Is there a big difference in gas comsumption between a 2wd and a 4wd.

not enough that it's ever going to make a big difference. I can put on 90 + miles on my 4x4 rancher before it needs 3 gallons . . . really were talking cents here not even dollars. No big deal, the bigger cost is the initial investment on the machine, but I would guess resale is much, much better on 4x4's.

Rancheres,

I like here that about the Rancher. I always fill up before riding, so I have never drained the tank down to empty. The farthest I have ridden in one day is about 34 miles.

3 4 wheelers:
'99 400 Honda (The smaller one, but I don't know the model) full time 4wd
'98 325 Polaris. part time 4wd
?? (Much older, maybe '91) 110 Kawasaki, 2wd

Covering the same trails at the same speed, the Honda needed almost no gas to fill up, the Polaris needed quite a bit, and the Kawasaki needed as much as both combined.

The point is that how you ride them matters a lot. I was on the Kawasaki, and I weigh the most. To keep up I was constantly in low gears with high RPMs. The other two in trail riding could maintain a reasonable speed with lower RPMs, and therefore didn't burn as much gas.

I'm not sure why the Polaris used so much more gas then the honda, (though the automatic may have had something to do with it) but I think we can draw the conclusion that you need to settle on a brand, size, and riding style before you can choose based on gas milage.

Choose what you want, and then decide. If your riding alone over swamps, then you need 4wd and a winch. One thing to consider, that little 110 was a lot of fun in trail riding, but if there isn't a big one around to pull out out of trouble it would have not beed as fun.

So I'd personally recomend that your first one be a big 4wd. If you have the money for a second, then a smaller 2wd is nice to have around. Racers would disagree since the 2wd will go faster (although gearing was the limit for both the big ATVs, and so I'd expect a 2wd to have the same problem)