I really appreciate the tips and detailed information everyone has shared! This is a really great forum - I am really glad that I joined!!

I will go and check out the Polaris and take it for a test drive soon.

 

If you want diff lock true AWD you can count any Honda out. It kinda of hard to not have a belt (CVT)since 98% of all 4wd Utility ATVs have it now. If you want decent power you also have to go with CVT, the largest shift model is the foreman 500 and its far from the power leader for its cc class.

In a Utility the most important thing is to get true AWD (not the same as regular 4x4 3wd) and a low range option. Most all 4wd Utilities have that now, but many do not still.

 

Spoken like a true Polaris die hard.....lol. not brand bashing, but if you are going to play the AWD card......then just remember, Polaris is by far the heaviest, the AWD system relies on a lot of wiring, magnetic clutches, special "hub fluid" and the engine braking was an add on, the ADC, which also requires its own special lube, plastic Hillard rollers that can break, and the AWD requires the back end be losing traction, so as in down hill or other situations, there may be times when you have no AWD even when selected, while Yamahas and others have the diff lock function that will keep all 4 wheels turning no matter what in the slow nasty stuff, and the engine braking is built into the Ultramatic drive, not added on.
again......sorry, but I felt I needed to defend the other brands a little, was looking too much like a Polaris fest in here...........lol.

 

Not sure why a person would need 4wd to go "down" a hill, they will go down fine in neutral with the motor not even running thanks to gravity. if you want 4wheel braking just hit the brakes there there for a reason.

If the rear wheels are not slipping then the situation only calls for 2wd not AWD.

The only thing I do not like about lockers is they are only used in low speed and make steering almost uncontrollable and its a 3rd step you have to go through.
Stop ATV put ATV in diff lock low range get through nasty part of trail stop again and switch ATV back into 3wd or 2wd for general riding once again.

The Polaris system does it all on its own,with out the driver knowing it. Its in 2wd or AWD there is no 3x4 in between part.

Here is how much rear wheel spin there is before AWD engages, its pretty well nil.Polaris AWD demonstration #2 - YouTube

or
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vtEW9tcJaLE

 

Everyone is making some great points and the truth is that practically any mainstream brand of 500cc + Utility machine will do the job for you. Also, everyone one of them come with compromises of one kind or another.

I have a 2005 Rubicon. I use it on the farm moving hay wagons and pushing snow as well as many long weekends of riding in the mountains of KY, WV and TN. Here's my short list of pros and cons about the Rubi:

Good:
Transmission - It is a belt-less hydrostatic with tons of options and a Hi/Low range. You can use D1 to go full auto with the RPM optimized for peak horsepower or D2 with the RPM set for peak torque. ESP mode simulates a geared transmission with pre-programmed positions in the swash plate. If you have it in Low and ESP 1, you can creep down the steepest hill without hitting the brakes.

Reliability - I can give up a lot of features for piece of mind. Not once has the Rubicon had any kind of mechanical failure that left me stranded.

Stability - I have aftermarket wheels and tires which probably helps here, but the Rubi has a solid rear axle and a low center of gravity. It feels very stable on steep hills and off-camber situations.

Bad:
No Dif. Lock. - It's rare, but there have definitely been times where dif. lock would have helped. The Honda is only 3 wheel drive if one of the wheels is in the air or has no traction at all.

No IRS - Although a solid rear axle isn't so bad on the farm (prevents squatting the ATV when there is a lot of tongue weight), it makes for a less comfortable ride on the trails and decreases ground clearance.

Brakes - The rear brake is still a sealed drum. Personally, I have never had a problem with it, but it is ancient technology and I know a few people who have had issues.

No Fuel Injection or Power Steering - I believe this has been addressed in the new models.

These days most of the ATV's from the major brands are pretty darn good, I'm not bashing any of them. But, since you mentioned the Rubicon in your initial post, I thought I would weigh in with my experiences.

One last thought - More and more new ATVs seem to be coming out without a backup system to start the quad (no recoil or kick start). If your battery fails 20 miles from the truck, you're hiking. Just something to keep in mind.

Good luck!

 

For what you are going to mostly use this quad for, I would save the extra money, and go with a non EPS quad.
You're really not going to need it.
Hek! We've been riding these things for 10-20-30-40 yrs without EPS with no complaints! LOL!

 

with that philosophy- why not just drive a model T to work everyday....

 

I've got a 2000 Honda Foreman 450 that I use mainly for the purposes you listed, hauling firewood, etc, basically an extra tractor. It's a little short on power and not a super smooth ride, steers a little hard, but its got over 7000 miles on it, been running the same battery that was in it 4 years ago when I bought it, the only real problem I've ever had with it was the left rear wheel bearing kept shelling out, I discovered that the previous owner had left out the hub spacer, got one of those in it and the machine has been trouble free every since. It's not real graceful, but I've never had to drag it out of the creek because it tore up a belt on a cvt like my polaris. I'm running 26" mudlites on ITP wheels and a 2" lift. I did upgrade the front brakes to disc because Honda's drum brakes suck bad. Between the engine braking capability of the manually shifted clutch driven transmission and the better brakes on front, I have a much easier and safer time of getting a good size trailer load of wood down the hills and if it looses traction due to the lack of front diff lock, I can get it back down the hill without freewheeling and turning it into a pretzel. I am looking into getting one of the lockers that Detroit offers for them, I think it would be a good investment, along with a gear reduction set. I rarely use the machine for trail riding anymore and it's ready to just be a tractor.


If you were looking for a trail machine, I'd recomend a polaris or a grizzly, but you are looking for a tractor, so I'm gonna recomend a Honda.

My 2 cents

 

I'm also new to this arena and looking for a "tractor" that can handle hills and heavy loads.

First question, is an any quad able to handle a large trailer that I can use behind a Truck for hauling top soil, bark, 4x8 sheets of plywood etc. Will stick to single axle for maneuverability so the trailer won't be huge but would like to haul significant items.

Second question, seems like most people have talked about using mid size 500 cc's and been happy with them, is that enough or is it going to be necessary to get a 700 and bigger?

I've seen tow capacities but want real world feedback. Part of my dilemma is considering trading the truck for an SUV due to more kids...

 

I've towed an industrial sized wood chipper up a wet grass hill that our trucks (even with a rear locker) could not get a good enough grip to climb. That's with the Polaris Sportsman X2 500. I put it in low and it pulled it up the hill using low gear. That being said, the biggest concern to me is not what it can pull, but what it can bring to a stop. I have a 4' wide x 4' long x 3' deep trailer that I fill with wet freshly cut firewood up and down some pretty steep hills up in VT and NH. Going downhill is much scarier than going uphill. The trailer can push the quad and cause it to go out of control. If I had the money to buy a quad for work only I'd get the Polaris Big Boss 800 6x6. It's a quad width ATV with true 6wd. Specifications say it can pull 1500 lbs. if I remember right. But both of these ATVs I've mentioned are the most work oriented short of buying a Polaris Ranger type vehicle.