Justifying an ATV or Side by Side

I’ve been wanting an ATV or Side by Side for a while now. With 2 small kids, I think it would be fun to drive out on metro lakes for some fishing and overall exploring vs being cooped up in the house.

Normally I can justify any purchase but the problem with this is twofold. Storage, and how much it would actually get used. I don’t have a big property, so its not like I would use it to haul much.

I can see obviously trailering it and using it camping in the summer as well, but I’m curious how often owners actually get out and use their vehicles?

With Yamaha Rhinos around $4k used it seems like a steal

You really need one. Justification done. I would like one every year for about a month that ice isn’t safe for a truck then I would never use it. Space is also an issue with the boat in the garage.

I didn’t use mine nearly as much as I would have liked this summer, just too busy at work, however I did get it out at least once a month when the trails were open. But last winter I was dragging it behind me to go fishing up north almost every weekend.

For me summer use wasn’t my justification, it was just a perk. Winter fishing was primary.

All I can say is that I’d be REALLY realistic about how much you think you’ll use it. And then chop that number in half.

Would it still make sense to you if that number of hours of use per year was the real amount you used it?

Would you still want hassle with storing it and maintaining it? Yes! They still need constant maintenance even if you don’t use them! Otherwise they don’t run when you do want to use them.

When I was looking for lightly used 2-3 year old machines for a work machine for my hunting property, basically every machine I looked at had the same story.

1. Suburban Guy HAD to have brand new machine for hunting or ice fishing.
2. Guy bought new machine and used it FAR less than he thought he would.
3. Machine sat too long and it stopped running. Battery shot, bad gas, tires flat, and kids broke headlight switch.
4. Wife tells guy to get that thing out of garage or he’ll be sleeping on it.
5. Guy ends up spending hundreds just to get machine into running condition to sell. Now guy is REALLY p!ssed off because this just adds to his losses.

Don’t want to kill the fun, just saying make sure you’ll really use it enough so that you don’t end up being that guy.

But hey, if you do end up being that guy, I’ll be looking for a good used sxs in a couple of years. Call me. I pay cash for lightly used surburban creapuff UTVs

Grouse

all i can say is if i spent too much time trying to justify my fishing purchases id be back to a pole and a bucket and opening my holes with a spud bar. probably catch more fish then i do now too but thats another story. buy it!

Doug Larsen wrote:

I’ve been wanting an ATV or Side by Side for a while now. With 2 small kids, I think it would be fun to drive out on metro lakes for some fishing and overall exploring vs being cooped up in the house.

Normally I can justify any purchase but the problem with this is twofold. Storage, and how much it would actually get used. I don’t have a big property, so its not like I would use it to haul much.

I can see obviously trailering it and using it camping in the summer as well, but I’m curious how often owners actually get out and use their vehicles?

With Yamaha Rhinos around $4k used it seems like a steal

You never need one. But tomorrow is not guaranteed. Buy the toy, make the experience with your family and friends as enjoyable as possible. That is my advice, right, wrong, or otherwise.

ClownColor wrote:

Here’s the secret of life for hunter/fisherman…buy used and sell it for what you paid or for profit! Just sold my ice augef for $30 more than what I Paid 4 years ago. My sled is worth $400+ what I paid for it. I love buying new but only when I know its something I need and enjoy a ton. If you are on the fence, wait for a great deal so if/when it doesn’t work out, no money lost… Heck, maybe even a profit! For this to work, you can’t be a millennial and may need to wait LOL.

I would agree but when buying used you have to have a set of skills/information at your disposal in order to sell it for a profit when you are done. You can go way wrong buying a used quad or anything mechanical for that matter if you don’t know what you are looking at and or don’t do your due diligence.

Doug Larsen wrote:

I’ve been wanting an ATV or Side by Side for a while now. With 2 small kids, I think it would be fun to drive out on metro lakes for some fishing and overall exploring vs being cooped up in the house.

Normally I can justify any purchase but the problem with this is twofold. Storage, and how much it would actually get used. I don’t have a big property, so its not like I would use it to haul much.

I can see obviously trailering it and using it camping in the summer as well, but I’m curious how often owners actually get out and use their vehicles?

