I am in the market for a 4-wheeler. What is the best brand? Why? I have never owned one before, but I live in the country now and I think I can talk my wife into one for “yard work” 
. Should I buy new or can a guy get a good deal on used? Where should I look to buy? I would use it for hunting and fishing as well as plowing snow. Any help would be greatly appreciated! 
Thanks 690reece 
We have a Honda Foreman right now. It is OK, but my next one will be an Arctic Cat. DMAN has one, and it is a flat out awesome machine! If you plan to buy one, Talk to Jim Strohmeier at Eagle Ridge Enterprises in Onamia. Tell him Tuck from IDA sent you. I do believe LaCannes Marine in Fairbault sells Polaris if no shifting is your deal. Destry is a site sponsor, and their service is exceptional.
I purchased a Bombardier Outlander (ATV of the year in 04′) this past summer. I only have 300 miles on it but no problems. It really rides nice and price was affortable for a new ATV. My research before I purchased led me to Bombardier but everyone has their preference. It sure dragged the deer in my picture nicely!!!
P.S. I purchased it from very nice folks at Danner Sports in Inver Grove Heights…
oh boy, is that a loaded question or what ? of course, if you want the best, get a polaris. like tuck says, dman has a cat……. um anyways. i have had a sportsman 500 and now i have a sportsman 700. it plows like all get out, haven’t ever had it stuck. is fuel injected, so fires right off (even at -7’f this morning) as far as buying new or used, unless you buy one that has been crashed, they hold their value very well. i will always buy a new 4 wheeler, because its maybe only $500- $1000 bucks more, for one with a warranty and the teats on the tires yet. oh yeah, i can tell you the sportsman 500 doesn’t float well……… good luck !!!
g
I agree with the vote for the Polaris. No problem with the 2 that I have had.
Cory, I’m too new to wheelers…to me, the best is the one my wife bought me a year ago!
I have a little 340 Polaris. Just use it for ice fishing…just I went joy riding with Stillakid once but that’s it.
One thing I will tell you…not because they are a site sponsor but because I personally have experianced OUTSTANDING CUSTOMER SERVICE from them….
Quote:
LaCannes Marine in Fairbault sells Polaris if no shifting is your deal. Destry is a site sponsor, and their service is exceptional.
I live just as far from them as you…but it will be worth your while to check them out before you buy….Trust me on this.
I have a Honda Forman and it’s a cooooooooold 
blooded beast, but it does plow impressivly well and hauls deer even better. I would like to get something that would start easier in the cold weather next time.
This is like the Chevy – Ford debate….They are probably all good to someone. My choice is Polaris , we have 2 of them and they are great machines. The Polaris automatic shift is the best in the industry. Look around a little before you buy. I bought my Explorer from a John Deere dealership. It was owned by an old farmer who just had to have a John Deere 4 wheeler and it was in excellant condition. Implement dealers generally arent in the ATV business and I bought mine for about $1200 less than anything that any cycle dealer had around. Just my $.02
Polaris all the way!!! I have owned 4 of them since 98′ and the latest was an 04′ 500 HO. I have friends that have Arctic Kitty’s and my opinion is they just don’t have what a Polaris has in the ride, finish or power area. But like some of the guys above said, It’s a Chevy/Ford debate, and if you want to be #1 
, like any Chevy owner is, then buy a Polaris!! 
I vote for Polaris to, I had the 500 magnum always started easy, rode it all over the US ( Idaho, and Colorado on elk hunts, Here in Iowa for dragging out deer and running myself over, and trail riding in PA ) The machine I had never let me down any place I took it.
Dad has the same unit did and it plows snow great to, wish he was closer so I could borrow it to pull my ice shack since I traded mine for my boat.
I don’t think there is a “best” ATV but I did a long 4 month search on the net and could not find one negative post about Honda before I bought my first ATV and I got a Honda Rancher. I loved it and would buy another one in a heartbeat.
Being a life long Polaris Snowmobile owner fanactic it pains me to say Polaris 4-wheelers would be 6th on list, IMO Polaris 4-wheelers break down and require more maintenance.
My top 6 are, Bombardier, Yamaha, Honda, Suzuki, Kawasaki, Polaris and I have heard good things about the Cat.
Good Luck.
web page
Your decion should be based on who in your area can service and stock parts for your brand.And believe me no matter which brand you go with new or not they will need service/parts.
