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Tractor Talk Discussion Forum

ATV brand?

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brian 1

12-25-2005 13:42:48




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I know this could be almost as bad as asking what color tractor is best but here I go anyway. Are there any brands of ATVs to avoid? I'm looking at mainly Artic Cat, Polaris, and Yamaha because of local dealers but see all the others within driving range as well. Thanks.




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FarmerPaul in Ont

12-26-2005 06:46:22




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 Re: ATV brand? in reply to brian 1, 12-25-2005 13:42:48  
I have own a 2003 500i 4wd Arctic Cat. So far no trouble with the machine. It has a manual trans (belt type is optional ), withe the 5speed tranny there is also a high and low range. Depending on what you want to use the machine for the Cat is hard to beat. Lots of gound clearance 12 inches ,wide (very stable)and good engine braking. The new models have front differential lock, electric choke and electric engagement of the 4wd system. The motor is a Suzuki but the remainder of the machine is made right in the USA .

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Leland

12-26-2005 19:13:03




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 Re: ATV brand? in reply to FarmerPaul in Ont, 12-26-2005 06:46:22  
Farmer paul I could never understand A Cat thinking your 500 zuke motor has a-freeze for cooling and gramps and my 400 is oil cooled makes me wonder what the engineers were thinking .and A Cat listens to customers 1 of my idea's showed up on the 05's



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gramps

12-26-2005 05:03:37




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 Re: ATV brand? in reply to brian 1, 12-25-2005 13:42:48  
I bought a Arctic Cat 400 4-wheel drive and I love it.It is shaft to shaft,so no worries about belt slipage, it has plenty of power for towing, and it has a decent top end for me (about 53 mph). It has an automatic shift which is alright, but they make it in full automatic if you so desire.I have been riding for 10 years and have ridden a lot of machines and have gotten caught in the middle of a river on a Polaris due to a leaky belt housing and had to get towed out because of slipage. Thats my advice take it for what its worth.Here's what I did, I took 3 machines that I liked and compared apples with apples and oranges with oranges and I wanted a machine that was all shaft to shaft and chose the Cat and it has been great so far.

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Leland

12-26-2005 05:12:01




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 Re: ATV brand? in reply to gramps, 12-26-2005 05:03:37  
Gramps there is a belt on your's but it is in a sealed case and there is a plug under the case to drain it after driving in deep water . And your right I have heard this about a lot of Polaris's they do not like wet feet at least the older ones .



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DJM75

12-26-2005 04:52:13




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 Re: ATV brand? in reply to brian 1, 12-25-2005 13:42:48  
here's what I know I have been riding 3 and 4 wheelers for 23 years now. I have seen yamahas my friends had and there were all right. I've had a few older hondas and they were good but my friend had a new one and it never worked something with there new transmission. Now my favorite is Polaris the were the first with full foot boards,hydraulic all wheel brakes,auto trans,rope start backup,and they are heavy and stable. good luck hope this helps.

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Midwest redneck

12-26-2005 03:43:10




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 Re: ATV brand? in reply to brian 1, 12-25-2005 13:42:48  
I have a Polaris Sportsmen 400. I love it. It is a 2004 model. I have a snow blade, which I dislike, I may get a better blade like a Polaris or Moose. I have the Cycle country blade now. I use it to push snow. My Polaris has good stability, weighs 700 lbs. and I made a 40 lb. steel bar that mounts on the back for extra weight while pushing snow. The Honda is a good machine too.



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farmallbee

12-26-2005 03:03:29




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 Re: ATV brand? in reply to brian 1, 12-25-2005 13:42:48  
I would recommend honda-I currently own 2 a 300 and a recon. the recon is a little small but belongs to the wife. runs great just does not have as much power as the 300 if you are looking at towing get a 4 wheek drive hopefully a foreman. good luck



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Leland

12-25-2005 22:05:37




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 Re: ATV brand? in reply to brian 1, 12-25-2005 13:42:48  
Riught now I am riding an arctic cat and have no complaints goes and pulls what I need



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CLW

12-25-2005 21:49:10




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 Re: ATV brand? in reply to brian 1, 12-25-2005 13:42:48  
Honda for quality. Yamaha, Polaris and Suzuki have there good points also. Don't think you would be unhappy with any of these four. There is always something you will like better about one over the other. A friend of mine said a dealer told him he could sell most used ones in ten days, and could sell a used Honda the first day. My friend rides Polaris.



