My 06 Rancher ES needs brushes in the starter. It did the same thing that you describe and I pulled the starter off. The area around the brushes was real dirty with carbon worn off the brushes. One brush is wore down pretty short but I didn't have new brushes to put in it. So I cleaned it real good and it cranked like new for a couple of months. Now it's hit and miss but I have a new brush assembly to put in it. Gonna wait till deer season is over and put it in. It's not hard at all if you have some metric tools and a little mechanical know how. Costed about $12 on eBay I believe
