4 wheeler for wood hauler/plowing

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bsa0021

Feeling the Heat
Oct 1, 2008
406
Ohio
http://youngstown.craigslist.org/sno/4396904167.html

I've been looking on CL for a used 4x4 to plow my drive and haul wood (I've been using my lawn tractor).
I don't know much about 4 wheelers so if anyone can tell me if this is a good buy, I'd appreciate it.
 
Looks to be in good shape, but I think they're asking too much for it.

I'd probably look for a little bigger machine, at least 500cc. That will get you into a bigger, heavier machine, and weight makes all the difference in the world when plowing.
 
Price is ok ... and it could work for plowing ... I plowed with a Honda Trx for a few years, but as KD mentioned ... going up to 450-500 cc sized tabs would be better.
 
What should I expect to pay for a 500 of 10-15 year vintage?
 
The Sportsman looks like it is in good shape for being a 96. I think $2500 is reasonable as long as everything works as it should. I have a 600 grizz that I bought a couple of years ago w/ a plow and winch and paid $3000 and still feel it was a good deal at the time.
 
Sounds like you could get it for under $2500 if you haggle a bit.
 
I have had many quads, Currently have a Yamaha grizzly 700, before that I had a artic cat 400 manual shift, before that I had a Yamaha big bear 350. All quads were 4x4 and they worked great for towing the trailer with heavy loads of fire wood, even up steep slippery terrain. All quads had snow plows and winches, You have to watch the snow plow setup though. I currently run a warn snow plow with the high clearance mount on the grizzly, sometimes the plow flips down and the quad runs over the blade, I think the angle of the mount has a lot to do with that, I had an under the frame mount on the artic cat with a eagle "county plow" that was awesome, it had a quick connect system and clearance wasn't an issue, actually the under mount was also designed as an additional skid plate. (North Jersey, almost every trail is rock)
All plows have limitations. You simply cannot go out and plow a foot of wet heavy snow unless you want to spend a lot of time going in forward then reverse, all the plows worked great with powder snow or heavy wet snow plowed between 3-5 inch increments.
If your in the market for a used atv, when you look at it please look underneath the machine, look at the frame, skid plates and differentials, that can tell you a lot about how that machine was previously used / abused. Anyone can order new plastic pieces and make a quad look new again, but the under side is the non replacement pieces / expensive pieces. Over all I use my quad more for fire wood activities than really anything else. Get yourself a nice trailer, I bought a Ohio Steel swivel ( I think its a 1.5 cu yard) trailer, it has wider heavy duty tires, and a indestructible plastic dump, the thing is perfect for wood hauling and gardening things IMG_0254.JPG IMG_0257.JPG
 
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kennyp2339 said:
I have had many quads, Currently have a Yamaha grizzly 700, before that I had a artic cat 400 manual shift, before that I had a Yamaha big bear 350. All quads were 4x4 and they worked great for towing the trailer with heavy loads of fire wood, even up steep slippery terrain. All quads had snow plows and winches, You have to watch the snow plow setup though. I currently run a warn snow plow with the high clearance mount on the grizzly, sometimes the plow flips down and the quad runs over the blade, I think the angle of the mount has a lot to do with that, I had an under the frame mount on the artic cat with a eagle "county plow" that was awesome, it had a quick connect system and clearance wasn't an issue, actually the under mount was also designed as an additional skid plate. (North Jersey, almost every trail is rock)
All plows have limitations. You simply cannot go out and plow a foot of wet heavy snow unless you want to spend a lot of time going in forward then reverse, all the plows worked great with powder snow or heavy wet snow plowed between 3-5 inch increments.
If your in the market for a used atv, when you look at it please look underneath the machine, look at the frame, skid plates and differentials, that can tell you a lot about how that machine was previously used / abused. Anyone can order new plastic pieces and make a quad look new again, but the under side is the non replacement pieces / expensive pieces. Over all I use my quad more for fire wood activities than really anything else. Get yourself a nice trailer, I bought a Ohio Steel swivel ( I think its a 1.5 cu yard) trailer, it has wider heavy duty tires, and a indestructible plastic dump, the thing is perfect for wood hauling and gardening things View attachment 130815 View attachment 130816
Click to expand...
Right now I am using my lawn tractor for plowing and wood hauling as well as cutting the grass. . Every fall I haul 3.5 cords of wood from the back of the property (my drying area) to the storage area for the coming winter. The typical snows that we get are in the 2-5 inch range but my driveway has a uphill grade. Sometimes if the snow is too wet I can't even get the tractor up the drive to plow down the slop (I have to go across the lawn). I'm probably hauling wood more than plowing with the tractor but with all the work I'm doing with it I'm lucky it's made it to 600 hrs. It's probably not going to last much longer and when it dies I'll probably buy a zero turn mower. The zero turns that I have looked at won't allow me to plow and some can't tow a trailer.
I've got to get one of those trailers. My cheap metal cart is on it's last leg
 
