OK, I think I've got my choices down. I like the following quads.

Yamaha Big Bear 400 4x4
Arctic Cat 366 4x4
Honda Ranger 420 4x4

Any advice, comments or tips on helping me make a decision between these three quads would be very helpful.

From what I see the Bar and Cat have way more ground clearance than the Honda. However, the Honda has quite a bit more power. The Honda is also a bit lighter. More weight on a heavier machine, to me this seems like a double-edged sword.

What is more important?
More power/less weight, or more ground clearance.

This bike will be for recreation purposes in pretty nasty terrain. Thanks.

 

My Rancher is a real peach! Water cooled, fuel injected....rips right off the bottom. Sweet agile handling.

Ground clearance? Last winter, we did snow rides with lots of different big bore IRS machines, and know what, they didn't get any farther up the trail than the Rancher did.

I rock crawl mine no big deal, places like this:

http://jeep.off-road.com/jeep/...leDetail.jsp?id=330535

 

Sweet pictures. That looks like some serious rock climbing.

 

for what you described i would go with the big bear, super low first gear for crawling, independent rear suspension, and the machine has been around forever so i wouldnet worry about quality.. i was looking at a big bear when i was shopping around however i got a real good deal on my hawkeye so i couldnet pass it up..

my best advice would ride all the machines your looking at and buy the one that feels the best to you, none of the machines you listed are bad. you might want to add the polaris sportsman 400ho to the list of options..

 

What about the outlander 400? It seems a bit more expensive, but I have heard that thing is absolutely incredible.

 

dirt trax tv just has a "mid size" shoot-out last week on the outdoor channel consisting of the ac 366, can-am 400, and sportsman 400 ho. might want to check the outdoor channel and see if you can watch the segment

 

I have a 2007 Big Bear 400. It is pretty unstoppable. Everything is pretty simple on it and will last forever. It doesn't feel as refined as a rancher but has the features like IRS and front end diff lock. I ride a lot in the mud and love the diff lock. That is what made me choose the Big Bear over the rancher. Each are solid machines. I have an older cat and don't really like it. Just my two cents.