ATV - Workhorse

All

I've been through 10 of the pages looking to see if there are any threads on ATV's for moving wood. Many of you show pictures in threads moving wood with an ATV and a trailer. I tried searching, but the search gives an error on the word ATV. It says that the word ATV is too short.


I am looking for a workhorse ATV that I could haul wood from different locations in my yard. Eventually I'd use the ATV to haul wood out of the forest. Another use would be putting a plow on it to supplement my snow blower.


Need make, model and size suggestions.


Thank you

Jason from RI

 

2003 polaris ranger 500 4x4 after more than ten years and over a 1000hrs I have had to replace a drive belt and a shift cable. We use it on the farm for hauling hay bales on a trailer, rocks, wood and as a play toy. There is not much that will stop it and will pull things that surprise you for its size. I know it's not technically and atv but it's what I have experience with and wanted to share.

 

We've got an ATV workhorse here that I use in most of my wood scrounging work. It's an oldie - a 1997 Arctic Cat 454 4x4. But it works hard. If you park it next to something new, it looks like a dinosaur. But some of the old-tech aspect is better for working with. Like suspension travel. Or lack of it. A low CoG is actually a good thing sometimes when you're about at your limit pulling a trailer out through rough stuff. It also has a real transmission as opposed to a belt/CVT setup, and hi/lo range. It kinda sucks for recreational trail riding - it doesn't go very fast (40mph is tapped out) and the 4wd is full time. But is a rock when working it. Have only had one real issue with it - the carb. It's a weak link - after time the needle will enlarge the needle tube from vibrations or something and it will go pig rich. I got a new one from Hong Kong on Ebay last winter & swapped it in this summer. Back to working like it is new. Well, did have a ball joint issue this summer but that is normal wear & tear for a machine almost 20 years old.

There are lots of capable machines out there - but I think 4x4 & hi/lo range (some even have 3 ranges) are key things I would look for.

(Having said all that - I have also been watching the used ads here for a decent used Ranger. Not necessarily as a replacement, but a compliment. The ATV will get into a lot more tighter places than a SxS would).

EDIT: Here's a pic, if this works:

 

A Honda foreman 500 is damm near legendary when it comes to being a workhorse.

 

A new one !!

 

In & out of 4X as a good feature.
A 4x4 in the 400 class , & up are all pretty good.
I have a Yamaha,
plow, skid logs, trailer
With out it, I'd be buying wood.

 

I used a Suzuki king quad 300 for several years and put 1800 miles on it using it mostly on a farm. I sold it to a friend and they used it to almost 3k miles without trouble. I upgraded to a 500 arctic cat. It was the largest that wasn't cvt transmission. We used it the same and even moved a 846 NH round baler with it. I loaded 500 lbs of feed on the racks at times plus me at 270 and it handled it fine.

 

I have a polaris 1994 400l 4x4 2 stroke similar to the sportsman that year.I haul with it but mainly use it for plowing its old but plows like a Beast last year we had close to 180" of snowfall.Its been good but needs the occasional maintence.I also only run non ethanol 90 in it as well.

 

me i have 2003 polaris ranger 500 that looks similar to the 1 that cwn 877 posted and i tell u what those things are beasts i primarily use it to haul my firewood and putt around a bit and a neighbor also had me tow an old chevy s10 ( 80 something ish)about 1/2 mile or so as well and it did without a complaint

 

Honda Rancher 420 and Polaris Ranger each work fine for moving wood.

 

I don't know too much about ATV's but I did some research on here and other places lead to my purchase of a Honda Rancher 420, loved it but spent money on it that I didn't really have at the time and had to backtrack by selling it. Honda Foreman is another beast, my brother in law has one and I used it often for hauling. Yamaha's are another great ATV and I know Horkn loves his kawasaki bayou. Best of luck!

 

Honda Foreman 500 AWD w 4'x6' Subaru axle trailer used since 2001 for hauling 5-8 cords/year out of the woodlot.
Only one breakdown due to user abuse ( rollover- knocking shifter off --stupidity and hubris ).
Just good fuel, lubrication, oil changes. Original battery-- starts well in the single temps.
It will not skid anything over 16" x 12'-15' too well over rough ground unless I put chains on in snow.
At the time a compact tractor ( that I wanted ) was unaffordable according to her .

 

Bogydave's ATV rig: can you post more details on your hitch device ?
Just what I need to raise logs off the ground for skidding. Nice job !

 

While it won’t be as pretty as this one since it’s homemade but I’m building one of these for behind my Suzuki King Quad.

 

I definitely could use one like that. I've got logs I'll need to haul out of the woods that a truck cannot get into.

Those old king quads are great machines. It's always impressive what "just a 300" can do. When I bought my kawi bayou 300c, that 300 king quad was the other low dollar used ATV workhorse I was looking for.

 

I have a Polaris Sportsman 700. Lots of smooth power, cvt trans, two gear ranges, the hole 9 yards. Mostly leave my splitter hooked up to it so I don't have to move it by hand, but also have a 4x8 light weight flatbed trailer I can haul wood, hay, etc on. Works really well! I'll post some pics when I get a chance.

 

Kubota is pretty proud of these and they charge accordingly, but it is a durable machine. buZZsaw BRAD, that is black locust. Got quite a bit of it last year.