The Foreman is less tippy then the Rancher.
The Rancher is sportier to ride and feels smaller.
The 2/4wd option is only important if you desire easy powersliding.

 

RanchForeman,
I see you have both a Foreman and Rancher. Do you find that the Foreman steers eaiser in 2wd than the Rancher in 4wd? Is the tighter turn radius on the Rancher a significant factor? Why do you think the Foreman is less tippy even though the seat height is 1 inch higher? I would have guessed the other way around. Right now I'am leaning towards the Foreman but also like the Rancher. What's your favorite.

 

cartman308
I think the Prairie is a great machine but feel that people are having to many problems with the tranny. This is just a guess from reading message boards. Dealers all say the same thing. Never have problems with any machine. "right" Out here in my neck of the North East open land is to ride is hard to find. Based on just being able to ride the quad on 15 acres or so I thought that the more utility style of the Foreman made more sense. Comments welcome.

 

I rode a new Rancher before I bought my used Foreman 450 S last year. The Rancher was more agile, but my 450 has fulltime 4WD and 26" Dirt Devil XTs. I opted for the Foreman because of legendary reliability, tons of torque, slightly larger machine, felt stronger and more substantial than the Rancher. The 450 S is a tank, but with some nimbleness. Hope that helps.