Hello everyone, I am glad to have found a site that seems very informative. I know this question has been asked a million times and you all are probably sick of answering it...but I have just bought 10 acres and I am looking for an ATV that will provide me with many years of fun. The land has a combo of woods and open areas that I am planning on rough cutting. There are also trails in the woods that I will have to maintain.
I am looking for an ATV that will be a work horse (I will be attaching a brush cutter and a plow) to do work on the land and I am also looking for an ATV that will provide me with a good ride on trails. (public and my own). there are many to choose from so I throw myself at the mercy of this forum to search for the answer or at least some direction.

Thank you for your help,

Dujie

 

My first pick for what you are describing:

Honda Fourtrax Fourman S 450

 

how much money are you willing to spending?

 

You know creaid, I really do not have a good perspective on the cost of these things.

 

I would would say 500+cc. The yamaha grizzly is a good work horse and fun on the trails.The yamaha Kodiak 450 would be fine also. Honda has a good line up. I just like all the bells and whistles that Yamaha has.

 

[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-happy.gif[/img] dujie you have just asked the 10000.00 dollar question . most of the replies will be jaded by brand preferences from about every quad rider on the forum am i am no exception . so i will try and keep my brand pref. to a min. . to pull a plow about every mfg. will recamend a minn. of 400cc and bigger is better .. that i would have to agree with them on . for trail riding the smaller and lighter the machine the more nimble and fun it will be . for pulling the 4x4 bikes are far better ! and i have found no down fall to the 4x4 on the trails as long as it is selectable 2x4 & 4x4 . for hard work like pulling the plow and other acc. a front dif lock is a bigg plus as this will give you a true 4x4 . many brands such as honda only have 3.5 wheel drive . and yes that .5 makes a major difference . your uses are very simular to mine so i chose to stay with a 400cc to 500cc bike to get the needed pulling but not get to big so as to be cumbersome and hard to manuver on the trails . a few bikes that fit yhis bill very well are ( bombardier 400cc outlander , yahmaha 450cc kodiak , polaris 500 sportsman , suzuki 400 eiger . suzuki 500 vinson , honda 500 rubicon . all of these bikes are proven proformers . as you research a bike spend as much time reserching dealers a bad dealer can make any atv a bad exper. because eventuly all bikes need service !!!!!!!! there i did it no referance to my favorite bike . [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-wink.gif[/img] oulander outlander outlander [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-blush.gif[/img](did i do that )

 

Sounds like you are wanting to acquire your first ATV for the same reasons I did (so I could justify its expense). The very first quad I bought was a ’99 model Yamaha Grizzly 600. I used it to pull a rough cut mower, plow snow, drag logs, uproot small trees & wild rose and general recreational trail riding use.

I’d recommend going with one of the big ones, they are certainly more versatile than the smaller ones. If you want more ground clearance (nice when going through virgin woods) and a more comfortable ride you will want a unit with independent rear suspension (IRS). Worth looking at would be the Arctic Cats (500 or 650), Polaris Sportsman (500, 600 or 700), Yamaha (Grizzly) for starters. If IRS is not important to you then also include the Kawasaki Prairie 700, Honda 450 models and the Yamaha Kodiak on your checkout list. The new Suzuki King Quad 700 that is scheduled for release this summer sounds interesting too. Oh, and you can still have a lot of fun with the big utility quads on the trails. On my first trail ride on my 600 Grizzly with a group, I had no problem keeping up with the leader, a seasoned rider on a little Honda 300 4x4. These were tight twisty trails too, where sometimes you were going between trees only a couple inches to spare or less. Plus the bigger quads will go through virgin forest easier than the little ones will, especially if there is a lot of rock, logs & brush / small trees (you can generally drive right over that stuff).

If I were in the market at this very minute for a brand new utility quad to replace my Grizzly I would probably put the Arctic Cat 650 at the top of my checkout list because of the features that it has; a larger gas tank than it’s competitors, 26” tires standard, IRS, higher than average ground clearance (even for IRS), more suspension travel than most, a standard automobile-like 2” hitch receiver , front diff lock and the Kawasaki 650 V-twin engine…

 

2TV, You hit the nail right on the head. You know exactly what my uses are. Thank you all for the information!

dujie

I am looking foward to hearing more!

 

Hey 2TV, What mowing equipment do you have? Does it do a good job?

Dujie

 

we have had a polaris sportsman 500 for 7 years now. we plow snow all winter with it and tow stuff all the time. that and i ride it on the trails non-stop. that is until i got my z400, now my brothers ride it on the trails. but it can move on the trails and is a lot of fun, but works hard too. Not sure how much my parents paid for it, i'll get back to you on that. But it is one of the best utility quads ive ever seen, and we have NEVER had a problem with it.