Garden Tractor died, considering options - ATV?

My Cub Cadet 1863 has died . I need something that can tow my 17 cf trailer for hauling wood and gardening chores.

I see a number of people here use ATVs and I was wondering if someone can give me some thoughts on sizing and their experience using them. I would like something that has a small footprint, but is strong enough to do the work.

Thanks.

 

I owned a Polaris 400 sportsman for about 5 years. All my buddies had the 500, 600, and 700's. I treated mine like a hammer and the only thing I ever broke was the winch cable. Theirs were down quite often. I plowed snow, hauled wood, towed a brush hog, and generally beat the hell out of it on the farm. I'd buy the same machine again if I had the need.

 

Just took a look at the Polaris website, filled out a contact form and phone range in 15 seconds - going to check out a Sportsman 450 HO at a dealer not too far away. Here is a video that should speak to a few hoarders (well, the wood hauling parts at least).

That part scares me a bit. Wonder how it will hold up if I drive it like my old cub cadet and keep it under 5 mph?

 

It is probably overkill for what I need, but I can get excited about thinking of buying one of these where there was no excitement about buying a garden tractor to replace my old one. Not sure where this is headed, but it is fun looking into these things.

 

I'd say 500 or 600 for those tasks. Anything else is just luxury that you may not want to pay for. Just keep in mind the goal is to find balance of power and weight. Those 800s can get beastly. Especially when you're stuck in a swamp and it's 20 below and getting dark lol.

30 Clip Magazine On My Ghost Gun

 

I think we should buy this HarvestMan - Seems you've made a good choice in the 450 Polaris...We'll be happy with this one, I'm certain

 

I would look at subcompact tractors.

 

I did take a peek just for fun, but those are surely overkill for my needs no matter how much I would like to have one. I'm a minor-league hoarder with major league dreams!

I'm heading to the dealer this afternoon to check them out. The dealer sells Honda as well, so I should get to see a few options. Love the raining money emoticon ... reminds me that a fool and his money are soon parted ... thankfully I don't mind playing the fool sometimes.

 

Going back several years, I bought a 400 Honda Foreman, 1998, and couldn't keep front knuckle bearings in it..heavy to steer and the drum brake was hi-maintenance
It was certainly a beast of a workhorse, had it 10 years or so,,,, but I wouldn't buy another one.

 

I had such a good experience with the cub cadet as far as maintenance goes ... I'm sure anything I buy today will have a hard time living up to that level of reliability.

 

If "new" fits your budget a 400-500 ATV will do a lot of work! Personally I wouldn't go larger than that, as they get harder to manage in tight woods and can be a bear if it get's stuck.

I was trying to stay well under a grand when I needed something for work around the house, so I went with an 80's era Wheel Horse GT.

 

I would go with a honda atv. I don't like the polaris belt design for towing heavy loads, I've seen many stretched belts over the years.

 

All I can offer is that if you are handy with a basic (metric) tool kit, atv's are easy to work on. One can save thousands of $, by buying used, and fixing a few items that may need some love. I bought a $900 4x4 Polaris 250 2 stroke. I put about $250 in it to make it run (battery, ignition, fluids, carb clean), and have been beating it up like a rented mule ever since. It still needs another $500 in tires and wheel bearings, but its been rock solid, tows my 17 CF cart, and I will have less than $2000 in it when it's all said and done. She's been going strong for 5 years now for me...and it's a 2000 model.

 

No matter what model/size bike you purchase, one with a solid rear axle with the hitch attached to it would be a plus for your applications.