I'm still trying to decide which quad to buy a 2005 Honda Rancher 350 4x4 manual shift with Warn 424 Select or the 2005 Honda Rancher AT. My riding style is fairly aggressive and I do have the need to pull trees that have fallen across trails occassionally, so work duty is somewhat light, but needed at times. The trails range from flat stretches, over the wheels creek crossings, to fairly steep fireroad sections. I'm not really into mudding or changing tire sizes....more or less just out having fun and exploring. I'm hoping that people that have owned both can give some good comparisons or people that have owned one or the other can comment. Sorry, if these questions have been asked before, but I'm sure that there are some fresh or possibly changed opinions of the Rancher AT.

1.) Does the Rancher AT have enough low end power to do doughnuts and pull heavy items like the Rancher 350?

2.) Does the Rancher AT ever a problem where the wheels will not spin or stop spinning when going up steep hills or get the wheels into a bind? If so, does switching into ESP mode help with this problem?

3.) Is 1st gear in ESP mode on the Rancher AT as low as 1st gear on the Rancher 350...or at least somewhat close?

4.) Can you just jump on the Rancher AT when cold and expect it to pull up a steep hill or do you have to let it warm up for awhile?

5.) How does the 1st gear on the Rancher 350 4x4 compare to the super low first gear on the old TRX300's?

6.) The Rancher AT specs indicates that it's 2" longer than the 350. Does anyone know what makes up the extra 2"?...are the racks bigger or what?

7.) Has the Rancher AT been as reliable as the Rancher 350's other than the ECM recall on the 2004 models?

Thanks for any advice maybe this will help me decide finally!

 

I have a 04 rancher 350 es and it is not made for too much work. It has no power whatsoever. The bigger 400 should be a better choice Though pricey compared to other makes automatic 500s. The 350 reliability is bullet proof but just kinda underpowered.

 

The 400At will walk circles around the 350. I have had them both. OR the girlfriend has the 400at right now. Its super fast, plenty of power and the best atv out there that I have seen so far. It would be a hard decision between it and a 05 Rubicon if I were hunting another. My friend has a Rubicon and he says the rancher is alot stronger feeling to him than the Rubicon. If you live in tennessee you have a couple of places where you can get a brand new 05 rancherat for a little over 5000 bucks! You have Ritchies Powersports and Southern Honda both on the same interstate a few miles apart that are wholesalers on these atv's.

 

I must have missed something using mine for work then. I pull a 6.5x12 landscape trailer thats over 1000pound empty, let alone anything on it. I use it to plow and grade dirt with a 60" CC plow, i land up spinning the tires before i bog it down. Pulling shrubs out, dragging treetops away, already used it to skid some logs. 1st gear is about the same as a foremans, its super low and has great torque. You try starting out in 2nd to pull things and it wont have any power. Do i wish i have a bigger quad, sometimes i wish i opted for the foreman, but overall i am very happy with what i have.

 

I asked this same question about a week ago when I was considerring a switch from the 350 to the 400AT. I did not get much feedback jon the topic so I had to make the decision on my own. I went ahead and got the AT and sold my 350 ES to my hunting buddy and both of us are very happy. For two weekends in a row I have gone down to a riding park in Missouri and have had a blast. I ride around all day in 2WD and AUTO modes...something the 350 ES did NOT have. I can do donuts and swing the back end loose with just a little effort. As far as power... the AT has a bigger engine so naturally it is going to have more power. I have found that the AT does not have as much torque as the 350 in both AUTO and ESP mode. I am guessing that maybe the gears in the 350 are geared lower (guess) but even so the 400 should be able to pull more than the 350. Recently I pulled a 1300 lb. pop-up with my 350 up a muddy hill and it worked as though it wasn't even pulling anything. Unless you are thinking about pulling something in excess of 2000 lbs. I would assume the AT could do the job.

As far as your "wheels spinning" question I have not really experienced that. There have been a few times when I was climbing a rock or ledge that was maybe 10 inches or so higher than the ground and I had to give the AT quite a bit of gas in order to get up over the obstacle but not once did I feel that the AT was "underpowered". Another thing is that this was while in 2WD and not 4WD. 4WD offers far more power...or at least it feels that way.

The obvious choice here is to spend the extra $$$ and go with the AT. There are too many extras not to go with the AT. More power, switchable 2 to 4 wheel drive, and AUTO or ESP mode. I paid $5081 plus freight and set-up (about $300) two weeks ago and I couldn't be happier. You can have fun with the AT and put it to work.

Let me know what you decide to do...

 

Is the transmission in the AT the same as the Rubicon? Also, when people have talked about the AT being "underpowered" could this be due to a recall on the ECM that I've read about?

 

The transmission is described by Honda as a smaller cut down version of the Rubicon transmission. Same configuration but the Rancher does not have the Hi and Lo range option of the Rubicon. Besides that they are basically the same transmission. I too dont know what power loss some people are talking about. This Rancher AT that we have is awesome. If it turns out to be like the Foreman and Sportrax we already have, it will only get more powerful as it breaks in. Honda may not be the fastest thing out there, but it sure has plenty going for it as far as I am concerned. The Rancher 400AT would be hard to improve upon in my book.

 

Here is the Honda specs for the Hondamatic:

75-81% efficient in low ratio (high torque low speed)
87-92% efficient in high 1:1 ratio (High speed)

Have a nice day,

 

Really???? [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-shocked.gif[/img] I have a 02 rancher 350s and no matter what i hook it to it'll atleast spin the wheels (completly stock). Last summer my grandpa's one tractor died about 150 yards from the house at the bottom of a slight rise in the road which leads up to the driveway which is also slightly up hill, The tractor weighs about 3000lbs After a little spinning in 1st gear i got it moving then he droped the clutch to try and pop start it which drug the atv to a hault but the tires were still spinning. After i told him not to do that i was able to even hit second before i got to the driveway and went back into first to pull that slight rise. I realise i'll have somepeople tell me i'm full of it but i've got witnesses.

 

I have a 400 AT with 26 inch mudlites front and back. 12s on the back 10s on the front. If you set someone on the front rack and are pulling from the back you can stall the tranny. Without any weight on the front it will spin them all day. I've never ran it out of power without additional weight.

Randy