Axys or 17 Mountain Cat?

Danadog · Nov 1, 2016

Time for a new sled and trying to decide between an Axys or 17 Mountain Cat. Not looking to start a brand war just honest opinions. I have been riding a 13 M800 Ltd 162 and can't find a lot of real info between an Axys and a 17 162 Mountain Cat. I have been very happy with my M800, but it is now moved on to another owner and living in Jackson and I need a new sled.
The thread Axys or M8000 is really informative, but no mention of the new Mountain Cat.
Thanks for any input!

CO 2.0 · Nov 1, 2016

They are both great sleds. Can't go wrong with either. I don't like the valving on the Axys shocks. First thing I'd change on it. The mountain cat is pretty good right out of the box, but I'd do a Ti can and some clutching work. I still like the Polaris gripper ski's on the cat better than the newer cat skis. The 3" powerclaw is a much better track than what's on the axys, and holds up to abuse better too. I still feel like the Cat 800 has more torque than the axys, but the new Poo motor is pretty peppy. Time will tell if it holds up, but so far mine has been good. Much better than the previous Poo 800's.

Danadog · Nov 1, 2016

Thanks for the feedback. I guess it is good that that I did keep my gripper skis from my old sled.
Any suggestions on a quieter Ti can?

boondocker97 · Nov 1, 2016

Diamond S makes a Lite can and a Quiet can. Only a pound difference between them. I have the Quiet version and really like it.

89sandman · Nov 1, 2016

I was in the same boat just about a month ago, although I was looking at 16 holdovers. Had a 11 and 15 Poo and was seriously considering a Axys. Loved the Pro, nothing like a light sled to tear it up on. But with that light weight comes a cost, and that is a less than stout chassis. Still shy of the over $5,000 dollar motor, remember the 11's didn't start blowing right and left until the second season. The engine price is just ridiculous when you can buy a new cat motor for less than half of that. The Cat chassis is as tough as they come with the best motor, best track and best suspension in the industry that is why I bought a 16 Limited. Throw a can on it and you are less than 30 pounds heavier than the Axys, and I decided the less than 30 lbs was worth the piece of mind...

madmax · Nov 1, 2016

89sandman said:
I was in the same boat just about a month ago, although I was looking at 16 holdovers. Had a 11 and 15 Poo and was seriously considering a Axys. Loved the Pro, nothing like a light sled to tear it up on. But with that light weight comes a cost, and that is a less than stout chassis. Still shy of the over $5,000 dollar motor, remember the 11's didn't start blowing right and left until the second season. The engine price is just ridiculous when you can buy a new cat motor for less than half of that. The Cat chassis is as tough as they come with the best motor, best track and best suspension in the industry that is why I bought a 16 Limited. Throw a can on it and you are less than 30 pounds heavier than the Axys, and I decided the less than 30 lbs was worth the piece of mind...

I dont know where you are getting your weight info from, but 30lbs? You obviously have never wrighed a Mt cat and an axys. Putting a Ti can on a Mt cat will get you to about the same weight (maybe a couple lbs less) than a similar stock 3" track (with chaincase) axys.
They are both very good sleds, very similar to ride IMO. Neither is perfect and could use a couple tweaks out of the box. I'd go with a shop that will support you after the sale first. I'm kind of facing the same choice right now, trying to decide on my main ride this year. I loved my cats the last 5 years. Got a couple 15' pros.

madmax · Nov 1, 2016

Ok, here are the weights once again. The axys is a snow check 16' 163x3. The mountain cat is a 17' 153x3. The 162 cat would probably be 6-8l s heavier. So put the 162 cat at 555lb and the 163 axys at 531lbs. So about 24lbs diff. In stock form, full of gas, oil, spare belt and tools included. You can pull about 18lbs off the cat with a TI can (close to the same weight can come off the axys with a TI can).

goridedoo · Nov 1, 2016

That is pretty impressive considering the cat is a chassis generation behind polaris and that 24lbs could be shaved off easily by going to a conquer 280, belt drive, and light hood.

