I use my locker often on my BF750 and I used it even more on my 700 prairie b/c of the lack of ground clearance. The locker is a great tool to have. My brother has the kawie 360 4x4 prairie and he uses the locker too. It has helped him get out of areas where he has "high centered" the quad. However, an IRS quad without a locker does pretty good too, b/c of the extra ground clearance. The kawie 360 will have better low end power, but the eiger 400 will have better mid and upper end power. I have heard that the eiger 376cc motor is bullet proof and one of the top motors for that class. My brothers 360 4x4 prairie tops out at 44mph by gps. I believe the eiger tops out about 52mph. As far as reliability, both should be very good. And as far as price, you are probably looking at the two lowest priced mid size 4x4's. I know the honda rancher 4x4 is in the same price range, but the local honda dealers here will not take off the MSRP $1 and they add about $400 for prep and crap like that, which boost the price up. My local kawie dealer sells their prairie 360 4x4 OTD at $4700. Good luck and let us know what you buy. To, you really can't go wrong with either.

 

I have an '05 BF650 with SRA. The only time I've ever been stuck was in a deep water hole where I high centered in the ruts.

Other than that, I've been with Foremans (2) and a Rincon that I've towed out numerous times. Also, there's a stream we went up and my BF made it farther than anybody else before it just for impassible for any quad.

Sure, some of the mud abilitles are helped by the tires, but I'm positive the locker is what got me the farthest up that stream, and through the mud in many cases. Funny story - my buddy was stuck in some of the stickiest stuff I've ever been in. My BF was going through without a lot of effort, and he kept getting stuck - pi$$es that he kept getting stuck. When I was coming around him for like the 4th time to tow him out, I couldn't resist. I pulled past, then in front of him and just nailed the gas!! Man - it rained muck, and he got covered. It was hilarious.

The P360 is a great machine - it's the li'l brother to the BF650 SRA. The only thing that steered me to the 650 was that I had heard the Prairie tops out at like 40. After having my BF for a year now, I don't go over 40 mph often at all - just on wide, open dirt roads where we open them up.

I don't know if the Eiger also has a sealed rear brake, but that was another strong point of the P/BF.

 

Heres what it gets down to , about the locker. Will you be alone most of the time or with other quads?
If youre gonna ride in a group, bring along a tow strap and thats just as good as a locker...well actually better, because a quad with a locker can still get stuck. Then if you plan on riding alone..get a winch. That way you can just go off the prices and features of the two quads, and be just as secure, kowing youll get out of a mud hole. Try to work the price of the winch into the price of the quad when you buy it. Lots of times itll be discounted if you buy at the same time

 

Good points, however I don't think a quad that doesn't have a locker but a tow strap is better. You still have to take time getting of the quad and hooking up to the stuck one and pulling him out before the group can continue on. That is not to say a locker quad will not get stuck, but it helps more than some people realize. And, if a quad with a locker gets stuck while riding with a group, you still can pull out the tow strap. But ofter the locker will get you through. A good example is my aunts 650 rincon. When I ride it and get into a deep rut, it becomes the wonderful 3 wheel drive. There is no way around it. I have tapped on the breaks like others have said and it doesn't help. Only three wheels spin. My bf750 does the same thing UNTIL I pull the locker then the front wheels hook up at the same time and pulls me out. This is just an example and nothing about ******* the rincon. My aunts rincon rides so much better than my bf750, but this was the comparison of having a locker vs not having one.

 

Having had ATVs with and without lockers I will now not buy a new one without a locker. They are that important. Nothing more frustrating than to have that front wheel out in space or in the mud or otherwise without traction and spinning uselessly while the other is sitting motionless. To me, that's the whole point of having a 4x4 is to have all four wheels moving and clawing for traction not three. (yeah I know we're getting into mechanical semantics here but you know what I mean)

Get the locker. You won't regret it. Don't get the locker and some day, trust me.....you will regret it.

 

IMO, Do not exclude the machine you want just because it does not have a locker.

Yes, a locker is an asset, but not a necessity.

 

The diff-lock has been the #1 reason several of my friends have gotten rid of their honda's and switched to something with a dif-lock... I can't count the amount of times I've seen them struggle to get up a hill, or out of an uneven hole, just because the tire in the air is the one spinning... not the one on the ground. Of course I was there all the while, poking fun at them for having a 3x4.... and then pulling them out. If you're hauling a deer out of a ravine w/a non dif-lock machine... you could be in for a long day of cussin at the quad...

You can be cheap and get what ya want... but you'll still pay for it in the end... 1 way or the other...

A nibble 05 - 06 Kodiak 450... will do much better, and shouldn't cost much more than 5K, now a days...

somethings just aren't worth cutting corners on...

 

$6299 + tax (maybe a few bucks off for a basic 06 Kodiak) isn't just a little more than the $5K cash limit he mentioned, but a very nice machine. Worth it if you can swing it.

Getting back within the budget however (I stuck to mine too), If you buy a machine (the one that you don't really wan't) primarily for feature that you'll use (very generously) 10% of the time, the other 90% you'll probably be disappointed. Think about it, how many people bought the Fourtrax 300 when compared to the King Quad 300? How did they get by without a locker?

Hey Hebs, did you get stuck in that puddle (on your photo page) before you got a locker? (that can't be a Grizz, right? with a locker and 589s?).

 

As a fourtrax 300 fan, (fan heck, fanatic. I love mine to death and it is due to be lovingly restored to it's former like new glory next winter) I'll say this, it's crippled without one. It simply can't go the places that it could go with one. When I first came across an ATV with a locker I knew how crippled my 300 really was. When the going gets rough or muddy or slick or whatever you're driving a three wheel drive ATV and there is no getting around that fact. Yes you can compensate a bit and use some little tricks but in the end you don't have a locker and you're not going where you could with one. At least where I ride it makes a huge difference. Maybe for others it doesn't.

I know a Honda dealer that has been screaming at his Honda reps about this for years. He keeps telling them he is losing sales due to the fact that they don't offer a locker. They say customers don't want it and then start spouting about their torque sensing blah blah blah but customers don't buy it. They know it's bull. He knows it's bull. Yes he still sells a raft of Hondas but he loses a huge number of sales because they don't have a simple locker. He yells at them all the time about two things. Lockers and low ranges. Lockers especially. They just tell him “Well, look at all the units you sold last year you're the leader in X...” They just don't get it.

 

Well, my local dealers are really balking at coming down from MSRP on any models they have on the floor.

I can't see spending $5100 (plus all the other add on dealer costs) for a 360, when I can get an 07 Arctic Cat 400 for $5899. According to the salesman at Bass Pro, the only money paid over their listed price is sales tax, so that would put the AC 400 @ $6200 OTD.

This is slightly higher than what I've budgeted either way. I may end up having to wait a few more months. I don't really like the idea of financing a toy.

Still looking for a good used ATV, as well as looking at some out of area dealers.