Tired of walking. Need advise on ATV's.

[Lennyjoe]

I'm in the market for an ATV and would like to get some info on what to get. I have rode them in the past but have never shopped for one before.

I am tired of walking up and down hills and washes during deer hunting. So, give me some ideas on what to look for and what to expect price wise.

 

[redneck]

I haven't done a whole lot with them, but have quite a few friends who are into ATV's. Polaris, and Honda seem to be very good brands to go with. Both will work hard and are reliable.
I'd recommend staying away from the sport type, they aren't suited for much other than driving fast Don't have any way to carry stuff on it, and seem really punchy on the throttle, not the best for just cruising to your hunting spot.
I'd also recommend getting a fairly large one if you can afford it. Not necessarily HUGE as some of them have gotten, but a bigger engine and wider wheelbase. They will be more stable if you decide to haul a deer on it or anything like that. Tried to sit 2 people on the rack on the back of a small suzuki once and the front wheels pulled off the ground. A good sized deer, plus your gear could make a small ATV a real handful on a difficult trail.

 

[DigMe]

It seems like these days a lot of people are buying WAY more ATV than they need. Evaluate how much power you'll need. If you're not going to be hauling much or moving large objects with it then you can save yourself some money and get a 300 or something.

My uncle and cousing have Hondas, don't know what model. They are at least 300's...maybe 350. We have a Kawasaki Prairie 300. It's a great auto quad that doesn't have the rep as a Honda but it has a great, smooth ride, much smoother than my uncle's Hondas. It gets everything done that we need including hauling around gear, moving rocks and towing a small trailer. We also have a Kawasaki Bayou 220. Smaller and therefore has a rough ride.

brad cook

 

[Larry Ashcraft]

My Suzuki 250 QuadRunner 4WD does everything I ask of it, including pulling a trailer full of firewood.

Gets me around in the mountains fine. Best part, I bought it a garage sale for $1200, all it needed was a battery.

 

[sumpnz]

Last year for deer season I was able to use my hunting partner's quad. It was nothing special, Yamaha I think. Probably a 250cc engine, 2WD. It hauled us both where we needed to go, so long as we respected its limitations (a bigger one likely wouldn't have helped us much for the places we couldn't take it anyway). Never go to see how well it handled deer .

 

[BenW]

I've got a Honda Rancher, which is a 350. Mine is only 2WD, but it gets me and my dog all over my folks farm roads, dry or muddy. I've also had it on a couple of National Forest trails, which it handled just fine. Though I'm happy with 2WD, you might want to consider 4WD for your uses.

Mine is also the semi-auto drive, which I actually prefer to the electronic shift. I had to order mine special to get it with the manual stuff and sans bells and whistles, and that was about 4 years ago. I'm not sure if you can even get them without electronic shifting anymore.

Last point, if you're taller, you'll want to stay to the mid-large size ATVs. My uncle has a Honda Recon, and it's a little small for me (I'm 6'4") as far as sitting comfort. Ranchers are kind of the "mid-range" for Honda, and it fits me right fine.

 

[Lennyjoe]

I'm thinking of something that I can haul gear on and possibly pack out meat for deer/elk hunting. I might even get some sort of trailer to use if I get drawn for an elk hunt. I just want to get out away from the crowds when hunting here in AZ without having to walk 5 miles. Heck, I would throw a small tent, rations, water and rifle on it and not come out of the unpopulated area the whole week if need be. Thats the kind of person I am when it comes to hunting.

 

[dfaugh]

As mentioned

there's some real monsters available, now. 700cc, almost as big as a small car...And you really don't need all of that. I have a Kawaski 400 Prairie, 4 wheel drive, that'll do most anything I ask. Bought it w/ a snowplow (something you probably don't need), use it to haul firewood from "out back"...even used it to pull my lawn sweeper last week (lawn tractor bogs down when sweeper is about half full, ATV doesn't.) In short, a real workhorse. Could easily carry all my camping/hunting gear. There's some neat "all terrain"trailers available too, although I just use regular lawn cart/trailer.

So 300-400cc is plenty for most people,but I do recommend 4 wheel drive (I routinely "make trails", by running over whatever's in the way, including trees up to 2")

Look around for used ones,may get lucky and find one like mine...4 years old and has 160 miles on it (1/2 of that from plowing snow!)

 

[rbernie]

I'm a real fan of (and own) a Yamaha Bruin utility ATV. It's CVT is easier to use than the push-button trannies on oither ATVs, it's got terrific cargo and towing capacity, I like the shaft-drive for its low maintenance, and all in all it's relatively inexpensive. I think that we paid about $4300 out the door brand-new.

We've had ours for about 18 months now, and have a LOT of pretty hard miles on it with no issues. It takes a bit of dexterity to check the exhaust valve clearance, but other than that maintenance is really very simple and straightforward.

 

[Lennyjoe]

The Yamaha looks pretty interesting. I'm gonna go out this weekend and shop around.

Thanks for the info so far.

 

[Larry Ashcraft]

Check your state laws on ATVs. In the area we hunt, it is illegal to take an ATV off road at all. Up until last year you could use them for retrieving game only after 2:00 PM.

