I've been viewing the 2wd vs 4wd posts ... I have a small hobby farm, about 11 acres and thought a tractor was overkill so I decided to buy an ATV. I've spent years in the saddle of dirtbikes, 3-wheelers and quads ... all in the name of fun. This ATV is for work ... so my question for the forum: What are your opinons on using a 2wd ATV vs a 4wd for farm work?

I ended up with a Honda Rancher TRX 420 TE ... 2wd with and electric transmission. I put 25" Mudlite ITP tires on it and away I went to cut trees. My land is rolling hills covered in fescue with some wooded areas. I've been able to get around without any trouble.

I am looking at pulling a Swisher trail cutter which is more or less a self powered bush hog. I'm also considering Kolpin's three point hitch for ATVs that allow you to pull farm implements like a disc harrow and box scaper. How do you think the 2wd Rancher will fair when pulling something like a harrow?

Thanks for your opinions!

 

welcome to the forums! i think as long as you dont get into anything that will cause you to lose traction, like deep mud or deep snow, 2wd will suit you just fine. that rancher should do everything you need if you just use common sense.

 

Do you farm that whole 11 acres? If so, then you may still need a tractor.

How much of it do you farm if not the full 11 acres?

I will be moving to a larger place, sometime in the future, that will have roughly 5 to 6 acres to mow and there is no way I would want to do that pulling a powered mower deck on my Rubicon.

Faruquehabib said it best when it comes to traction with the 2wd.

 

As faruquehabib said.....you should be fine. My wife rides a 420 TE and she goes anywhere my 420 FM goes except deep snow, really deep mud, and she needs chains to plow snow.
The only time I use 4-wheel drive on my FM is when I am plowing snow.

The TE is a great little light machine with plenty of power. You may have to put some weight on the front rack to hold it down and maybe some on the rear rack to help with traction. I normally put a 70lb bag of sand on my rear rack when plowing snow.

 

I had a rancher 420 tm and it has plenty power for the farm. I prefered the stock sized tires since the 26" mud lites i had took noticable power away. The transmission on it is strong so it will hold anything the motor can pull. Im not sure how much atv plows drag but your best bet would drop the rear tire pressure to 2 or 3 pounds and sit back on the seat and i should pull its best.

 

Thank you for the warm welcome and info!

No snow here...I am in the southeast, Georgia to be specific.

 

About 5 acres are wooded, the rest is hilly pasture. I was thinking about planting blueberry bushes on about 2 acres.

I went with the ATV after pricing tractors. My God! 1950'something Ford 8Ns are going for $4000 and up. A late model diesel built in this decade in over $15k. Even if I purchased every implement available for an ATV I believe I will have under $10k in all of it. ATV is a little easier to store and of course I can rip up the hills after the work is done!

Why wouldn't you want to ride the Rubicon? Too long of a ride?

 

I just received my winch mount...waiting on a Warn MT2500 (same as the RT) ... do you think this is enough weight up front?

I mounted a Moose Racing chainsaw mount on the back rack and carry a 20" Husky ... more weight.

I'm really impressed with how this "utility" ATV just spanks the hills. This should not be this fun...my wife thinks I bought another toy!

 

I went with the 25" Mud lites...I can't notice a loss of power on the bottom end. I can tell you these tires grip in tall, wet fescue though.

 

oh ok. I had the 26" which were the "XL" meaning they had the tall lugs and they were very heavy. I weighed the factory rears and the mud lite rears and there was like a 15-20 pound difference per wheel/tire. i think you will be able to pull any of that stuff.