Bacon · Nov 1, 2016

goridedoo said:
That is pretty impressive considering the cat is a chassis generation behind polaris and that 24lbs could be shaved off easily by going to a conquer 280, belt drive, and light hood.

And the Cat motor is about 18lbs heavier.

goridedoo · Nov 1, 2016

:face-icon-small-dis cats untapped potential confuses me.

goridedoo · Nov 1, 2016

Maybe I shouldnt say that, they have alot of good things going right now, but still need to make some "big" changes to convert guys over. Working closer with their consumers and dealers would be the first big step... Getting sidetracked here sorry.

Buy the cat and put some lightweight parts on it, or buy a poo and beef it up. I think it would be hard to go wrong either way.

89sandman · Nov 1, 2016

The problem I had is with Cat not publishing weight. What I've ever found on my 16 Limited 153 is 465 dry, but like I said I have never found any official numbers. Saw the 155 2.6 Axys was 408 dry. So I figured add about 12 pounds for the 3 inch and chaincase on the Axys, that's where I got my numbers from. I'm even more impressed now by being even just by changing the can :face-icon-small-coo To be fair I did say the difference was less than 30 pounds

sno*jet · Nov 1, 2016

goridedoo said:
that 24lbs could be shaved off easily by going to a conquer 280, belt drive, and light hood.

that doesnt sound too easy to me. LOL

theres a little free weight to shave off the cat I have found, remove the huge flap, port the track a little...
on the axys i think you need the long flap and i would add clips to that track.
small stuff
Axys is lighter apples to apples tho, i think it shows in how it moves in the videos, but theres not a lot of footage on a 17 MC yet.
the way the cat side panels go on is a little cheasy imo. but its worked for years i guess. i can actually push the panels in with a finger like 1/2 inch, but they just spring back. like they need an extra fastener in the middle somewhere....

goridedoo · Nov 1, 2016

The plastics need to be completely redesigned, 5 years ago.

kiliki · Nov 2, 2016

goridedoo said:
The plastics need to be completely redesigned, 5 years ago.

^^ this!
BTW cat publishes weight like Poo publishes H.P.
and i won't even get into doo's funny H.P. math calculator.

jakey-boy · Nov 2, 2016

We took a mountain cat demo out last spring as well as an axys 174 demo. Two guys with us that had 16 axys's had already snowchecked 17 axys. After a day with the mountain cat one sold the snowcheck and bought a mountain cat the other bought a mountain cat along side the 17 axys. The mountain cat is seriously impressive. The 16 was a huge step up from the older cats and the mountain cat is another step up.

madmax · Nov 2, 2016

If cat does one thing a lot better than any other brand, it's totally sucking at marketing. Let's not tell anyone how good our sleds really are.

Danadog · Nov 7, 2016

Thanks for all of the feedback! The hunt continues for a new sled. There sure are a lot of 153's and 155's out there with good prices. Pretty sure I need to stick with a 162 as I am not a small kid at 250 lbs with gear.

damx · Nov 7, 2016

I'm the same weight as you . Get a 162/ 163 track, I road a 155 for a few hours, stuck city, AND can't climb worth $hit.. there are 3 cat dealers with in 8 hours drive of me And all suck. put a can on or change clutch weight or a different clutch spring and they won't warranty anything. I have seen 3 cats newer than 2013 out of about 60-70 sleds in our area. PEOPLE just move on. the cat does ride very close to the axys. I feel the axys has more hp. And for sure much faster on off throttle. biggest difference I find is the wide panels of the cats. But only on very steep side hills. the axys is a lot colder if you have long trails to the mountains. In our snow the axys 3" track is not that good. The cat 3" works good some days but others it trenches bad. the poo 2.6" seams to just work. Like others have said dealership dealership dealership.

ezra · Nov 15, 2016

madmax said:
If cat does one thing a lot better than any other brand, it's totally sucking at marketing. Let's not tell anyone how good our sleds really are.

it is crazy they have the hands down best creative dept in the industry for print adds. have for decades
but worst in actual product promo

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Axys or 17 Mountain Cat?

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