please help on atv purchase.

[mountaineer]

that was the first or second year arctic cat made atvs. they were not good models in the early years from what i have heard.

[chevytaHOE5674]

Just found some pictures of the abuses my AC 500i's have taken without injury for 2k+ miles a piece. They are tough machines. I can't find any pictures skidding wood, pushing snow, or doing any real work at the moment though. 

[mountaineer]

looks intense. how does one learn to pop a wheelie without ending their life  1st try?   

[chevytaHOE5674]

To the left of the picture there is a giant hole, that we rode up and out of and then just leaned back and hoped for the best. Once you do it a few times it gets more comfortable.    ;D

[mountaineer]

so it's now between a honda 2009 rancher 420 auto with efi and power steering. but no h/l and no diif lock.  (new) good feeling atv. a little small.

or the 2008 arctic cat 700 efi auto. with 400 miles. has front brush guard and front diff lock and high/low. nice size atv. 

th honda will be 800$ more. 1200$ after financing over 5 years.

is h/l and diff lock very important? the clearance on the cat is a lot higher. also important?

the insurance on the honda is 120$ a year lower.

thx again folks.

[CLL]

High-low is very important and diff lock is nice. my son has gotten out of some tough places with by having the low and diiff lock. They will pull a mountain then. Some without the low range will burn belts up in tough going.I would say buy the best you can afford for the use you its intended for.

[Corley5]

I looked real hard at the Honda Rincons before I bought the Can Ams.  The performance of the Can Ams sold me on them  8)   That said if I was buying a four wheeler just for work I'd buy a Honda without a second thought.  My one experience with Arctic Cat ATVs ruined me on them forever.  I hope they are better than they used to be and they must be because they're still making them 

[mountaineer]

please people that plow snow with their atvs, will the 420 efi honda rancher be able to push a steep driveway of snow? and pull wood? and create world peace? lol.

[Jeff]

Steep driveways are easier to plow then flat ones. Just make sure yer plowing in the right direction.

If you had snow like we have the last couple years, forget plowing with any atv.

[chevytaHOE5674]

If you had snow like we have the last couple years, forget plowing with any atv.

Up here ATV's are only good to clean up the "crumbs" that occasionally roll off the edge of the plow or tractor blower.   

[isawlogs]

 I open my yard here with a Honda 350 4x4 I do put ring chains on the back tires , a 50" plow and open a large yard. There are front mounted snow blowers for atv's I have a friend with one and work really well , he has a good long steep hill to clean and also has to deal with blowing snow with the blower the banks dont get as high and has less drifting.

[caver]

I had not owned a four wheeler since the late 80's when I had a Yamaha Blaster.
I bought a Yamaha Grizzly 700 FI/EPS. A fun machine that I use around the farm.

A friend of mine is an independent motorcycle mechanic. I asked him of any brands to stay away from and he said they are all pretty equal in reliability.

If you are buying Honda/Polaris/Yamaha, Abernathys in Union City TN is hard to beat on price and they have their out the door prices on the website including last years models.

[stonebroke]

Honda, I just put a starter on my foreman four hundred at 6500 miles It was the first thing I have had to do to it. All my others never even made it that far.

Stonebroke

[mountaineer]

so i talked to a guy at abernathys for a few minutes. they have good prices. i told the guy what i wanted to do with it and he told me not to get a rancher or foreman. he said they aren't made to plow etc. he also said not to get the rincon. he said the rubicon is the way to go. he said it's liquid cooled and is geared for that kind of stuff. rubicon anyone?

[Jeff]

Um... My Rincon is liquid cooled and plowed snow in western U.P. of michigan up until I got it.

[chevytaHOE5674]

Um... My Rincon is liquid cooled and plowed snow in western U.P. of michigan up until I got it.

They must have plowed often and always. There are times i have trouble blowing snow with a 7' two stage thrower on a 100hp tractor.

If you have the time to plow often then your golden.

[mountaineer]

before we go on any further, i would like to say that i'm really jealous of all the white stuff you folks up north get. we get some here, but not like the old days. where is a good old blizzard of 93' when you need it? in 93 we got 125" of snow.(the whole year) (4ft in one storm) you probably get 125"   in one storm. :'( i really don't know why i'm so worried about the dang plow.

