I am in the market to buy a new atv. I am looking at the honda Rancher AT or the Yamaha Grizzly 450. I want a automatic and the main use for the quad would be to plow my 60ft driveway and to do some light trail riding down on my hunting land. the one thing that I don't know about is the belt drive vs the shaft drive. I stopped at both dealerships and of course each one said that their drives were better. is there that big of difference for what I will be doing. my brother has a 2003 yamaha Kodiak and he plows with and hasn't had any problems. but I also know that honda makes great products. thanks

 

First off, they both have a "shaft" final drives, and that doesn't have anything to do with the different transmission types. The AT has a hydrodynamic transmission just like the Rubicon, and if you google "honda rubicon transmission" you will find descriptions of how the tranny works.

Honda only make the AT for a couple of years, then discontinued it. I'm not sure what that is telling us...but you can take that for what you think it is worth. The AT has a reputation for not having a lot of low end power, and there a few posts in the Honda forum about some problems with the trannies.

That said, I presonally wouldn't own a belt drive either. Not sure why you are insisting on an automatic, but the autoclutch manuals are super simple to ride. I love my Rancher 420. Not sure it would be my 1st choice for plowing, but I would certainly take it over most of the other machines out there......

 

recon is right they are both the shaft drive.
The grizz 450 would be my choice as it has low range and a locking front diff on it that will help if you ever get stuck.
The rancher I am no sure wheather it has diff lock or not.

I have had hondas in the past but my Yamaha's have seemed to outlast the Honda's. But I would suggest taking a test ride on each of them to see which one fits you better.

 

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