ATV advise

OK, so I think that my accountant wife is finally going to let me get an ATV. I plan to use it for hunting transportation as well as recreation. Also, I want to be able to use it to plow snow from my driveway. I have never been up on 4x4 ATV's. Banshees and other fast sand machines were always my thing, so I would like some good advise from my all-knowing brothers on Muley Madness. What should I get?------------SS
15,022
ABert
If you were soley looking for something to hunt with...

I'd recommend a horse.

Otherwise, something that has 4X4 (of course) with locking front and rear diffs. I haven't followed what is currently available but that would be the minimum for me.
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ridgetop
I used to have a Honda 300 until I rolled it 1000' down the mountain and taking out a 12" diameter pine tree, which pushed the rear rack up onto the gas tank, tore off one front wheel completly out of the transmission and bent the rear axle 45 degrees. It was upside down when I got to it an hour later. Turned it over and the thing started right up and I was able to drive it out to the truck with a little help from 3 other guys. I was sold on Hondas and really wanted to get a Foreman next but then I recieved a 2006 Polaris 500 from my boss as a bonus and have fallen in love with the bike. I really like how smooth it rides over rocks and has good clearance. I also really like how the front rack has a little trunk space to keep things in, like your coat and cloves and even a soft gun case.
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Springville Shooter
Won't be hunting from it, not my thing. Might use it on some bad roads to save the old pickup on the way to the trailhead. I'm not to old to hunt hard on foot yet, but I am to old to shovel my driveway for too many more winters. I have heard some good things about Polaris, might even be leaning that way.----------SS
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Default Avatar
Honda definitely has a great reputation for making solid atv's. I have a 2004 Kawasaki Prairie 360 4x4 that is rock solid. It has push button 4x2/4x4, an engine brake control system for going down steep hills (saving your brakes), and quite a few other extras. I rolled it on an elk hunt and had to leave it for the night (I was too small to flip it right side up by myself). I shot a cow elk the next morning, had some help flipping the atv over and then carried my whole elk out on my atv. It's a very tough machine. Whatever you end up getting should be fine to plow the driveway. I would suggest getting an electric winch placed on the front so that you don't have to manually adjust the plow. That gets old really fast. Don't get pressured into getting some massive engine... I think some of them are offered in 800's these days. My 360 had plenty of guts to get any job done. Anyways, good luck with your decision and let us know what you get!
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TheGreatwhitehunter
I have had both Yamaha and Honda 4 wheelers.

Honda hands down!!!
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hardstalk
In my opinion now a days there all so comparable it just comes down to price. It's almost like comparing new diesel trucks. They all make good power and have great warranties when you buy new. It's just what fits your style the best. We personally have two artic cats 4 wheelers and the amount of after market attachments that are available will blow your mind ours are set up with double seats and back rests along with a dump bed that comes in handy for cleaning stalls and hauling hay and we have a snow plow on the front of one that works great. I would drive a few and see what kind of ride quality your lookin for and go from there.
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Default Avatar
if your need to get away from the road, a good pair of boots! if you need more than that horse!
Not sure how you are planing to us an ATV for hunting, transportation? you can if you want, I will walk or ride a horse

have a good day

The ATV HATER!!!!

M. Bird
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killerbee
just in case anyone missed this the first time, i'll repeat it for springfield-- i'm sure he already owns a very nice pair of boots.

