ATV advise

[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.

[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.

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

[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

[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.

[waspocrew]

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!

[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.

[buckykm1]

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

[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.

[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).

[maintguy47]

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.