Hauling with ATV w/o lo-range?

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ADK_XJ

ADK_XJ

Feeling the Heat
Nov 18, 2014
325
Saratoga Springs, NY
I bought a new dump cart this week (see here: https://www.hearth.com/talk/posts/1934923/ ) and I'm pulling it around with my 10 year old Yamaha Kodiak. It's the 400cc and you only get F and R, no lo range.

Anyone have first hand experience or thoughts on working a smaller ATV like this as a wood hauler?

It'll be working hard on a hill with a load in tow but seems to do its job...fan kicks on after an especially long incline but that's it so far.
 
I bought a used Kawasaki 220 with a solid rear axle for several years hauling wood. It had one hill to climb and carried a pretty good load. Bought it used and gave it to a friend who still uses it at a camp. I have a 500 Arctic cat now and I stack the wood higher but that small machine never failed.
 
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I have a newer Honda 400, one of the only ATVs left that offer manual shift as an option, I use it to to haul my Polar cart around. I stay in 1st or 2nd gear all the time when loaded and allot of times have to be in 4 wheel drive. 4 wheel drive is a must on these light 4 wheelers to get them to pull anything. If I had unlimited funds I might would try a side by side or a CanAm. The Canam 1k cc has to be a beast.
 
It's hard to say . There are hills and there are steeper hills. Give it a try, if your not lugging the engine and pulling the hill your fine, add more wood. I pull mine just fine in the woods, fairly flat, with a Kawasaki 300 solid rear axel. If the ATV has a chain drive you can change the gear ratio. Increase the rear sprocket size and lengthen the chain. I didn''t do it but I think the sprockets are available.
 
The way yamaha has there clutch set up on that machine, you should be ok. We started put with a 2wd yamaha timberwolf which i still have and also have a 09 750 brute force. I can honestly say the timberwolf has hauled tons more wood out of the woods.
 
jnaumuk said:
I have a newer Honda 400, one of the only ATVs left that offer manual shift as an option, I use it to to haul my Polar cart around. I stay in 1st or 2nd gear all the time when loaded and allot of times have to be in 4 wheel drive. 4 wheel drive is a must on these light 4 wheelers to get them to pull anything. If I had unlimited funds I might would try a side by side or a CanAm. The Canam 1k cc has to be a beast.
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Yeah, I'm with you there on the unlimited funds but I'm unfortunately not in that boat - the Yamaha is what i got. I looked very hard and long at your style Honda that you mention and would probably have bought one if I could have found a dealer serviced used one. I like the fact that they're built simple but tough.

However, the Yamaha was just too good of a deal to pass up when I found it and its auto tranny is really, really nice for plowing and moving soil around to our garden beds.

So far, it's handled wood hauling just fine.
 
xman23 said:
It's hard to say . There are hills and there are steeper hills. Give it a try, if your not lugging the engine and pulling the hill your fine, add more wood. I pull mine just fine in the woods, fairly flat, with a Kawasaki 300 solid rear axel. If the ATV has a chain drive you can change the gear ratio. Increase the rear sprocket size and lengthen the chain. I didn''t do it but I think the sprockets are available.
Click to expand...
Yeah, I've started slow and low with my piles of wood that I'm hailing and most of these trips are flat through the woods in 2WD. It's when I make the final climb up to the barn that I kick in 4x4 and that has worked well so far.

Did a couple heaping loads of rotted stumps yesterday that I thought would slow her down but she just kept moving up the hill - slow but steady. Fan kicked in when I stopped but that was all.
 
duramaxman05 said:
The way yamaha has there clutch set up on that machine, you should be ok. We started put with a 2wd yamaha timberwolf which i still have and also have a 09 750 brute force. I can honestly say the timberwolf has hauled tons more wood out of the woods.
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Interesting. Could you elaborate on what makes the clutch good for Yamaha's and hauling like that? At least in a layman's terms?

In a week I've already moved a couple cord of ash I cut and split this winter. No problems yet.
 
The ultramatic (i think thats what they are called) have a wet clutch which i think helps in the starting while the regular cvt keeps a more constant tension on the belt. Polaris cvt the engine clutch will actually spin without the belt moving. With yamahas set up there is constant tension on the belt to reduce slippage and helps in down hill engine braking. Honestly i have never messed with any of the yamaha belt or clutch systems and i have been working atv and utv for over 10years. So that is saying something. A guy i work with has has a 660 grizzly with 9800 miles with the original belt and it has been run hard. So that has to say something.
 
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duramaxman05 said:
The ultramatic (i think thats what they are called) have a wet clutch which i think helps in the starting while the regular cvt keeps a more constant tension on the belt. Polaris cvt the engine clutch will actually spin without the belt moving. With yamahas set up there is constant tension on the belt to reduce slippage and helps in down hill engine braking. Honestly i have never messed with any of the yamaha belt or clutch systems and i have been working atv and utv for over 10years. So that is saying something. A guy i work with has has a 660 grizzly with 9800 miles with the original belt and it has been run hard. So that has to say something.
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Dang! Good explanation and great to hear you've seen so few (or none) of the Yamahas in with clutch problems.

Mine only has a hair over 500 miles on it and I baby it up here at our "farm." Looking forward to another 10 years out of her to stack on top of the previous owner's 10 of ice fishing on Lake George!
 
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