"Springville Shooter" wrote:Won't be hunting from it, not my thing. Might use it on some bad roads to save the old pickup on the way to the trailhead. I'm not to old to hunt hard on foot yet, but I am to old to shovel my driveway for too many more winters. I have heard some good things about Polaris, might even be leaning that way.----------SS
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Springville Shooter
M Bird, Just to clarify what I meant by hunting transportation. I have found a few roads in the new areas that I hunt in Utah that are legal and capable of full size vehicle travel, but with the ruts and rocks cmbined with about 10 miles of road, it makes for a hard trip on the pickup. I imagine it would be much easier on an ATV. I have done the horse thing and don't have the time to do it right at this point in my life. Once in the wilderness its all bootleather for me, just want an easier ride to the trailhead. I bet Jeff knows two of the trailheads that I'm thinking of. Hard duty for the pickup. So I guess that I meant that the ATV will be used to get me to where I want to hunt. Not to be confused with used to hunt from. Also, the road up to the place that I've been scouting all summer for Utah mule deer gets closed to full sized vehicles if theres mud or snow. It's about 12.5 miles and 4500ft in elevation gain to the top open to ATV travel. Too far for me or anybody else to walk. Trust me, I've always been skeptical of the ATV era of hunting, but I see some practical, ethical applications and have found myself wanting one lately. Also, we have a big group that joyrides as couples in our neighborhood and my wife has shown interest in that. Don't turn on me guys, I'm still an old-schooler like you, trust me. Please note that I have been hunting since the 1980's and this will be my first ATV.------------SS
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dahlmer
I used to have a Polaris Sportsman 500. It was a great bike and a very smooth ride. I also used it plow my driveway and it had plenty of power for that job. +1 on the electric winch for the snow plow. I found I didn't use it for much more than a snowplow and so I sold it and bought a snow blower. I find the snow blower works better for that unless you have a lot of space to push snow into. Most neighbors don't appreciate it if you push it into their yards.

Anyway, plenty of power in the 500, I never found a reason to go and bigger.
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killerbee
no worries sprinville, i think you made it clear what you wanted it for. just because someone owns a 4 wheeler doesn't even mean they use it for hunting at all.
"Springville Shooter" wrote:M Bird, Just to clarify what I meant by hunting transportation. I have found a few roads in the new areas that I hunt in Utah that are legal and capable of full size vehicle travel, but with the ruts and rocks cmbined with about 10 miles of road, it makes for a hard trip on the pickup. I imagine it would be much easier on an ATV. I have done the horse thing and don't have the time to do it right at this point in my life. Once in the wilderness its all bootleather for me, just want an easier ride to the trailhead. I bet Jeff knows two of the trailheads that I'm thinking of. Hard duty for the pickup. So I guess that I meant that the ATV will be used to get me to where I want to hunt. Not to be confused with used to hunt from. Also, the road up to the place that I've been scouting all summer for Utah mule deer gets closed to full sized vehicles if theres mud or snow. It's about 12.5 miles and 4500ft in elevation gain to the top open to ATV travel. Too far for me or anybody else to walk. Trust me, I've always been skeptical of the ATV era of hunting, but I see some practical, ethical applications and have found myself wanting one lately. Also, we have a big group that joyrides as couples in our neighborhood and my wife has shown interest in that. Don't turn on me guys, I'm still an old-schooler like you, trust me. Please note that I have been hunting since the 1980's and this will be my first ATV.------------SS
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Springville Shooter
Kind of caught me off guard.......some threads you expect to catch some crap over, but this one and the Elk from the house one left me scratching my head. I like M bird though and think that he misunderstood me or didn't read my prior posts. Oh well. Can't please everyone I guess, not when you live on elk winter range AND want to have an ATV. What a rebel I am.---------SS
26
southwind
SS,

One of the things that always attracted me to Muley Madess was the lack of those that just seemed there to bash others. The notion that you are less a hunter or doing something that is blasphemous to real hunting is ridiculous at best.

I read your post and understood very clearly what you were looking to use an ATV for. You shouldn't have to explain further or defend yourself.

I think most of us without question enjoy hunting primitive transportation areas where motorized vehicles are not allowed off the road and the intimacy of stalking our quarry on foot is second to none. But, sure isn't anything wrong with an ATV as transportation to get us to trail heads or areas that are questionable for larger 4x4's.

After that rant I will tell you last spring I used several brands including yamaha, polaris, and artic cat. Of those I really liked the artic cat for ease and convenience of operation. It was also a very stable ride. We used the ATV's on snow packed roads where the pick ups wouldn't make it to get to trail head and snow shoe in.
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Default Avatar
I'm excited for you to get an ATV, regardless of what you plan on using it for. Rides with the wife sound like a great past time. Keep us posted on what you decide on!
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a_bow_nut
I will put a vote in for the Honda Rubicon. I bought one of these machines and they are a tank. On the first year that I had this up hunting with us it was a life saver. I had dropped a big ol cow on the archery elk hunt and when we finaly got her to the road we went a got the fourwheeler and loaded her up on the front whole. Then I got on to drive and my two buddies sat on the back to counter balance the elk. With the animal three guys and the rest of our equipment I would say that we had around 1400 pounds on that poor wheeler on the way back up to the truck and it went like a champ.