 

[DigMe]

Be sure and try to make it to a Kawasaki dealer too. bfaugh was the second one to recommend the Prairie series in this thread.

brad cook

 

[Cindog]

Depending on whether you will be using it for anything else other than just getting you to your hunting location, seriously consider taking a look at a UTV like the Yamaha Rhino, Polaris Ranger, or the Kawasaki Mule. My dad and I just picked up a Rhino and we couldn't be more pleased with it. It is one of the few products that has lived up to and exceeded our expectations. The biggest benefit is its ability to haul two people safely as it is a side-by-side with two bucket seats and a complete roll cage with seatbelts. After that, the small bed is great for hauling all your pre-season gear around to hang stands, trim lanes, plant food plots, or whatever else you need it to do.

 

[dasmi]

http://www.atvtraderonline.com/adsearch.html
That ought to get you started when you decide to buy.

 

[one-shot-one]

donot know

if this has any relavence to todays 4 wheelers but my dad use to have 2 three wheelers a honda 110 and a yamaha 225, he would use them during deer season then park them in the garage the restofthe year. every season the yamaha wouldcrank right up and go the honda would have to have the carb either cleaned or rebuild before it was ready to go but then would run fine for the season.

 

[LHB1]

Lennyjoe,
Wish you lived in Houston. I have a like new Honda TRX300 four wheeler and trailer but no hunting lease and no way to put trailer hitch on my new BMW without cutting body metal. All I use the Honda for now is riding my grandson around in the yard. I have never needed more power but did replace the original equipment tires with after market Blackwater HD swampers. Made a huge improvement.

Good shooting and be safe.
LB

ps: Contrary to One-Shot's experience, I have never had any problems with my Honda.

 

[stevelyn]

Having lived in rural Alaska for several years I've seen and used a lot of ATVs.
Most of what you see in the villages are the quads (we call them 4- wheelers) and are used pretty much for everyday transportation and work vehicles. They are used to go off the beaten path too.
However, in my experience Argos can go where 4-wheelers fear to tread. They are also amphibious and leave behind less damage to the land. You can get a track kit for them that slips over the wheels that are excellent for deep snow, marshy tundra and mud. I know people who've hauled out a whole moose (quartered and boned out) plus camping provisions in their Argos.
The down side is they are slower than 4-wheelers with a lower top speed, but you can haul loads in an Argo that you couldn't fit on a 4-wheeler, and Argos are less susceptable to getting stuck.

Check them out here: http://www.argoatv.com

 

[critter]

I am on my 3rd Honda. First was a 185 cc 3-wheeler, then a 300cc 4-wheeler and I just traded up to a Honda 4 X 4 Rancher 350cc. Honda is a very tough, reliable machine that I use for everything-hunting, hauling, etc. I'm a big guy and it is PLENTY of machine to do anything I can imagine needing done. I've hauled mulitiple people, deer, pulled loaded trailers, gone through swamps, slick, slimy mud, over ROUGH ground, you name it.

I got it new (2005) and,as I said, it is 4WD, manual shift, 350 cc with a winch included for well under $5K.

Give them a serious look and good luck finding what fits you and what you do.

 

[Art Eatman]

Intermittent-use small motors will indeed "crud up" during storage periods. Either shut off the fuel tank and run the carburetor dry, or add StaBil and run the motor long enough for the mix to get into the carburetor.

Two-cycle motors readily have the gasoline evaporate and then all that's in the carburetor, clogging the jet(s), is oil. Either two-or four-cycle motors can have the gasoline dry up and lay a varnish coat and other crud around the float valve, etc.

Art

 

[dfaugh]

Oh...

One accessory, that I should have mentioned, is a good winch. I did actually manage to get mine stuck in the woods...High-centered it on a hidden (by low brush) fallen log. Basically,all 4 wheels were off the ground...And since it weighs about 600 lbs, I wasn't able to do much about it. Hadda tie off to a tree and use winch to move it. Don't know about where you are, but common sales promotion around here is to give away "free" winch with purchase. But, they aren't all that expensive, if you have to buy one (I hadda buy one anyway, as it works the snowplow, but sure found it hand that one day.)

 

[Bigjake]

get a honda, and you will never, ever regret it. they simply WONT break. A honda will take ANY abuse you put it through, and keep on ticking. I've had about 6 of em over the years, and can't say enough good things.

for your requirements, a 300cc 4x4 would be ideal. not huge, but plenty of power to do anything you ask of it. 300 is a decent sized machine, and anything the 4 wheeler won't pull , you'll need a truck for.

 

[Art Eatman]

Lennyjoe, buy LHB1's rig. I"m westbound in about a week; I could pick it up in Houston and tow it as far as Alpine, which is about halfway--roughly 610 miles from Phoenix...

If you buy it, that removes temptation and keeps me out of trouble with BossLady. I'm already overgoated with 4WDs and other Tonka Toys.

, Art

 

[Lennyjoe]

Very tempting Art.

I might just take both of you up on that.

as far as Alpine

Alpine is beutiful country. Thats where we plan to Elk hunt this fall if drawn.

Hwy 191 S. is a great ride until you hit the South side of the Mongolian rim. Its a twisty turny ride down to to desert from there.

 

[Art Eatman]

Oops! I forgot about Alpine, Arizona! I'm turning south at Alpine, Texas.

Alpine, AZ, is on one of my "avoid boredom" routes to and from Las Vegas, NV. Alpine south to Silver City, NM, to Deming and then on to El Paso...

Art

 

[Lennyjoe]

I talked to my financial advisor (wife) and got disapproved on my loan.

I'll try again in August just before season starts. I'll make sure not to inquire with her prior to making a purchase again.