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hogman_2002

12-25-2005 20:53:10




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 Re: ATV brand? in reply to brian 1, 12-25-2005 13:42:48  
I'd buy a Honda. They last a long time. We have over 10,500 miles on our 2002 Rancher and it's still going strong. If you do get a Honda you will need this website. www.servicehonda.com They sell honda parts alot cheaper than Honda dealers. Exact same parts but cheaper. I buy everything from them.



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cannonball

12-26-2005 05:54:39




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 Re: ATV brand? in reply to hogman_2002, 12-25-2005 20:53:10  
try this place i think they are quite a bit cheaper than the one you posted...http://www.rivayamaha.com/parts_finder.shtml .....have nice day may god bless



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kyhayman

12-25-2005 20:12:44




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 Re: ATV brand? in reply to brian 1, 12-25-2005 13:42:48  
I've got a '99 Honda Foreman 450 I bought used off ebay in '02 with 175 miles on it. Checked yesteday and it has a shade over 2900 miles on it now. To date 1 battery, 1 CV boot, 4 tires with slime added, and an annual oil change. Great machine.

Only thing that I dont like, is when the transmission is cold it wont shift running out of reverse (shut off engine, shift to neutral, drive normal). Done it since the day I got it. Heard all the stories about the ESP electric shift being a problem, only time mine has been is when I got it really wet (submerged). Figure any electrical stuff will do that.

I gave $3300 for it, figure its been the best investment I ever made on the farm. Spent more than that the first year I had my pickup in the body shop for what me, the cows, and the horses did to it.

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26Red

12-25-2005 19:50:00




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 Re: ATV brand? in reply to brian 1, 12-25-2005 13:42:48  
I have an "84 suzuki quadrunner 185...first year they came out with 4 wheels instead of three.. Bought it slightly used in "88 with 45 miles on the clock...I used it to push snow on our 900 ft driveway. Granted, it does not have all the bells and whistles or size of the new ATV- but it gets the job done. Recoil start, automatic clutch, front/rear racks/ trailer hitch and snowblade. No mechanical problems at all. Will start at 10 below easily... Just plugs and oil changes and a new set of tires.. This little rig was used hard moving car trailers, pulling haywagons, sprayers, and pushing snow.
Wish my vehicles would hold up as good as this little ATV. I am not fond of the new ATV"s due to there large size, weight and automatic transmissions... if you ever get a new one stuck, or accidentally have it roll over on you, you"ll be wishing for the lightest machine instead of the monster sized ATV.

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NC Wayne

12-25-2005 19:14:33




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 Re: ATV brand? in reply to brian 1, 12-25-2005 13:42:48  
Most everybody I know, as well as myself, have Hondas. Personally I like the older ones without all the bells and whistles. Their simple so it makes them both reliable and relatively inexpensive to maintain. I've got a '87 250 SX 3-wheeler and my boy has a '86 Fourtrax 70 and they both get rode hard and require very little to maintain beyond washing off the mud and replacing brake shoes. The boys down the street all bought new Hondas about 2 years ago and theirs spend as much time in the shop as they do in use, mainly with electric/electronic problems. My brother-in-law has an older Polaris and while it doesn't have all the electronic gizmos he also spends alot more keeping it going than I do on either of my Hondas. Electric/electronic bells and whistles are fine for someone that wants them in a "luxury" vehicle but they have no place in an ATV that's going far offroad where AAA can't get a tow to you..... .Just my .02

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thejdman01

12-25-2005 19:09:54




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 Re: ATV brand? in reply to brian 1, 12-25-2005 13:42:48  
i liked the little diesel 4x4 we had for awhile now, however, run an old beat up s10 that i got for the taking. seems to work best for us. depending on what you are doing and what you are using it for you never said if you wanted a speed machine, a 4x4 or 2x4? one hting i would look for is chain or shaft drive. belts slip wear very qauick etc etc.



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Glen in TX

12-25-2005 18:26:46




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 Re: ATV brand? in reply to brian 1, 12-25-2005 13:42:48  
You didn't say if you were looking at new or used. Also depends on what you are doing with one. We always like the Polaris variable speed trans for using on the farm and ranch better than others. If you are riding up and down steep hills pulling a load you may not want that kind of trans in one though.



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aFORDable

12-25-2005 17:48:57




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 Re: ATV brand? in reply to brian 1, 12-25-2005 13:42:48  
My only experience is with Honda. I currently have a 450 Foreman that works and plays on our farm. All the Hondas we have owned have been reliable and easy starters with low repair cost.



