I've recently moved to the country and have trails leading from my backyard. I also have a 1/2 acre lot for which I currently do not have a riding lawnmower. I also live in Ontario and receive alot of snow. Essentially I'm looking for an ATV (first time buyer) that will allow me to trail ride, snow plow in the winter, and attach a gangmower (I'm told) to allow for cutting the grass.
Any help/advice would be appreciated. Thanks

 

Greetings,

There are a number of decent brush-hog type mowers out there you can use behind an ATV. Cycle Country (on this site) has a couple of different models and Northen carries fine and rough cut mowers. Rhino also makes a tough pull-behind.

But for a half acre, you may be "slicing butter with a chain saw." The turining radius of an ATV with mower is not that great, the front tires will grind the grass a bit in the turns if you have 4-wheel drive (which you'll need for plowing), and maintaining a constant speed while mowing is an art on an ATV. For the price of a good pull-behind mower, you could go to Sears and get a riding tractor/mower which will actually take up less space in your garage. Plus, your wife and kids can mow the lawn while you're out riding.

I have a flail mower that I pull behind my 450ES and it all works fine. But I'm mowing fields of several acres in size. The throttle control is not not all that hard but it still takes some effort.

If you want to get an ATV to pull a mower consider liquid cooled. I use an air-cooled machine and its fine and actually you're not doing that much lawn, but if its a toss up, get the liquid cooled. Also, if you could get selectable 2-wheel/4-wheel drive it will help cut down on the wear and tear of your turf.

And finally, my big advice item, check the hitch set-up carefully. If the height and connections aren't just right, they are wrong -- and I've spent months tinkering with mine to get it all in sync.

 

Cordic: I'm in the same boat, and agree with everything that the previous poster said. You definitely want four wheel drive to plow snow. Don't let anybody tell you that a two wheel model with chains will do-it won't. That leaves you with some limited choices, because you definitely want a unit that can be switched between two and four wheel drive. Permanent four wheel drive models will tear up your lawn on turns, which you'll be doing alot of if you plan to cut your grass with the unit.
I would suggest that you check out the front-mount mowers, which are finish mowers, instead of the pull-behind rough cut mowers. I've been able to find only two companies that make front mounts-Cycle Country, and, believe it or not, Polaris. The advantage of a front mount is two-fold-first, a finer cut, and second-the grass gets cut before being flattened by the wheels of the ATV. Since you have a small lot, you'll want to finish cut the whole thing. I haven't been able to confirm whether the Polaris mower will mount up to another brand of ATV, and, as far as I know, Polaris only makes full-time four wheel drive ATV's-no part timers. Let us know if you find any other front mount mowers out there. Finally, I've narrowed my selection to the Yamaha Kodiak. It has part time four wheel drive, is liquid cooled, has an automatic transmission, and is very manueverable in tight areas due to its great turning radius and relatively light weight. Let us know what model you decide on. Good luck!!

 

i bought a good self propelled mower. they are much easier to deal with. you'll save ton of money and time. you can mow the lawn much better and won't tear it all up. if you had at least 1 acre i'd suggest the rider, but from my experience it isn't worth it. maintainance is much easier as well. put the extra $ you will have into some mods or additional landscaping. just my opinion...as far as the bike goes, do some dilligent research and find a dealer you feel comfortable with. you can get a better quad with the money you save from not buying that pull behing bush hog...food for thought.

 

Greetings,

Just one othr thought to share. I bought a DR Brush and Field Mower to mow around my Christmas trees and clean up the edges of the property. I can't think of anything else I've ever bought that so far exceeds the advertised capabilities. It just runs through everything -- even saplings -- and never bogs down. And its just plain well made. They offer a lawn mowing attachment that cuts about a 42" swath. It might be a good choice for a half acre and I'd bet you'll find lots of other uses for the regular brush mowing deck. I've taken mine up old logging trails to clear out shrubs and weeds so I could ride in some new areas. If you've inherited some neglected areas on your property, you'll like what it does for you. Just a thought.

 

Every 4x4 Polaris has switchable on demand true 4 wheel drive. There is a switch on the right hand side to turn the 4 wheel drive on. However, the front hubs will not engage until the rear wheel slips 1/5 of a turn. And unlike most other manufacturers, the 4 wheel drive is true 4 wheel drive, unlike others that have only 3 1/2 drive, due to their limited slip front differential. If you have a question about a Polaris machine, I reccomend you post the question in the Polaris forum, because chances are somebody has the answer to the question there.

Dodgeram01

 

I'm sorry. Now that I re-read my post, I seem to come across a little hostile. I didn't mean to sound that way. I think OLDSTER must have been thinking about the Honda 4 wheelers, because their 4x4s are all full time 4 wheel drive.

 

Dodgeram: no offense taken. Actually could you explain the Polaris system as far as whether you can switch to true rear wheel only drive without powering the front wheels? I must have been mistaken. Thanks!!

 

When any 4wd Polaris is in 2wd mode the front wheels are dead and free wheeling.If the Polaris is in 4wd mode than it still is only in 2wd untill the rear wheels senses a slight wheel slip than the front hubs lock on.This system allows the bike to have true 4wd yet still be controllable at hight speed.The other true 4wd locker set up found only on the 300 Artic Cat and Suzuki is also true 4wd but is only controlable at very slow speeds.

 

fyi -the kawasaki bayou 2x4 has a locking differential . it wont tear up your lawn like all others. ive used mine to plow snow(with chains) and althogh it worked ok and it was way more enjoyable than shoveling , it is not the perfect set-up