I was wondering which quad would do the best in the mud. It seems with the dif lock on the suzuki that it would out do the rancher in the mud. And outpull the rancher on black top in a tug of war. I have not seen a rancher run but I have seen a little suzuki 250 climb a tree. Fill me in I wanna know of any incidents you may have seen.

i have no idea as to which would do better in the mud. The Zuki does have the dif. lock, but the Rancher has the AP-SurTrac. In a tug of war i think the rancher would drag around the 250 with ease beacuse it has much better power (i beleive). This is all speculation because the only time i have ever seen a Zuki 250 was in the showroom.

A locking front differential has an edge in the mud. With super-low range and a locked front end, the Suzuki might out-pull a Rancher; but, so what? What percentage of your riding time is spent, conducting tugs-'o-war on blacktop? You compare an apple and a cumquat, somewhat; both excellent in their own ways, but different, as in, 350 cc vs. 250 cc.

Tree Farmer

True 4x4 has more than just it's advantages in mud.Today,while testing my new clutch spring out at my local riding area,a guy[Mark] was on a 450s.It was Marks first time there.I showed him the riding area.

We come upon a small but steep/rutted hill.I made it the first time with the Xplorer [true 4x4] and he failed at it three differant times.He would get 3/4 up to the top and got the front wheels in a rut.Only 1 front wheel spun with power.Anyways,we turned around and proceeded in another direction.I thought he'd probably make it,but after three tries,it was truly hopeless.

Now to some,this experience is meaningless,to others [myself included] it holds merit.

I can tell you of one incident I witnessed myself.My bro owns a 97 King Quad,I owned a 500cc 99 Sportsman.My son and I tugged it out in my back yard.My son was YELLING for me to stop,as I was really pulling him backwards pretty good.

You asked for incidents,there's one.===Bill

Many say that true 4x4 is no big deal but if I was to get a 4wd i would want it to have lockers. I dont really think engine size is that big of a factor if you got the right gearing. I have seen a 600 grizz and a 300 artic cat have a tug of war on the black top after each guy was drunk and tired of arguing around the camp fire. That locking dif and super low made me a big believer the artic cat held that grizz in place.

350excersizer,
Engine CCs also play a role in differant quading catogories.For example,the KQ is powered by a 280cc engine.The gearing is awesume,you can tow just about anything with it, just so you can acheive traction.

The downside to the smaller 280cc engine is,on larger,steep,loose packed hills,the smaller engines wont allow the neccesary ''wheel speed'' needed to get to the top of the hill,regardless of how it's geared.This has been appearant on more than one occasion.

The old saying stands,it's hard to replace engine CCs.
Good Day,
Bill