Greetings:

I just joined this forum to get some education and advice on what side by side ATV to buy. I'm 70 years old and my hunting partner is 65 so we are no spring chickens, but we have elk hunted in the high country of Idaho and Montana for many years and plan to do so for several more. We set up a base camp at about 9000 ft, and use legal forest service roads and trails to travel to our hunting areas. Some of the trails get rather nasty with mud and deep snow towards the end of season. In the past, we have used a jeep to get in deep into the high country. We are now considering the purchase of a side by side ATV. We need help on deciding on one that will best serve us under the conditions and purposes out lined above.We are looking at the Arctic cat Prowler, both the 650 and the 700 efi engine, the Ranger,and the Rhino. Any advise or comments on the above would be welcome. Advice on tires would be appreciated. Thanks Bill

 

I don't think you could possibly go wrong with Yamaha Rhino 700 fuel injection. Great for high altitude and cold temps without carb jetting hassles. Most riders on here will rate the Rhino at best for reliability and the 700 motor has been out one year already in the 700 Griz. Reliability would probably be the most important requirement for your use.

 

I dont think anyone of those would be a bad choice, the ranger would be good for the bed capacity, the prowlers good for the ground clearance, and the rhino will fit better in tight spots. whatever you do get the efi

 

Aged 66 myself, and I ride the high country. Yes, you NEED fuel injection for the altitude you mentioned! Selective carburetor jetting is a pain. Depending on your rush to aquire the machine, it might be worth waiting to see what Honda has to offer with the new Big Red come summer. The big advantage of Honda is a no-belt automatic transmission. Fuel injection and all-independent suspension have already been announced. It might even have electric power steering. Last, but not least, is reliability, and Honda shines in this area. Do not consider the Kubota, even though the RTV1100 has an enclosed and heated cab, as many report terrible performance at altitude.

 

Yeah any of the 700cc machines mentioned here are good machines. I will tell you plan on cranking up your suspension on any these to avoid bottoming out in the mud holes you describe. Also I had my 700xp up in the rockies last year for elk hunting get the cab enclosure other wise it gets a little cold also let whatever you get warm up when any of these get up that high they need a little time for the injection system to figure out and adjust the 500cc ones up that will not work at all. Last make sure you check the bed capacity and the towing capacity I know putting a whole elk in the back of some of these utv's might not be a great idea. Hope that helps.

 

Definently the rhino or ranger.

 

[img]i/expressions/clock.gif[/img] If i could make a suggestion,take a good hard look at an Argo. They have been around for years and still going strong. They are about the same cost as some of the utvs on the market and additions such as cabs,windshilds etc. are available.(even a fuel injection model).

Good luck in your search and we will be interested in your final choice.

 

Like you , I'm well past the point of fighting a machine to get ti where I want to go. I bought a Polaris Ranger 6X6 700 cc EFI and after getting an electrical problem taken care of, I can't say enough good things about it. My 13 year old son calls it our "OUTBACK CADDILLAC", as I take everything we might need if we find ourselves out on the trail longer than we wanted to be. I did install a auto type receiver behind the front grill so if I wanted to pull from either front or rear I could. Simply slide in the drawbar and hook on the winch. Works great! Our machine is unstoppable, "EXCEPT FOR" deep sloppy mudholes where it can high center, in which case you will have to winch out. This machine is too heavy(2000 #) , to try to pull out using come-alongs. We have an 8000# boat winch and use either 1 or 2 ****** blocks depending on how bad I stick it. Carry extra 5/16th cable(50 - 75') in case you aren't close to an anchor point. I also carry a small danforth marine anchor if I think I might get into loose or really wet sand. I generally don't carry a spare tire, but I do carry repair kits for flats or torn tires. Also carry spare fuses for any power options. I carry a spare battery like is used on small tractors to run the winch. Alternator doesn't produce enough power to keep battery charge if hooked to a winch. We installed extra lights, up front, in back toward the sides. All switched and fused so they can be used as needed. I made a nagahide cover for the box and made up a detacthable rack that slides into the tubes on the sides of the box. can carry a canoe or a ladder stand that way. Ours has the factory brush and headlight guards, the soft top kit, with doors and I've added the hard poly top. It also has the tilt out windshield(a Must) and I added heat baffles around the engine to shiel heat from the seat and heater hoses. Also added a 12 volt, switched and fused, muffin fan mounted on a spare access panel at hte front of the engine compartment, in the middle of the cab just below the seat. Makes summer use much more enjoyable. We carry probably 200 ppounds of gear in the bed, including chain saw, gas, oil, tool kit, survival gear, tent, and anything we can think of. We use the tailgate as an imprompto area to fire up the coleman stove and have a trailside cookout if we want. I haven't added any lift kit, although I've thought about it, and we are running on original factory tires and wheels. I'm leary of going to aftermarket tires wit ha more aggressive tread because of problems I had with anouther machine where I had a problem with eating up CV joints. We have been in water wher it was up in the cab,but not up high enough to get to the electronics. I also added a mud shield to the area in front of the frontmost left rear driver. The ECU is mounted under the seat there and was getting plastered with mud and water so I fixed it. If you decide to do a similar upgrade, don't weld the shield in as all that stuff has to come out in order t oreplace the drive belt. Thus far we have 100 hours on the machine, most of it in high gear and no belt promlems.
Hope all this is helpful to you and others.