I ride in mostly deep mud

 

I own a 01'Rancher 4x4 and had a 2000 kodiak 4x4 ,ride them both and pay attention it's a easy choice. Rancher is far ahead ,yamaha had and probably still has a governed reverse which SUCKS if you are stuck and need the power. The Rancher is only 524# which is easy to throw around and manuver. I have not ridden a big bear but was not impressed with the yamaha at all ,they are tippy and vibrate alot also. Yamaha also was high maintanance,for example everybody says honda is behind on their sealed rear drum set up but the kodiak ate two sets of rear brake pads in 1000 mi. at $30.00 a set, rear rotor is constantly running in mud and sand , acts like a lathe , also ruins rotor surface.

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2001 4x4 RANCHER W/WARN #2000 AND 60" PLOW

 

Just got back from a deer hunt where I put 120 miles on my new Big Bear. One of the guy's on the trip had a new Rancher. To me it just depends on what options are more important. The Big Bear is more powerful, but geared for the low-end. I doubt my Big Bear will ever see 40mph. However the guy riding the Rancher sure appreciated how I could creep down the steep terrain we were riding without touching my brakes. I also prefer the push button on-demand 4x4. I think both bikes are a great deal and both will be dependable. I think the Big Bear would be unbeatable if it had a high/low range, but I guess they had to save money somewhere to make it this affordable. Good luck it should be a tough choice.[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-cool.gif[/img]

PS- I don't know if the reverse is governed, but it seemed to me as if it had all the throttle I needed in reverse.