A good example was last weekend, I,m following a 350 Briun 4x4 down a swampy section on the trail,and he get stuck good,no person pushing or lifting is getting that thing out. He was stuck because his rear diff was buried and the front end was doing the one wheel drive thing,
I just banged into his back end and he got moving again,I passed through that spot where he was stuck and wounder "Where's the problem spot here?" . His 200lb lighter 4wd ATV did him absolutely no good in the least.

 

Again it's called ground Clearance
.....Caper.......

 

Weight had nothing to do with it and neither did his 3-wd and I'm sure that if his ATV weighed 800 pounds you wouldn't have just "banged" into the back of him to get him him going. Find another example.

ALL ATVs get stuck, every single one of them. Even an 800 pound AWD ATV is going to get stuck and a lighter ATV will be easier to get out than a heavy one; period, especially if you're the only one there.

 

"A/C TRV 400 2-up Inlaws.....Will not hold that against them!!!"

LOL

 

An example of heavy being better than light is in the snow. (Unless it's hip deep) I was behind a Suzuki Samarai one winter. I had been going along in my Nissan 4x4 4 cylinder. The guy had passed me and ended up going about the same speed I was after passing. We both were going onto an entrance ramp to get on the highway. His light Samurai (Great rig overall by the way) spun out on the surface of 3 inch deep wet snow. My truck was heavier and got down to pavement. Didn't spin. Just a thought. Really when it gets down to it ride what you want and enjoy the scenery. I enjoy my X2 alot. If you have to settle for a lesser ride well, enjoy it anyhow.... Just kidding!!!! Ride what you got and have fun out there.

 

I have to agree with you about the mud in the northeast. If you can sink to the bottom, there is traction there. The lighter quads don't sink to the bottom, tending rather to sit on their skid plates, or frames as the case may be, with suspension unloaded, spinning away in 3 or 4WD. Not saying a heavy quad is always the way to go, but it sure helps in WNY mud.

I also agree that a winch with a snatchblock is huge... almost a must have for serious riding. At least a come-along, and they're pretty cheap, and usually have a snatchblock on them already

And Specta, I'd like to see you lift the front of your quad when it's up to the tops of the tires in peanut butter mud... Your not picking up the front end of a 400EX once it's sucked into the thick stinky muck.

 

LOL, that was just too funny!!

 

It's going to get really fun here once we get past the weight thing and move on to the quality part of his question.

 

Both of my Polaris ATV's have been about bulletproof, making me lucky I think. And that's all I'm saying about the **** poor QC that Polaris is shamefully and incredulously pushing on it's customers.

 

Thanks for all the info guys,it really is helpful. The only thing keeping me from jsut going with Honda is the 3wd thing. When I had my Scrambler the superiority of the AWD system proved itself many times and I jsut don't kniow if Ican go to a 3 wheel drive. My buddies ran Yamaha's for a while and they seemed really reliable as well.