[Corley5]

I know a guy north of Shingleton, Van Meer actually just south of the Bear Trap, who plows with a newer Polaris.  I'm not sure of the size.  He builds ramps out of the snow and just keeps going higher pushing the snow off the end   He's semi retired and has lots of time too  ;)   I'd recommend a fuel injected machine.  They're much more convenient to start in the cold

[Banjo picker]

Kubota 900 RTV...You can get the extra hydralic hook up if you were to need it....Drive post, run jack hammer...etc.   A little more pricey than some of the others though...Tim

[WildDog]

I think I chased price, clearance and a strong frame when i bought my Yamaha 400 over the Honda, i've put 9000km's on it in 5yrs and now looking to upgrade. The Yamaha has been a tough machine mainly used for mustering cattle and goats and has now replaced my horse, the biggest problem I have is constant 4wd, i do a lot of night time spotlighting for roo's, deer and pigs and driving around in the scrub steering with the right arm while I am holding the light with the left for hours on end takes its toll on my shoulder and elbow. One other fault is the half foot plate to often sticks gat driven up into my boot or ankle. >:(

I have a real old honda with the fuel tank under the seat seen better days but still going,  I was leaning towards a Polaris but there is a few new brands available down here now that might warrant a look, like the Can-Am's. Its a bit hard to know who to trust for advice, When I bought the Yamaha, I was told they had the strongest frame then last week I went to the Kawasaki dealer to get a 2 wheel agg bike and he said they were getting a lot of Yamaha atvs traded with cracked frames. I had some drovers on the stock route that were  working for a cattle station that only ran Honda Foremans funny thing is these drovers said the station mechanic would replace the frames with a home made heavy duty one before they got used.

[cheyenne]

How about a good used Foreman 500 with standard tranny if price is an issue. If it's a work machine I would never have an automatic tranny. But that's just me. I have a 2005 Foreman & I can't kill it . It skids logs, jerks over trees, pulls a wagon load of wood uphill, plows snow, grades roads, And it makes a great attachment to the beer cooler......Cheyenne

[Banjo picker]

Kubota 900 RTV...You can get the extra hydralic hook up if you were to need it....Drive post, run jack hammer...etc.   A little more pricey than some of the others though...Tim

I should not have bragged on this rascel ...it started making a racket this weekend...going back to the dealer this morning...sounds like its comming from the transfer case...only does it every once in a while.... :( >:(  Tim

[manatarms]

mountaineer,

Newbie here...I'm by no means an expert, but Honda's don't have front locking differentials...in my opionon a must have feature on an ATV that is going to possibly get stuck in the woods or encounter off camber logs at slow speed.  Honda's are known for reliability, however I don't think you can go wrong with most any of the majors.  If your gonna want to plow...heavier is better.  I think most A/C and Polaris (which I have) are heavier than other machines.  Many A/Cs also have a standard 2" reciever...so you don't have to add an adapter to pull standard trailers about.

A/Cs and Polaris have TONS Of factory accessories available and are generally thought of as great utility/work machines.

Every machine has pros and cons.  What is your budget?  Did you look at Yamaha Grizzly?  Grizzly's have a great reputation as do anything, with adequate power, great 4WD system with front locker, and loads of aftermarket parts available.  It's not the best at anything, but it is *DanG good at everything.  Just my 2 cents.

-Mark

[Banjo picker]

Kubota 900 RTV...You can get the extra hydralic hook up if you were to need it....Drive post, run jack hammer...etc.   A little more pricey than some of the others though...Tim

I should not have bragged on this rascel ...it started making a racket this weekend...going back to the dealer this morning...sounds like its comming from the transfer case...only does it every once in a while.... :( >:(  Tim

Found the problem...front u joint was going...evidently a recurring problem with them...went to Muscle Shoals and got a new one for 30.00 ..kind of steep for such a small critter...Kubota has changed the design on the drive shaft on new models i am told....Tim

[Ironwood]

Banjo,

Not really ATV's but useful non the less.

The RTV had a spline issue in the front as well. It is likely that they fixed yours or it went out after the factory found the problem. I like those the only thing is there is little room for a taller tire and hence more under axle clearence. I put 12" rims on mine so I could have a better tire selection. If you guys REALLY get out in the boonies, Goodyear makes a Run Flat Mud Lite (see first pic) that can easily get you out of the woods and back home w/out issue (Tested that on a logging job a few weeks back :). I was hauling about 900-1100 lbs per load on the racks, luckily it occured unloaded. so I just headed out the mile long skid trail. These tire would also work on a true ATV.

Been plowing w/ mine for 5 years or so. I put a used Meyers on it (6') I see where you can get plows for RTV's, Polaris's and Gators thru one of the catalogs now, like $4000 I dont have much in mine as I cobbled together most of the parts from my truck plows. I have really put this thru it's paces and it has held up exceptionally well. As for the drive belts I am ABSOLUTELY amazed at how well those belts hold up on a CVT tranny. It's almost a little surreal, at times I would think "no way it's gonna snap under this load/ situation" Never one issue.

The last pic is of an older HPX gasser I had first.

Ironwood