Like I said previously, even in farming with tractors designed solely for pulling additional weights either in the form of bolt on wheel weights or those in conjunction with weights which are hung off of the front depending on what you are going to be doing. Many of the older discs and planters, particularly "no till" also had boxes in which you could place additional weight for better penetration. This has all become a science and tractors and farm implements now have computer controls to determine optimum depth, wheel slip, cutter height and so on. You will learn as you go and make modifications based on what works and what doesn't depending on your task, equipment and soil conditions. As a reloader I cast my own lead weights, but you will be able to find substitutes, possibly lead shot or even old weights off of garden tractors and where the weights need to be to help stability and traction. As ATV's are really not intended for this it will be mostly trial and error, but it can be done, it will just take time and experimentation.

 

Butting in again...lol from my experience which is not a whole lot but i have a few pointers. I own a 08 sportsman 500 ho, friends own 07 rincon efi and artic cat 700efi. Granted the honda and cat have bigger engines and efi but what they lack is polaris's AWD and the extreme low range that polaris offers even though its belt drive. The rincon doesnt have a low and the cats low isnt as deep as the polaris is. They all feature irs. The polaris has a 1 1/4" reciever while the cat has a 2" reciever, for the honda you'll have to buy a hitch at the dealer or online. All our machines run well minus the fact that the honda and cat have been in the shop a few times for broken/defective parts. Im not trying to be bias here just acknowledging what ive experienced. BTW i live in MN so buying a polaris is good...lol I also like the fact that polaris has lots of storage space, i always end up chugging around pop, and extra clothes when we go riding.

 

I believe Hensim 400cc is what you need! Its powerful enough to use it for farmng and other yard works. When my grandpa bought it for his farm, he said it was big enough to do the job yet you don't need to spend lots and it was easy for him to get parts online partschampion or anywhere. You can do some research on Hensim brand, maybe you will find just what you need.

 

I believe Hensim 400cc is what you need! Its powerful enough to use it for farmng and other yard works. When my grandpa bought it for his farm, he said it was big enough to do the job yet you don't need to spend lots and it was easy for him to get parts online partschampion or anywhere. You can do some research on Hensim brand, maybe you will find just what you need.

 

If the ATV will be towing loads lots ,then get a straight axle not a IRS. IRS carries the trailer tongue weight on the suspension while a straight axle does not.

 

Thanks for the suggestions everybody. Regarding IRS versus straight axle, the reason I'm leaning toward IRS is due to the pretty rough and rocky round I have. I can use the extra ground clearance.

 

Load the trailer so 10% of the weight is on the tongue, just like when you tow behind a car or truck. And make sure the tongue weight plus anything on the rear rack isn't over the rated rack capacity. Do those 2 things and there's no problem. For example, if your towing capacity is 1,500 pounds you can have 150 pounds on the tongue. If your rack capacity is 200 pounds and you have 150 on the tongue, you can only put 50 pounds on the rear rack. It's as simple as that.

An IRS can tow just as much as an SRA and the tongue weight makes the suspension sag no worse than hauling weight on the rack does. It sags more if you overload it, just like it sags if you overload the racks. If you want to tow something way beyond the rated capacity with an IRS just buy a suspension lock and it won't budge. There will be NO sag in the suspension.

 

IRS, at least in my case, was pretty much a must. I have around 150 acres, mostly steep hills, limestone rocks. Too rough to get my JD1050 tractor across. Tongue weight shouldn't be an issue. If you've loaded the trailer right, you shouldn't have much, and if you haven't loaded the trailer right, you need to learn how. Heavy tongue weight is an accident waiting to happen, no matter what sort of axle you have.

For the last six years, I've been using an Arctic Cat 500i with 5 spd manual. It has been solid and rugged. The rear wheel bearings finally gave out this year, after 6 years of hauling trailer loads of oak and walnut over rocky trails - I'm impressed. I've also towed a few trees with it. Pulled several 15 foot cedar logs about a mile back to the house to build an atv garage. The ground clearance has been priceless. I had a Big Bear that was solid, but darned if it didn't keep getting stuck. Never have stuck the cat.

I'm looking at new ones right now. The only thing I would add to the cat is a front end locker, and all the new ones have it. Probably going for a 2 up Cat, not so much to take people, but for the longer wheelbase. Pulls better, more stable.