I am thinking about a 4x4 quad to plow snow, and haul gear up snow & ice covered roads. any recomendations? I have little knowledge of all the new quads, I'm looking for a workhorse.

Was wondering the same thing ...

My initial response would be to suggest Polaris, but my more thought out reply is that for the most part most everything is competitive nowadays and it is more important to live reasonably close to where you can get parts and service, so I'd choose the kawasaki dealer down the road over the polaris dealer 2 towns over IMHO.

While I am no expert, it seems that the Honda, then the Yamaha are the top two.

A place near me that sales Susuki and Kawasaki, told me that for a hunter or work the Suziki was better than the "K".

For Hot Rodding get the "K".

I have driven a 750 Sizuki King Quad quite a bit in Idaho and liked it.

I have had a Honda, and a Yamaha and both were great.

The wife has a Yamaha 350 Big Bear, that is so old you shift it like a motorcycle...

It starts with the first press of the button. Even if it has been setting at the deer lease for several months. We do keep a solar charger on the battery...

On working ranches Honda is generally considered the toughest.

That said I agree With Mark about parts and service.

SSR

Suzuki Samuari, with a few modifacations!

quote:

Originally posted by larrys01:
Suzuki Samuari, with a few modifacations!

Well I can't argue there either!

Neat Suzuki! Extra points for the sch40 pipe exhaust and the military tires.

The polaris is probably still the best just look at their axles and cv joints.

Cal30

Honda

Does anyone have any experience with the Yamaha Grizzly 700? Im going to look at one today. I like the fact that the Grizzly seems to have the most factory accesories, from tire chains to plows and skidplates.

One of the gun clubs I belong, the road to the range is closed after the first snow, because is is so steep noone has ever tried to plow it. Steep and a sharp turn on the way down with no guard rail and a 80 foot drop.

So I need to get to the range, enter the the quad with a plow some nasty tires and chains if need be, I know I can plow that hill, drive up and plow down, in a worst case senario I can always jump and let the 4 wheeler go off the cliff, I don't think it will come to that. And if all else fails and it cant be plowed, i can always load my gear and ride up the mountain and shoot.

I've owned the Suzuki King Quad 700 for six years. It is a good machine, I plow a very long (1/4 mile) driveway with it and have never had a blizzard that I couldn't plow my way out of. That includes some 20"+ snowfalls. It has a HIGH and LOW range, so you can shift from trail mode to work/grunt very easily.

I have also gone on some week-long ATV rides and it held it's own on the trails, even running with tricked out sport quads. I've run trails in Wisconsin, Michigan and South Dakota and never felt like I had the 'wrong machine".

There are a lot of excellent quads on the market, it will be in your best interest to drive as many as you can before making a decision. If you ask most people what's the best quad on the market, they will almost always point to the one that sits in their garage.

I am very impressed by the Yamaha Grizzly 700. It has electric power steering and fuel injected. It is tough and outwoks all other quads I have tried.

the grizzly 700 is an awesome machine, i plow much snow, trial ride and hunt...no problems so far.
Fuel injection and power steering rock

just about every atv maker makes a heavy "workhorse" I have had quite a few. atv's are hard to break. i would go talk to my nearest dealer.. we have a polaris, suzuki, kawaski, and arctic cat dealer in my home town. I have the arctic cat 4x4 . i use it for farming & hunting & trail riding

There are lots of fine choices. You'll have to be the one who lives with the choice made, not us.
Check some reviews at www.4x4review.com or www.atvrideronline.com for starters. There's tons of opinions.
My personal choice would be a Can-Am Outlander 800R if I was spending your money. I don't think you'd be wanting anything more than what it offers. Nate

My Quad of choice would be a Honda Rincon 680. It's a smooth machine and it will not let you down. There available in several models, even with a built in GPS.

quote:

Originally posted by Mark:

quote:

Originally posted by larrys01:
Suzuki Samuari, with a few modifacations!

Well I can't argue there either!

Sweet machine

If you want to plow snow and have a heavy duty quad there is only one choice, Honda. You don't want a rincon, this is the semisport model it has independant rear suspension and NO LOW GEAR. awesome trail machine-no go for pushing snow. what you want is a foreman or rubicon. Gear drive transmission and solid rear axles-no other atv even comes close imho.

OH yeah and the guys who said polaris? have you ever owned one?LOL they are the most unreliable POS atv out there. I can't count how many times I've pulled a polaris home with a honda. If I had a polaris dealer in my backyard and a honda dealer 1000miles away I'd be gassing up the truck for a 1000 mile drive .

grizzlys are a world better than polaris but are still belt drive (CVT) which will always drop them into last place as far as pushing snow and crawling around in the rocks heavy duty stuff

I imagine doubledown has made his decision but can't resist a post anyway. I love most all things Honda, that being said their offerings in the utility quad market is pretty sad. What they have is fine for what it is but have nothing to offer to a lot of riders. The Rincon is the closest they have to what I'd want but give me a belt drive please. A torque converter prone to stalling under load is not what I want in a tricky section of trail. No front locker is a deal breaker, it won't take me where I often find myself wanting to go. It is grossly under powered, a KG450 has about the same hp as the Honda 680. All the others offer something I would be happy with. I currently have a 2012 Kawasaki 750. What do I think is best? Probably a Grizzly, but I just like the v-twin so much I went with another Kawi.