Can anyone give me,without bashing,brand loyalty,la de da, thier opinion on the comparison of the the Rancher 350S and the Yamaha BigBear 400's? I'm considering both,and i'm having a hard trouble deciding between the two,even though the BigBear is $800 cheaper around here. DEEP water,some sand,mud,and wide open fireroads will be my riding.

 

350,

I just got my rancher 2 days ago but I have had my eye on it since it came out last year. I came close to buying a 2000 but backed out at the last minute because we were buying a house. So when I decided to definitly get one(actually 2, I bought the wife a recon) I said to myself that I would fully investigate every bike in its class. The kodiak was a very close second choice and drove the big bear as well. Both are excellent machines. Like I told my buddy on the phone last night " I drove them all and really liked every one but like last year I still love that rancher". This ulitimitly was my choice. Im sure you know what each of these machines has to offer. So boil it all down and pick what best suits your needs. You cant go wrong with either yamaha or honda.
Hogmaster

 

The stock rancher does well in deep water and if you snorkel it it does great in deep water. Dont be fooled by the new front differential, it is still 3wd. The rancher is a great machine. I dont know much about the Big Bear so I cant help you out there.

 

When I was going to buy my atv, I had it down between the Rancher, Big Bear, and Kodiak. By the time I got my first ride I was down between the Kodiak and Rancher. This was not due to the Big Bear not being nice, it simply reminded me of our 400 Honda, and I wasn't looking for THAT much utility in my quad. What then sold me on the Rancher was (at that time) there was a lot of talk about the Kodiak's brakes, water pumps, and frame cracks in the rear swing arm to frame attachment area. I went and re-looked at the Kodiak closley and couldn't see how the frame was cracked without excessive abuse. Anyhow what sold me on the Rancher was it's front Diff(that is not a locker, but does work somewhat better than the old style in my opinion) and the fact it was lighter, more ground clearance, motor setup(side mounted), and fully covered rear axle. This is not to say I didn't love the Kodiak, if I was doing more trail riding it would of been bought first. However the Rancher for what I use it for is perfect. Also might add problem free(though it has been recalled 2) for me up to this point. So if your looking to strictly haul, you might want to consider the Big Bear. If your pretty much trail riding, speed, and fun, then the Kodiak is great. If you doing all three, Rancher would be a good choice to fill all of these catogories up. GOOD LUCK

Scott

 

alaskaweasel is right on. I own the Rancher and my buddy has a 2001 Kodiak and a 2000 big bear. They are all great machines. He uses the big bear for hunting and utility work only. When we go trail riding there are two things I like better about my quad than his kodiak
1.when i hit the throttle the power is there instantly.
2.when the going gets nasty, no matter what anyone says the front differential IS better.
The one thing I like better about the Kodiak is the selectable 2wd 4wd. But remember you can have 2wd 4wd ability on the Rancher soon with the new highlifter kit and still save a few hundred over the Kodiak.
Good Luck!!

Mike
'01 Rancher 350FE