I am in a delema, which should i get the kodiak 450 or the rancher 400AT? i dont care about the price all i want to know is which is the BETTER machine and most reliable. I have freinds that say yamahas are good for racing but their utility machines are junk? Others say the kodiak is the best middlewieight utility out there?? Please help me out me and my brother are going to purchase two atv's real soon as soon as we can decide which would be best. It is going to be used for ice fishing, little trail riding, snow plowing, nothing too serious but i dont want something that is a dog in the power department??? any help will be greatly appreciated, tell me what you think about the two dont hold anything back!! I need the truth.

 

The 04' 450 kodiak has the same drive train as the Grizzly, and I have not heard of any problems with the Grizzly or Kodiak,
I put 589's on mine and it goes anywhere, I had a wolverine before and thought that no other four wheeler would be fun,'
but this bike is a blast...The auto is great and the engine braking is on of the best out there..I was going to get the grizzly
but it was too big,, The Kodiak 450 is perfect..a few weeks ago I yanked a 250 r up a hill, the hill was so steep the rider on the 250r r was not even on it did not even grunt ....On the other hand the honda is also a dependable machine, I do not have any input on the honda, just
being around them in the woods.....

 

Honda or Yamaha you cant go wrong!

 

How is the Kodiak for starting in the cold weather?

 

i wouldnt mind knowing? it seems the yamaha has a better suspension is that true? and how much more power does the yamaha have over the honda?

 

Mine started right up with no delay after sitting in -5 F all night.

 

I purchased a 400 at for my wife about 2 months ago only have about 75 hrs on it yet but so far no trouble & she loves it. the ride isn't as smooth as my 360p but that is just honda. no problem with power if I switch to esp mode , if left in auto for steep climbs or deep mud seems to bog down before it shifts......a friend rides a 450 kodiak & she is very satisfied...so either bike & you can't go wrong.

 

seems like everyone that has a 400AT is a girl or they bought one for their wife LOL, it seems this is a girl ATV and has weak 4x4 capability, is this true??? Only thing that sucks about the kodiak is the yamaha financing

 

I bought my first atv for the same reasons that you listed. I went with an 04 Kodiak 450 and love it. It is, like I said my first one so I realy can't say its better than others. I plowed snow with it for the first time today and I was very impressed what it would push through. I have a 60" Moose plow on it. Can pull up to a decent sized drift, give it some gas, and it pushes right through it with a lot less effort than I thought it would take. It has been starting very well as it cools down also. One other plus is the locking front dif. I have used it a couple times now while "crawling" through the woods. Comes in handy when trying to go over logs etc when the front starts slipping. Anyway, hope that helps.

 

Hold off on the kodiak till january if you can. That's what I'm going to do. I heard from a good source that yamaha has said there financing would be more comparable to honda and suzuki come jan.