I am very happy with my Yamaha Kodiac 400. It has been trouble free during the several years I have owned it. Also, the dealer is local.
i was just kidding about dmans cat. i did use it deer hunting up at the shack this fall. one thing i liked about` his, if you put it in 2nd, it stays in second. mine of course is belt drive, which is great for 99 % of the riding i do, but going through a 3 foot deep water/ ice hole, with a $800 gun on the rack, its nice to know it stays in the power band…. good luck and happy shopping !!! oh as someone mentioned, ALL the dealers have service departments in back of the dealership, not because they look cool, they serve a purpose. another question “what about dodge ?”
g 
my family has two honda four wheelers. we love em. well never get anything else. one is a 1996 honda 300 foutrax. and the other is a 500 ruebicon. both all wheel drive. never had a problem with either. we used to plow with the 300 but we got a bigger plow for the 500 and it’ll move snow a foot deep without breaking a sweat. we take it hunting, works wonders for hauling out a deer. in my experince polaris hasnt proven anything to me. cnat tkae it through much water. chain driven really takes away power in my opinion. our honda will climb any hill go over any tree and as long as u keep on the gas u’ll make er through just about anything. well i hope u make the right desicion. sure the honda’s r a lil cold blooded but other then that they r the best machine for anything. we have a yard sweeper and a large pull behind disk for our feilds. work great. lots of power. well hope u make the right decision
Thanks for all the info! I am still debating as I have a Yamaha, Polaris, and Artic Cat dealer in the Hutchinson,Mn area. My main question is should I be looking NEW or is it ok to look at USED machines? I am not a mechanic and would like to know if there is any reliability issues to look at or can I get a GOOD used 4 wheeler? Where would a guy look for used? Dealer, internet, or paper? Thanks Again 690reece
I just bought one a little over a month ago and after much study and shopping I bought new because the price difference between a new unit and a good quality late model used unit was too close to not go new.
I owned a Kodiak before and this time it boiled down to the Kodiak and the Bombardier Outlander. I ended up buying the Bombardier for several reasons but they’re both great machines.
I bought mine from a dealer in St. Bonifacius whose service and pricing were unmatched. I can provide the name of the dealership and the salesguy if you’re interested.
Good luck…
690reece, i didn’t see your in the hutch area. you owe it to yourself to take a trip to watkins, to mies outland. they are a polaris dealer, but have many used atv’s. plus you gotta check out the place, it is the biggest polaris dealer in the world, and they have a beautiful indoor showroom, with mountains and a stream running through it. just ask for jeff mies, he’s an owner and will help you with what you need.
g 
I bought a polaris sportsman 400 last january thesame time a friend bought a honda for the same price.the on the polaris is much better.i do alot of different things like fishing,hunting,trail riding and have had water coming over the front rack without any problems.
polaris 700!
stay away from the Polaris 2011 sportsman xp 850 (2009-2012)they are a beautiful looking bike and drive like a dream (we bought ours march 2011) it has power steering and it’s automatic also drives like a dream..everything you could want in a bike…but they have waaay too many mechanical problems and they don’t seem to know anything about how to fix them. Ours has spent way to much time in the shop trying to find out and fix the problems..this time they are going to cover the cost of the parts(they have to replace the crank “this time”)but we have to pay for the labor which could end up costing us quite a bit. I would not recommend this bike at all maybe a diff year but def “NOT” the “850”. Good luck and I hate to sound so negative but just don’t want to see anyone have the trouble we’ve had.
<<<— well, if you’re using it primarily for icefishing 
<<<—
I have an ’06 Arctic Cat 650H1. Never had a problem with it. Bought it used from an older guy that lost his job and needed cash. It had 198 miles on it and was 2yrs old. Prob. wouldn’t buy a used one from someone 30 or younger…I can still remember how I treated stuff from my <30yr days. 
This thread is from 2005… it was pulled up by a disgruntled 850 owner 
one post and gone. 
Yea I saw that as well Big G.
A question I have why did no one mention Can-Am?
I love my outlander 650. Totally pleased.
Denny, in 2005, they were still being designed on paper and prototyped. They were available as a 2006 model. My brother in law has one, he likes it 
Was an interesting post to read, I recently purchased a 2004 quad – from this old post I might have made a good decision for the day – 2004 1/2 700 Sportsman.
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