JonB
Halcyon member
More of my experience with ATVs...which may or may not help your decision.
Mostly, I have used ATV's for woodcutting/hauling in dense woods with lots of brush and other obstacles, and few trails. I routinely go off trail to access the tree/s I need to cut. And many times, I just drive through brush to create a new trail, that once the tree/s are cut and hauled out, will just grow back in within a couple years. So skid plates would be a wise investment, for protection.
My first ATV was a 1990 Polaris 4x4 250cc Trailboss. It did everything I needed and was nimble as all get out, when I was Off-trail in the woods. In 2003, I came into a windfall of cash, and traded the 250 trailboss in on a brand new 2003 Polaris 700. That 700 was a tank, it was like driving a small pickup through the woods. It was NOT nimble at all. I hated it.
A year later, after doing some research, I traded that 700 for the 2004 Honda 450 that I have now, it is nimble, but not quite as nimble as the 250 was. But it ain't a tank, like the 700 was. With that said, I do love the Honda even better than the small 250 trailboss, because of the transmission. BTW, I tend to pull heavy loads of firewood at slow speeds. That is a recipe to burn out a belt in short order, on a Polaris (or other ATV that uses the Belt/clutch system). So, I had to replace the Belt on that 250 trail boss about once a year. For the number of miles I put on it (not many), that was seemingly a unnecessary inconvenience, but I will say that I wasn't using the machine as it was designed for. If you are not cutting/hauling "cords" of wood every year, you will likely not have any problems with a Belt/clutch system. When you test out some other machines, be sure to do some tight figure-8 type of turns...and reversing turns...if you think you will need a nimble machine, like I need.
Good Luck.
Mostly, I have used ATV's for woodcutting/hauling in dense woods with lots of brush and other obstacles, and few trails. I routinely go off trail to access the tree/s I need to cut. And many times, I just drive through brush to create a new trail, that once the tree/s are cut and hauled out, will just grow back in within a couple years. So skid plates would be a wise investment, for protection.
My first ATV was a 1990 Polaris 4x4 250cc Trailboss. It did everything I needed and was nimble as all get out, when I was Off-trail in the woods. In 2003, I came into a windfall of cash, and traded the 250 trailboss in on a brand new 2003 Polaris 700. That 700 was a tank, it was like driving a small pickup through the woods. It was NOT nimble at all. I hated it.
A year later, after doing some research, I traded that 700 for the 2004 Honda 450 that I have now, it is nimble, but not quite as nimble as the 250 was. But it ain't a tank, like the 700 was. With that said, I do love the Honda even better than the small 250 trailboss, because of the transmission. BTW, I tend to pull heavy loads of firewood at slow speeds. That is a recipe to burn out a belt in short order, on a Polaris (or other ATV that uses the Belt/clutch system). So, I had to replace the Belt on that 250 trail boss about once a year. For the number of miles I put on it (not many), that was seemingly a unnecessary inconvenience, but I will say that I wasn't using the machine as it was designed for. If you are not cutting/hauling "cords" of wood every year, you will likely not have any problems with a Belt/clutch system. When you test out some other machines, be sure to do some tight figure-8 type of turns...and reversing turns...if you think you will need a nimble machine, like I need.
Good Luck.