I'm not sure what your budget is ... but there is a 2009 Yamaha Grizzly 450 with 770 or so miles listed on Craigslist in your area for $4,000 ... I suspect you would get it for less than that ... maybe $3,500-$3,750.
 
firefighterjake said:
I'm not sure what your budget is ... but there is a 2009 Yamaha Grizzly 450 with 770 or so miles listed on Craigslist in your area for $4,000 ... I suspect you would get it for less than that ... maybe $3,500-$3,750.
Click to expand...
That's a little more than I can spend. I need to stay under $2500.
 
I would stay away from the older Polaris atv's, they are a good brand but if I remember correctly they had issue's with the transmission, they were the first to have the automatic belt drive systems, over time the belts wear out, and if they get wet they become useless until they dry out, (constant slipping) anyway the Polaris issue was moisture and I believe it was very labor intensive to replace the belts, the new quads have easier access to replace this part, and have also sealed up the belt area, so its very rare they get water / moisture in the case, plus belt life is longer lasting
 
bsa0021 said:
What would you be willing to pay for an ATV like this?
Click to expand...

Honestly, I wouldn't consider it unless it was really cheap - under $1K. The picture looks pretty good and ATV's generally easily show if they were abused. If $2500 is your budget I'd be looking for around a 2000 or newer. It also depends on what you're using it for. Fun and work or just work. If it's just for work I'd look for a Honda. They have a bulletproof reputation for being absolutely hammered on and still go strong.
 
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Those poly buckets in the cold do not like wood tossed into them, they shatter, advice is to put alight steel/alum plate liner in them. about 1/16" thick would be fine. I mention this as I have trashed a few of the poly wheelbarrow buckets tossing splits in to them. Now I either gently place splits if unlined or line it .
 
The best deal in my area that I could find is a 2006 polaris sportsman for $4600. It seems like ppl are selling their ATV after having it for a couple of years and asking between $4500 - $6500 or keeping their ATV until its all used up. Personally I would shop for one in the lightly used market and save the $5000 vs buying new.
 
ATV's are generally an impulse purchase. Most people buy them and don't really use them. That's why you generally see the 2 opposite used markets - old and beat to crap and a few years old and almost brand new. There's not much in between.
 
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Just a thought...are you able to afford a little bit of a monthly payment? If you can, it might not hurt to check out new machines. Put a little of your cash down, and you'll probably have a payment around $100 a month. (as long you don't go for one of the 800+ cc top of the line monsters) That way you know you're not inheriting someone's abused, non maintained junk. That's what my wife and I did when we decided to buy 4 wheelers. We started looking at used machines, but found they were mostly all overpriced junk so we just decided to buy new ones and financed them through a local credit union.
 
have (2) yamaha Kodiak ATV's use them to haul wood, collect sap, plow, hunt, and just play.......no regrets!! Both purchased used online
 
I'm not a polaris die-hard, but I have 2 of them, and they represent the budget-window/age that the OP mentioned.