With Yamaha Rhinos around $4k used it seems like a steal

my answer is this,if storage is a problem and you dont want to rent a storage unit even if it was cheap to do so,do you have enough room to put up one of those little storage sheds that run about four to six hundred bucks on your place?? at least that would cover a small rental space at 50 bucks a month for a year.

as far as use goes,even as bad as you may want it,if you cant afford the time to get it out and use it for an hour or so every week of every month to keep things limbered up on it,dont get it,the cost of maintaining it after a years time wont be worth the cost it takes to keep it up for when you do need it.

if the last statement ends up being true with you,you may want to look at renting one if that is available in your area.

as far as justification goes on anything,if you are not going to miss a house payment,or be able to put food on the table,keep good clothes on your family,put gas in the car or keep good tires on it,you get the idea,go for it,we only get so many rides around the sun you know!!

and,if a emergency happens and you need the money,sell it even if it means a loss,they make new stuff every day of every year and some one else will have the same problem you did and you can get a good deal on a used one.
my two cents.
sheldon

crappie55369 wrote:

I would agree but when buying used you have to have a set of skills/information at your disposal in order to sell it for a profit when you are done. You can go way wrong buying a used quad or anything mechanical for that matter if you don’t know what you are looking at and or don’t do your due diligence.

I agree with your point in general, but with ATVs and UTVs here in the Twin Cities, I found a lot of garage sitters that were 2-4 years old with a few hundred miles on them at most.

Obviously any used deal could go bad so I’m not saying you couldn’t get a bum steer, but the likelyhood of getting a machine that has big time problems that would cost $$$ to fix in a machine that’s 2 years old and has 500 miles on the clock are exceedingly low.

Of course if you move into a 10 year old machine with thousands of miles on the clock, the odds of getting a bad one go way up.

Grouse

set it up for fishing, hunting and plowing snow. you will use it more then… also, I would go side by side, I have an ATV and am making the switch soon.

I use mine to plow snow, and to get out on the ice. A little bit of food plot work, and an occasional trail ride (hasn’t been done in the last two summers). I use it around the house to haul firewood up to the house in the fall, and haul leaves out into the woods. That has amounted to 260 miles in 4 years. Even with that limited amount of use, I wouldn’t be without one.

I’ve bought new and used. In my experience, it sometimes doesn’t pay to buy a used machine if it’s only a couple years old. MOST atv’s and utv’s hold their value so well in the first few years that buying a new one as a previous years carry over, you can spend almost the same amount of money. I have a handful of ATV’s and also a UTV. Do I use them as much as I would like? No, but when I do, it makes it worth it. Rhinos are very well built machines and will offer many many years of reliable service if taken care of.

My first child is on it’s way, but my brothers have a couple kids and their eyes LIGHT-UP every time I take them for a ride. Your kids will absolutely adore the machine, probably more than you. Isn’t that ultimately what it’s all about? Just my twenty-seven cents.

My dad’s side by side is nice, but probably the worst ride in the world on uneven snow/ice. In my little experience with both machines, much rather have the ATV.

nhamm wrote:

My dad’s side by side is nice, but probably the worst ride in the world on uneven snow/ice. In my little experience with both machines, much rather have the ATV.

Just curious as to what brand?

I haven’t ridden in a lot of UTVs, but that matches my impression exactly. I’m talking work machines, not the play toy version. I’ve ridden in Polaris, Kubota, and Deere and they all rode like a buckboard compared to my ATV. Polaris was probably the best, but that isn’t saying much.

Are other brands better?

