Speaking of ATVs. ?ÿI have been very happy with my 1998 Honda Foreman ATV. ?ÿ22 years now, still going strong. ?ÿBut I just added a John Deere Gator XUV to my solo ??fleet.? ?ÿI LOVE it! ?ÿVery easy to use for surveying. ?ÿSuspension is much better on my aging back. ?ÿStarting to wonder if I??ll ever get the Honda back out of the garage again.
Wait tell you get it stuck, my Honda 4-wheeler seemed to plow through snow. I've been stuck in Gators a couple of times, the worst was when two got stuck in a field in fairly simple for the 4-wheeler type snow.
Took two pickups and chains to pull them out of there.
Otherwise they are great except they don't fit in the truck bed so I have to trailer them.?ÿ
It depends on what you deal with. Around here the most useful is the smaller side by side UTV. Mud is all but nonexistent. The exception is the farm roads after a thaw. Even then it's not too deep, just slick as all get out.
I do not miss the Mo-bottoms black mud from back east. Great for farming but nothing short of a tractor can be driven on it...
Mostly woods for me so the smallest lightest atv is the way to go.
A lot of woods for me too... I like the ATV a lot but I've never tried a UTV.
?ÿI posted this pic twice in one day:)
I started out with a Honda Foreman back in late 90's.?ÿ While on a long term project that required an ATV just to get to the site it had a mechanical issue & I needed to replace it ASAP.?ÿ I chose to go with the Kawasaki Tyrex which was just released that year.?ÿ For that job the biggest problem was it staying put on the job site.?ÿ It was an incredibly large land slide that took the UP mainline out of service for several months and the place was crawling with contractors (probably the largest crew I have ever seen).?ÿ I can not count the times I would make my rounds checking for mass movement only to find that the VP of engineering for the UPRR was out joy riding my new toy with my lunch in tow.
The Tyrex was great fun and I loved the box.?ÿ Its only drawbacks were its lack of fuel injection and the size.?ÿ It was to big to go some places and it would not fit in my enclosed trailer without removing the roll cage.
In 2019 they Tyrex blew an oil line in the transmission while on another job the required and ATV/UTV.?ÿ Since it was going to take over a month to get it serviced I ended up getting a Honda Pioneer 500.?ÿ I love this thing.?ÿ It is the best of both worlds.?ÿ It will go anywhere and still has great hauling capacity.?ÿ It also has the added bonus of fitting nicely in my trailer.
What my inner former off road race really wanted to walk out of the dealer with was a Talon.?ÿ Not much hauling capacity there and I think my wife would have pulled my toenails out one by one if it appeared in the driveway.
?ÿThe lot of them along my outlet when I just feel like going fast on a logging road.?ÿ Still trying to figure out how to get a set of legs in it.
P.s. this was the first day on the job for the Pioneer so it was not kitted out yet.
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Since we are sharing photos.?ÿ Here are some from 2011 of my 1998 ATV setup still going strong today, as well as some 2020 photos of my new 2020 XUV delivery day before I added the rod holder, which I love too.
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