i know that the older ranchers had a 5 speed automatic without the clutch, do the newer ones have 5 speeds or are they fully automatic

 

they will never be fully auto.

 

They all have a clutch. They have both a centrifical clutch and a multiplate wet clutch. The action of the clutch is auto matic, so it doesnt have a clutch lever on the left grip. The action of the shifting, engages and disengages the clutch, auto maticly.
The rancher 400at, is a true auto matic, its a hydrostatic tranny like the rubicon has, and can be fully automatic, or you can 'shift ' thru 5 preset ranges, which mimic a geared tranny. The rancher 350 s and the 350es, are 5 speed geared trannys with auto clutches. One shifts with a foot lever, and the other shifts with up and down buttons and an electric motor. The trannys are the same, its just different in how the gears are shifted.

 

It is refered to as an "autoclutch" system. When you push up or down on the shift lever, it engages the clutch. When you let go of the shift lever, it goes into gear.

You said "older" Ranchers, so you may be confused by the newer Rancher 400AT which is a fully automatic. The Rancher 350 was and still is an autoclutch, all years.

 

One note on this subject..........When I was a kid and wasn't paying the repair bills, I had a 1982 ATC185s with this same type of clutch......I wanted a manual clutch 200x bad then, but my parents wouldn't buy one..............So I got my 185s to power wheelie in second gear by holding the shift lever up extra long during the shift from 1st to 2nd gear with the throttle pinned to act as a manual clutch to allow revs to build between shifts and get good wheelies going..........READ: VERY VERY BAD FOR THE TRANNY AND DANGEROUS AS WELL, but this is my example of how the autoclutch works.........And I was a dumb kid showing off for anyone that would watch![img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-wink.gif[/img]

 

Actually, if you do this correctly, it doesnt hurt anything but the chain and tires. Holding the lever up or down, is disengageing the clutch. Releasing the lever, reengages it. Its the same as having the lever for a clutch on the bar.
Just remember to press the lever first...before revving the motor, and nothing in the tranny will break, because the shifting will be accomplished and all thats being done is the clutch pack is open, awaiting a release of the lever to close.

 

Maybe you are right, as I never did blow apart the tranny, and did it hundreds of times...........I was a huge fan of Doug Domokos the "Wheelie King" back then. I rode wheelies until I ran out of room! LOL!
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i think my cousins fourwheeler is a 2004. but i cant remember for sure. anyways. something went wrong with the electric shift on the handlebars. so they had to use this lil bar thingy to shift it by hand. so technically the electric shift isnt always elecrtric. if something craps out. it can still be worked manually. so far. the shifter has gone bad or something of that nature. it was recalled or something. and they have a short somewhere. so once in awhile u will have to pull start it.