The thing that I like the most is the hydrastatic transmission that Honda has put in this machine. With being able to select between automatic and manual shift modes there are so many gear selections that you don't have to worry about an engine brake to slow you down. I like to use the manual shift for when I'm plowing snow so that I can choose how fast that I want to pushand if I want just a little more power I can stay in the same gear and just pour the gas to it and the fourwheeler won't try to take off like it does in automatic mode. This transmission is much more responsive than the belt drives and it seems to engage a little smoother.

I have had my fourwheeler for ten year now and using it to go out in the hills and to plow the whole time and other than oil changes the only things that I have had to replace are a tire that I blew out when I hit a chunck of t-post that was sticking out of the ground and it slashed the side wall and I had the choke cable freeze up on me.

As stated before Honda hands down.
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Default Avatar
i have had a Suzuki for years, they are a very good ATV, i currently have the Suzuki 450 King Quad 4 x 4 EFI it is a awesome machine.

Kevin
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Touch 'em all
HONDA!! Go with the most reliable and well built machines. I just passed 6300 miles on my Foreman 400 (1998) and it still runs like a dream. It has hauled out whole elk on both front and back racks before and didn't miss a beat. I would go with the Rubicon with the option to switch from 4x4 and 2x4. The 2x4 makes the ride so pleasant and you still have the 4x4 for sticky situations. Good luck with the accountant. I am still working with mine to buy the 2nd and 3rd HONDA to complete the set. [-o<
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derekp1999
My family has owned Suzuki and Yamaha ATVs for years. Won't hear a complaint about any of them. We still have two of the old early 1980s orange suzuki's (125 and 185) that are a blast for the kids... and it seems like we just can't kill them - the ATVs not the kids. We bought two Yamaha's a couple years ago for Christmas (250s) and a Suzuki King Quad 500 after Grandpa busted up his ankle hauling out a buck on the 185 (he wanted something with the foot boards so that he couldn't get his feet pinned again if it started bucking). The salesman laughed at my Dad for putting a plow on one of the 250s but it has handled every snow storm we've had (not a very good salesman if you ask me).
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Default Avatar
I got a yamaha 400 last year and took it on a Dec hunt up in the Carsons in NM. I put some huge tires and rems on it and had absolutly no trouble on the icey roads and up to 2ft of snow. I went up and down forest roads that neither my jeep nor my dodge 4x4 would of made it. It felt alot safer, knew I could bale if started to roll go over the edge. I'd stash my pack and cover 2 or 3 miles of ridges go back and move on. I hated em too until I couldn't carry 60+ pounds on my back and cover 10 miles a day. I won't take anywhere the law does'nt allow. Go for it! Let the haters hate.
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SS-
Have you done any looking yet? I'm curious to hear what you've been leaning towards.
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Loafer
I recommend Honda. They are ultra realiable. If I had my pick I'd go with the Rubicon. We have three Foreman that are over ten years old and have over 6000 miles on them and they have never had any problems. The only knock on Honda is their ride is not as cush as something like a Polaris. My friend has a Polaris half as old and with half the miles and he has put a ton of money into fixing stuff the last couple years, nice soft ride though. Once you get your wheeler order your snow plow as soon as you can, if you wait you'll have to shovel the first couple snowfalls while your plow is back ordered.
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Springville Shooter
Going with the Honda probably Rubicon, looking for the right deal. ------SS
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a_bow_nut
If you are looking at new ones give Steadmans out in Toollee a call.

A guy here at work was looking at a Razor and found that they had them for a better price than anybody else.

Good luck and have fun.
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Default Avatar
Most of them have such a short suspension travel that they tend to be tippy in rough rocky roads. An old Suzuki Samarai with a lift will be cheaper and safer. The Polaris ATVs especially the ones with the side by side seats and ROPS seem very stable and probably safer. They start at at least twice the price of an old jeep or suzuki.
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brn2hunt
Polaris 800 is a sweet machine!
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spoofman
i have had a polaris and the maintenance was terrible just to use it from year to year. Recently borrowed a Honda for 9 days up in Idaho hunting whitetails and loved it. They have only put new tires on the thing since they have owned it and it was a great machine. My next ATV will be a Honda
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