The 97 Polaris Scrambler 500 4x4 I use for plowing also has a trailer hitch ball for the occasional trailer-task. The plow is a very basic skidplate-style mount with a Cycle Country manual-lift lever 48" blade. Even for a vintage machine with original worn 1997 tires, it does a very respectable job plowing on blacktop and grassy areas. This quad has multiple chain-drives; built like a piece of agricultural equipment. Never had a problem with the CVT drive belt or any transmission issues, and it has shifted F-R thousands of times and even flipped into a pond once and sat submerged upside down; started right back up when extracted.
Also should mention, this thing doesn't have a low range; in the snow it will always lose traction before you burn a belt. And for a machine approaching 20 years old, it ALWAYS started every day this winter, even the (many) subzero days that I called it for duty. I must say I am really happy with my Scrambler 500 and haven't experienced any of the 'polaris-lore' mentioned earlier in the thread.

I also have a 2000 Polaris sportsman 400 4x4. As far as used quads are concerned, if you run across a deal on a sportsman of this vintage, they are great machines. The 400 isn't a fast machine; ~55mph tops; but with low range it is a real workhorse and has IRS for a smoother ride. When the battery is dead, the 400cc engine pulls over just as easy as your push-mower. In theory, I should actually have the plow mounted on this machine. Instead, I've used it to play in the deep snow during winter, and it has nice racks on the front and back, and they make an excellent place to set your beer, saws, etc. when the work is done. This machine has given zero issues, and is now 14 years old.

The 3rd quad is a 2wd honda sportquad, and has no provisions to be a helpful wood-processing machine aside from maybe a headlight to help you clean up after dark :)
 

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pma1123 said:
I'm not a polaris die-hard, but I have 2 of them, and they represent the budget-window/age that the OP mentioned.

The 97 Polaris Scrambler 500 4x4 I use for plowing also has a trailer hitch ball for the occasional trailer-task. The plow is a very basic skidplate-style mount with a Cycle Country manual-lift lever 48" blade. Even for a vintage machine with original worn 1997 tires, it does a very respectable job plowing on blacktop and grassy areas. This quad has multiple chain-drives; built like a piece of agricultural equipment. Never had a problem with the CVT drive belt or any transmission issues, and it has shifted F-R thousands of times and even flipped into a pond once and sat submerged upside down; started right back up when extracted.
Also should mention, this thing doesn't have a low range; in the snow it will always lose traction before you burn a belt. And for a machine approaching 20 years old, it ALWAYS started every day this winter, even the (many) subzero days that I called it for duty. I must say I am really happy with my Scrambler 500 and haven't experienced any of the 'polaris-lore' mentioned earlier in the thread.

I also have a 2000 Polaris sportsman 400 4x4. As far as used quads are concerned, if you run across a deal on a sportsman of this vintage, they are great machines. The 400 isn't a fast machine; ~55mph tops; but with low range it is a real workhorse and has IRS for a smoother ride. When the battery is dead, the 400cc engine pulls over just as easy as your push-mower. In theory, I should actually have the plow mounted on this machine. Instead, I've used it to play in the deep snow during winter, and it has nice racks on the front and back, and they make an excellent place to set your beer, saws, etc. when the work is done. This machine has given zero issues, and is now 14 years old.

The 3rd quad is a 2wd honda sportquad, and has no provisions to be a helpful wood-processing machine aside from maybe a headlight to help you clean up after dark :)
Click to expand...


Don't see too many Scramblers with plows on them, but I've got one too. Mine is a 2008, and I have the same Cycle Country plow. However, I've got a winch to raise/lower mine. It does a great job plowing. I've owned it since it was new, and it's been totally trouble free.

 
[quote="kennyp2339, post: 1704122, member: 33238" Get yourself a nice trailer, I bought a Ohio Steel swivel ( I think its a 1.5 cu yard) trailer, it has wider heavy duty tires, and a indestructible plastic dump, the thing is perfect for wood hauling and gardening things View attachment 130815 View attachment 130816[/quote]

I have this same dump cart on my garden tractor. Its fantastic. I love it.

Great thread. I've been thinking about getting an ATV for yard chores as well. And I've found the same thing that machines are either old and beat up (and still not that cheap) or seem to be nearly new with only a couple hundred miles on them and are out of my budget at $6k or so. I'm looking for the creampuff "campground" ATV that is a little older but lightly used.
 
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