naturally go back to neutral very slowly. that drove me nuts.
 
#6 ·
...

that shifter issue is a new one for me. i cant get my old prowler to jump out of gear if i wanted to. i wasnt so hot on the column shifter either. it looks big and easy to bump. maybe a guy can find a spot to install some UHMW on a shift bar that can give some resistance for the shifter. might be enough to keep it from popping out?
It's not the shifter/lever that pops it out of gear. It's within the CVT transmission and designed on purpose to go into neutral when not applying gas. That's fine on flat ground. Not noticeable. But going downhill, slowly, using the brakes, it pops into neutral, requiring more braking force.

As someone mentioned above, you can actually manually put it in low gear and feather the gas pedal to give you better braking power than applying the brakes. That's very counterintuitive to most.
 
#7 ·
New model to the forum, and takes time to build the fan base. Stay connected as we try and grow the forum!
 
#8 ·
I have a 2019 Prowler Pro XT. I absolutely love it, with all the cab space and storage. Pretty well engineered.
Since purchasing in Nov 2018: the battery went out at just over 6 months, and I find out the 1 yr warranty doesn't cover battery, which is warranted 6 months only.
After looking closely at it, (and wondering how such a tiny battery would run a winch if I add one), I removed the battery, bracket, and bent down a metal tab in the tray, and fit in a Marine Starting Battery. Perfect, snug, fit. I would like to think one of the fine engineers planned for that. I did have to remove the rubber air intake hose to get it in. Once reinstalled, the rubber hose actually holds the battery down snugly in it's place, which is good because there didn't appear a way for me to put an additional hold down on it. Works like a charm and I have not run down the battery even after 12 hrs with the radio on, and several hours with the added light bar on.
I have added an overhead mounted radio, with speakers in an added headliner, a windshield, a roof, a light bar, and I custom built a steel roof rack and mounted it.
I have experienced the hot motor bed warping but so far it always goes back to flat when cooled.
The cvt has always been noisy, erratic like unbalanced a little, and when test driving it the salesman said it's probably just the belt needing break-in miles. Didn't change with 100 hrs.
4wd developed a hum and varying vibration, so 2 wks before end of warranty I took it in for service and checking out.
After taking 2 weeks to do an oil and fluid change, they call and said it's ready. When I went to pick it up, they said couldn't find anything wrong with it. I could. The oil was a quart high on the dipstick, the clamp on the air filter hose was loose and spinning not even in place, a wire to a temp or oil sending unit was loose on the front of engine, oil was burning and laying all in the bellypan with dirt and leaves, (apparently no containment or channeling, tech just let it run straight out of the drain hole into the belly frame and skid plates, and the cvt cover still had a thick layer of dust all over it with no fingerprints. Calling out the service guy, I printed out these things. The tech said he had removed the cvt cover, blown it out as instructed by service manual, and checked out the cvt. The no fingerprints in the dust said that was a lie. The vibration was still there in 4wd (tech said he had not driven it so I gave home a ride and pointed it out, along with the noisy, erratic cvt sounds).
I refused to accept the UTV onsite, service already paid for,.and the tech said he would further investigate the complaints.
I got a call a week later, went (3 hrs from where I was hunting to home, and another 2 hrs to dealer) to pick it up. Was told the cvt belt was bad, they showed me the cracks in it, and paid for that. No further problems were found. The oil was still as far over the high mark as the low mark was below it. Tech said that is Arctic Cat specs.
So I take it back 5hrs to where I'm hunting and put recommended miles for the new belt break-in and a couple hrs on it in the next few days,and the cvt develops a squeal off idle and upon acceleration until say 5mph.
At one point at idle out of gear the engine/cvt can't tell which, develops a weird, low roar/squeal hard to describe, along with increased frequency of cooking fan coming on. It went away after a minute or two. I suspect something due to high oil level, and say to myself enough of this bs, and drained out the appropriate amount of oil the next chance I got. When I bought it new, the oil was at high mark so I can't imagine a spec that states otherwise.
I have been mulling my next step, and have thought about contacting an area manager of some sort for Textron, or Arctic Cat, as it seems they are a go again as a name and company. As in my opinion, the dealer I bought from and serviced through was totally incompetent and unskilled in the UTV service dept. Their service dept, a separate facility, is an import tractor repair facility. I had the only atv/UTV there, which was a huge warning sign. As the warranty ran out while I had it in this dealer shop for warranty complaints as yet unsatisfied, I really feel like it should be kicked up and referred to a qualified dealer repair center.
What do you guys think?
Other than my dealer bs I love this thing. Best UTV on the market in my opinion.
 
#9 ·
I have never taken mine back to the dealer. Their competence is not any better than the average shade tree mechanic. Not worth the hassle.

I pointed out the vibration under my feet when in 4x4 in my post too. Same issue. You will eventually notice the bed begin cracking at the bolt points from the heat. Get a thermal wrap to prevent it.
 
#10 ·
Hard to find a dealer that provides trustworthy service on UTV's. They are out there, but few and far between! We sell em, but don't service em! The oil change and spilt oil has been happening since day one! One of the many reasons I started working on my Prowler, that and the fact that I enjoy working on mine!
 
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