I've mounted front/rear tire for riding mowers and trailers, but not much else. Is mounting an ATV tire much different? I know that if whatever buy doesn't have decent tires I would be able to replace them by the time the snow melts.

I would really be looking for a very good all around tire. I always keep very good tires on my (crappy) car, so why change now.

Is it recommended to use chains on only the rear, or both ends?

When I do go look at some different deals I may bring a friend who has ATVs and Snowmobiles in his blood. I'm sure he could point out what problem areas exist in a short amount of time.

 

I've mounted a few tires and had to reseat the bead a few times here and there. Nothing a decent ratchet strap and a compressor. One of the tires I recently put on my Outlander had that, "I've been at the bottom of the pile for a couple years", look. Took two straps for that one. I don't think you'll "need" chains, but they would probably give you a little bit more traction. When plowing you typically run out of traction before you run out of torque to push it.

The Kenda Bear Claws are good all around tires. Best bang for the buck in my opinion is the Interco Swamp Lites. For my 27" tires I got all four for right around $400.

Always a good idea to bring someone with you that's familiar with the sport.

 

I never use chains although I did buy a pair a long time ago. The instructions said to limit your speed something like 5 or 10 MPH. I sent them back since I ride a lot faster than that. It didn't make sense to me to use them when plowing then take them of when I ride. For plowing I put 2 or 3 sand bags on the rear rack and never needed chains for traction.

 

Since I'm gravitationally challenged I don't really need sandbags.....

 

I'm fairly confident I could install new tires then. I think a coworker may also have one of those bench top tire changers too.

I guess chains should really be brought back up after an ATV is purchased. They may not be needed if the tires are newer/better.

Is the 5-10mph caution the same reason for cars/trucks as to not allow any chain slop to hit the suspension or brake components?

Sand bags are a good idea, almost free too.

There's a 2011 Rubicon GPS with a plow, winch and 2 up seat, just under 1000 miles, for $6000 at a local dealer. Any idea how much most dealers are willing to haggle?

 

Most tire shops will mount atv tires and they don't charge much. My local atv dealer charges $10 a pair I think. While there are a lot of people much more capable of mounting tires than me, I would never consider trying to do it myself. Damaging one tires because you didn't have the right tools to mount it defeats the whole purpose of saving money doing it yourself. I just pay the $20 or so to get them mounted and not worry about it. If you have a tire mounting machine available and feel confident in using it, then that might be a different story. For me, just let a professional do it.

 

Very hard to say as chances are that quad came in as a trade-in. But keep this in mind, the price they have it listed at is only $2300 discount from when it was new. That quad has SRA, 5 model years old with 1000 miles the discount is only $2300. Granted, Honda does have a tendency to hold value but that is a bit too much with only $300-$400 in used pricing at best for the aftermarket options.

The current base price on a 2016 Rubicon is $7799 and it includes IRS and a full warranty.

So, to try and guess at answering your question, I'd be willing to bet the dealership paid no more than $4000 trade on it. They will probably not sell it for under $5500 which means it may be sitting there for a while. There are better deals out there if you are patient.

 

Shimonok2, atv tires are tougher to mount due to the low pressure design. They have a soft sidewall and a tight tolerance for the bead. Shops around me charge a ridiculous fee unless you buy from them (and tire prices are high too.) I purchased the harbor freight tire changing tool and a couple of long tire spoons. Now I can do it myself, better with an extra set of hands. Not sure how it will handle aluminum rims though without damaging them, i havent tried those yet. It also helps to have an air compressor and tie downs to seat that bead. I have used my truck to break beads too, amazing how strong these are. You have to be pretty ham handed to harm an atv bead when using spoons, they are very tough.

 

I ran a tire over with my truck to break the bead when I took it off. It's not good for the rim if it slides across the concrete but I wanted to change it myself. I may do one again but if I needed a whole set of tires I would have a pro mount them. And I think $6,000 for a used quad is too much. You can get a brand new 31 HP Sportsman 450 H.O. for that price or a 570 for $600 more.

 

If tires are needed, I'll approach that issue after saving up some $. I know I wouldn't buy anything that would need tires immediately.

I agree about the price being high, but it does have a plow, winch and a 2 up seat. Those 3 items right there are about $1000. Say I could get it for $5500, than means the ATV cost is only really $4500 which doesn't sound that bad to me. I'm seeing KQs and Grizzlys without these items selling for $6000. The sportsmans are running less and I have found several including a plow/winch. Most have 1000 miles or less.

I've considered the Polaris sportsman 450 HO as they can be bought for around $5 right now with rebates. I would then have to add a plow and winch though which brings me right back near the $6k mark.

If I want to stay under that $5k level...

There's a KQ 450 for $4500 at a local dealer. I could probably get at least a couple hundred off then add a plow/winch for 700-800 bucks.

The used sportsmans. I mentioned this above. Another dealer has a 2008 500 HO with 200 hours for $4200. It looks to be in good shape too.

A used Grizz, likely a 660, although there aren't many of these around and the ones that do exist are older, around 2002-2004.

decisions decisions