Hey I have a buddy of mine who is looking into getting either a rancher or a foreman. Which one is the better machine and how does the 4 wheel drive work on these machines (I have a brute force) And in my machine you stop and put it in 4 wheel. How does the honda work or is it all time 4 wheel on both machines? How about power? Any help would be much appreciated

 

"another one bites the dust,another one bites the dust,.........." jk lol

 

Ya I like my brute you can't beat it but he is a honda man.

I know some one out there can help me out.

 

The honda forman 500 is a great machine

 

there is a switch on the handle bars that you can swithch it to 2wd or 4wd and as for the power they both do about 45 and both would be a good choice

 

The Honda foreman has a switch to shut off the 4 wheel drive, but the 350 Rancher does not. I think the 400 rancher with the auto has a switch.

 

They both have tourque sensing differentials, which work differently than speed sensing diffs. Power will be sent to the tire with traction providing the opposite side has some traction. If one front tire gets air born, and you want the other front tire to pull...start jamming on the front brake until the one on the ground starts pulling. Its the "honda front differential lock". This only works on the torque sensing diffs.
The two hondas are on the utility side of sport /ute, but because they carry their weight low, they make good power sliders.

 

If he is talking about a NEW Foreman 500, then it has selectable 2wd/4wd. The older Foreman 450 was full-time 4wd. The Rancher 350 is full-time 4wd. A warn 424 will quickly turn the full-time 4wd machines into a selectable!

These are both tough, reliable, time tested manual transmission machines, and probably the only two utilities I would ever own, but I would avoid the ES shifting option. The Rancher is a bit more sporty, just because it is lighter and smaller, and the Foreman is a bit more utilitarian.

 

(The older Foreman 450 was full-time 4wd.)

The foreman 450 came out with the 2 wheel or 4 wheel drive option came out in 2001 or 2002