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a bane

12-25-2005 17:13:48




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 Re: ATV brand? in reply to brian 1, 12-25-2005 13:42:48  
The first 4 wheeler i purchased was a used Honda.It ran good but rode rough. I sold it and bought a new Yamaha 350 and it was made tough but it also ran rough.I rode it one day for about 50 miles and was so sore the next day that I couldn"t hardly get out of bed.I told someone about how rough it rode and they told me to go try out a Polaris and I did. I traded my yamaha that same day for a two stroke 400 Polaris and I have had it since 1995.I don"t care what you try out , nothing rides like a Polaris and I"ve tried most of them.The Polaris rides higher which makes it a little more dangerous and now they"re making the HO which holds back going down steep grades.Try them out and see for yourself.

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Jonfarmer

12-25-2005 17:38:50




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 Re: ATV brand? in reply to a bane, 12-25-2005 17:13:48  
The ride is pretty nice and so isn't the automatic transmission. I would like to correct you, it's EBS, which is if I remember right, stands for Exhaust Braking Syestem, I have never ridden one thats equipped with EBS. H.O stands for High Output, as in more horsepower.



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a bane

12-26-2005 06:03:46




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 Re: ATV brand? in reply to Jonfarmer, 12-25-2005 17:38:50  
Sorry about that, I know my son-in law bought a new Polaris 500 and it had the letters HO on it and I thought it applied to the hold back mechanism when going down hills. He rode them all and chose Polaris.



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DJM75

12-26-2005 04:47:12




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 Re: ATV brand? in reply to Jonfarmer, 12-25-2005 17:38:50  
EBS thats engine braking system



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Keith-OR

12-25-2005 16:32:03




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 Re: ATV brand? in reply to brian 1, 12-25-2005 13:42:48  
I have both Yamaha and Honda 4x4 both are good machines, but I lean towards the Honda most dependable for my type of riding here in the mountains of eastern Oregon. Would not even consider Polaris, since they use the snow mobile belt drive. US Forestry here in OR use to run Polaris untill had several rangers almost killed on them, cause the Polaris could not gear down and run against compression going down deep grades. Had to rely on brakes only.... JMHO


Keith

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JC in ky

12-25-2005 15:43:27




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 Re: ATV brand? in reply to brian 1, 12-25-2005 13:42:48  
There all good bikes. But I lean closer to Honda and Yamaha. Polaris is a good bike but they are a real High Maintinance ATV. For me Honda has been the most reliable. but thats just my opinion. Hope it helps. JC in Ky



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Mr Bill No. Mn.

12-25-2005 15:34:26




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 Re: ATV brand? in reply to brian 1, 12-25-2005 13:42:48  
I have a yamaha and a polaris, love the polaris and dislike the yamaha. The yamaha is a big bear 400 and the polaris is a sportsman 400 and a much better machine. Check them all out and go with your feelings.-Bill



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ncfromneb

12-25-2005 15:10:16




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 Re: ATV brand? in reply to brian 1, 12-25-2005 13:42:48  
I've ran Polaris and they are good machines. They are a little tricky to work on as you have to tear off all the plastic to get to most things but other than that they are good machines.



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Jonfarmer

12-25-2005 14:59:23




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 Re: ATV brand? in reply to brian 1, 12-25-2005 13:42:48  
They're all pretty good.



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MN Scott

12-25-2005 14:48:00




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 Re: ATV brand? in reply to brian 1, 12-25-2005 13:42:48  
I've always run Honda's to. Never any trouble just tires battery's oil ect. Artic cat has only been in the ATV buisness less than 10 year's or so, they run suzuki engines in them. Early polaris ATV's had lots of trouble to but the newer ones are better. I've always run Yamaha sleds and if their ATV's are as good I would go with their ATV's to over the other two.



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tom poplett

12-25-2005 14:33:44




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 Re: ATV brand? in reply to brian 1, 12-25-2005 13:42:48  
i have alwayays had hondas and had extremlly good luck.



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a bane

12-26-2005 05:56:50




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 Re: ATV brand? in reply to tom poplett, 12-25-2005 14:33:44  
I think they're all good machines or they wouldn't sell. Before I bought one , I'd ride it first to see how I liked it and compare that way. As I said before I bought my Polaris 400 in 1995 and it has been trouble freeand I love it. I don't understand why people go and spend 5-7000 thousand dollars on these machines and tear them up in less than a year. I saw one the other day that was less than 2 months old and it was completely torn up.Mine has never sat outside 1 night and looks new and I use it every day on my farm.

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