Grouse

I’ve coveted an ATV for over 5 years now-would have one but the money’s just not justifiable(in my case)…yet.
That being said, I’ve looked at many used ones for sale and had plenty of time to ponder how much I’d actually use it. Frankly, it would get the most use in the winter-plowing snow, hauling me and the kids out to ice fish(that’s the biggest bonus for me-the mobility on ice), and…well, not much else. I suppose I’d use it around the property in the summer/fall somewhat, but the truth is that would be just because I could. Storage really isn’t much of a problem for me.
That’s one of the reasons besides $$ that I don’t have one yet…though I will, sooner rather than later. When I do, it’ll be a used one, for the reasons Grouse listed, as well as the reasons I listed. I’m not a “got to have the fanciest/latest/greatest” kind of guy-even if I was, having 3 kids at home would negate that trend. I’m a realist about “toys”-I’d want one that was reasonably dependable, and did what I needed it to do for as little spent as I could get away with. The “toys” I own and have owned get used, including my trucks…I guess I consider them more tools that toys.
It’s still high on my list though…I have three kids who LOVE to ice fish, and a buddy with a wheeler that the kids have learned to drive. I know he’s made my life easier hauling all of our crap out onto the ice and back, and the kids think it’s awesome…don’t know if that says more about the virtues of owning a wheeler or having a damn good friend who enjoys ice fishing with you and your kids.

I hope you get one. Maybe just keep in mind the storage and usage issues, and make adjustments to facilitate more use?

Something to think about with a SxS, is that due to the tall roll cage, it won’t fit under a 8′ tall garage door while on the trailer, so you’ll need to unload it first everytime. This was a deal breaker for me as during the winter months with the boat in the 3rd stall, I only have enough room left for the trailer to fit… so my 4 wheeler sits loaded on the trailer with the otter fish house in the garage.

TheFamousGrouse wrote:

Just curious as to what brand

Believe it’s a Honda, couple years old now. It’s got great payload for stuff he does around the house, but makes for a very bumpy ride everywhere else. Rough early ice last winter on Leech driving in that thing out to Annex wouldn’t even let me have a beer open . Unacceptable.

I should say most of my ice fishing is done right off of plowed roads…. is a 4 wheeler easier to handle and a better ride, in theory of course. On a 4 wheeler what you don’t realize is you are “adjusting” to the bumps and curves, in the saddle seat with your weight shifting and using your feet to minimize bumps, as opposed to just sitting on a bench or back supported seat in a SxS, in which your feet are busy controlling throttle and brake. Try that beer on a wheeler

big_g wrote:

Try that beer on a wheeler

Last year after a case

X100

TheFamousGrouse wrote:

All I can say is that I’d be REALLY realistic about how much you think you’ll use it. And then chop that number in half.

Would it still make sense to you if that number of hours of use per year was the real amount you used it?

Would you still want hassle with storing it and maintaining it? Yes! They still need constant maintenance even if you don’t use them! Otherwise they don’t run when you do want to use them.

When I was looking for lightly used 2-3 year old machines for a work machine for my hunting property, basically every machine I looked at had the same story.

1. Suburban Guy HAD to have brand new machine for hunting or ice fishing.
2. Guy bought new machine and used it FAR less than he thought he would.
3. Machine sat too long and it stopped running. Battery shot, bad gas, tires flat, and kids broke headlight switch.
4. Wife tells guy to get that thing out of garage or he’ll be sleeping on it.
5. Guy ends up spending hundreds just to get machine into running condition to sell. Now guy is REALLY p!ssed off because this just adds to his losses.

Don’t want to kill the fun, just saying make sure you’ll really use it enough so that you don’t end up being that guy.

But hey, if you do end up being that guy, I’ll be looking for a good used sxs in a couple of years. Call me. I pay cash for lightly used surburban creapuff UTVs

Grouse

^^^^ Exactly what Grouse said. I’ve got both a used Honda Rancher going on 12 years and a Honda Foreman going on 6 years that I waited until I found the right deals and paid less than $2500 for each of them.

That’s a smoking deal Will. I’ve even seen 2WD Recons for $1500 with low hours. Argh. Decisions.

I also have 2 small children and hands down go with a SxS. Much safer, more versatile, get a plow and have a multi-functional machine. You can pull anything, it really makes ice fishing easier and then kids will love it.

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I was in the same boat as you… I took the leap and bought one.. Now every weekend my son wants to go check trail cameras… He is also lookong forward to ice fishing… Aka, taking the machine out on ice. I bought the polaris sxs. I also buckel him in, and let him drive. I can sit in the middle and run the pedals as he steers. This is his gateway to the outdoors, id spend twice as much money in half the time again..