Calling All ATV Owners...

What's up hoarders! TGIFF! Anyways, I'm starting to look around for an ATV and I wanted to get y'alls take on your likes and dislikes about yours. I'm gonna be using it for light snow plowing, moving wood, scouting for wood in the forest etc.

I've ridden dirt bikes most of my life but I've never owned an ATV as a working machine. Any feedback about size, features, attachments, brands would be really helpful.

Thanks in advance for your help!

 

We have a 2001 Polaris Xpedition 325.
Kinda small but it fit our budget two years ago, it has a manual plow and has worked at keeping our looong farm driveway clear through 2.5 winters in northern Wisconsin...

That said, during heavy snow falls we must plow multiple times to stay ahead of deep drifts, we have high centered it and gotten stuck a couple times.

 

If your going to tow, find one with a solid rear axle. Low range is almost a must for tugging anything. Locking diffs is a plus.

 

I have a 2003 Honda foreman450 I do everything you said you want to do it works good I would suggest getting a good set of tire chains also.


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I like my 2006 Honda Rubicon 500. It has a solid rear axle for heavy pulling and all out utility use. I use a 5 foot plow on it with a Warn winch and it handles it good. Some say the fluid transmission on it is second to none with 5 speeds, low range and traction control mode. You can use it in automatic or use electonic manual shifting. Some will also say that Honda makes a good engine and I would agree. I bought my ATV new when I was 45 and I think it will outlive me and I use it often. Also when you get your ATV look into the Polar tilting/swiveling ATV trailers. They come in a number of sizes. I have their 1200 pound model and I put the optional top fence kit on it to increase its capacity and it’s such a nice trailer to have! I’d never buy anything else I’m telling ya! Chow!

 

I have a Honda Foreman 450, foot shift. I bought in new on 12/30/03-wow, it's 14 years old! Dead reliable, simple, solid back axle-for a adult who wants to haul a little wood, explore the woods, maybe use during hunting season-I think it is perfect.
Have never plowed with it-maybe an automatic transmission would be easier to go back and forth with.

 

I have a 2004 honda rancher. Little small for what you need, but point is that hondas are dead reliable and can take alot of abuse.

 

2001 Yamaha Kodiak does all I need for plowing & firewood

 

My Dads got the same machine it’s been beat on since new by him, myself and my brother. It’s also plowed 2 sizeable driveways since new as well as been upside down, submerged and cartwheeled a time or two it’s still going strong!

 

Ran Hondas and Polari back at the ski hill. The Polaris rode much more comfortably but needed far more upkeep and broke down more frequently. Particularly the belt drives. In my opinion the Hondas are a better work vehicle and better at taking abuse.

Got to demo a Pioneer with the tracks on it in 18" of fresh snow. Thing was a frickin' riot!

 

I have the same machine, same plow, same winch. An absolute mule.

Creeping up on 4000 miles of admitted abuse and has been extremely reliable. Had to replace the starter once, but nothing else other than routine maintenance.

 

Plowing sucks on a quad...unless you like having snow thrown in your face and lap and covering you.
For moving wood, heavier is better. Go with a full size machine.
Making trail though woods, independent suspension is better on rough terrain.
Size? Full size.
features? Power steering! winch.
Attachments? Storage boxes!
Brand? choose the brand by how good or close the dealer is. I like my Polaris 550xp.
All the brands make a good full size machine and some lessor mid sized machines.
4x4 is a must.
Some will say that a straight axle is better for pulling heavy weight. The straight axle machines are lighter weight/mid sized machines and will not pull the weight of a heavier machine.
I almost always run my Polaris in low range and just putt around 5-10 mph with the trailer on and up to 15 with the log arch on.

 

Yamaha's (wet) clutch is probably the best in the business. Our kodiak 450 has been a good machine, but the ride is the worst ride of any machine I've ever ridden. The Grizzly 450 is ok. (both mid sized machines). I like the Grizzly 700 (full size)

Can am makes good machines. Their twins are very smooth running. Good ride also!

Honda makes good machines, but don't expect them to be cutting edge. They are pretty reliable, but not impressive like years ago.

I've never been impressed with Artic Cat.

 

What say you, Dave?
Calling brenndatomu

 

True that!
Face mask and snow pants help... a little.

 

The dodge 2500 helps...a lot!
And the plowdog gets to ride along...

I'll never plow with a quad again.

 

What have you looked at? Price range? New or used? Lotta options out there...once we know more what you are looking at it will be easier to weed out the good and the bad. One thing I've found over the years is that no matter what ATV you are talking about, there is gonna be someone out there that loves 'em, and someone that hates 'em.
That said...I have always been partial to Honda, but everybody else has stepped up their game in recent years and now have some good contenders too...Yamaha has some nice stuff, but so does Suzuki and Kawasaki...Polaris is in the game for real now too (their older stuff was crap IMO) Don't know much about Artic Cat, or anybody else.
More power is always nice to have, but realistically anything 450cc or up will do whatever you want...some just faster than others.
4 wheel independent suspension rides nice...but a solid rea axle is more stabile if you want a hardcore workhorse.
They may have things straightened out now, but Hondas electric shift stuff wasn't completely reliable...I like the manual shift stuff better.
Oh, and for me a bike that can be shifted between 2x4 and 4x4 is huge...full time 4x4 handles like a tank compared to one that can be disengaged...and if you can unlock the front diff (like some of the Yamahas) even better!
Anyways...something to start with...

 

Thank you brenndatomu! In all honesty I was being a little vague on purpose. I'm definenetly buying used. 5k is my max. I know folks on here have a lot of knowledge on using an atv around their property which would be helpful in my purchasing decision.

 

I’ve never had snow blown or thrown in my face or lap while plowing my 1/4 mile long rural driveway and the other long driveways I take care of on the road I live in. Your not going real fast when you plow, maybe 10-12 mph. And the only time I need chains is when my tires are getting wore out. Someday I might have a another 3/4 ton truck and a plow for it... a rusty truck I really don’t care if it get used and abused some, but not now and plowing with my ATV is a lot better than snow blowing or hiring it out.

Edit: one problem you will have with a ATV plow is if you have tons of snow the snow will pile up and your driveway will narrow. I had one year when we got 148” in a winter that it was a problem.