What does an ATV need?

[Stocker Steve]

Neighbor took the doors off a small Toyota pick up. Does that now qualify as a SxS?

 

[RDFF]

No... it doesn't. First, the pickup will need to be licensed to run on the road, the SXS will too, but it's a ATV license... cheaper... Second, because the pickup is "licensable", according to my insurance guy, it legally has to have at least the minimum liability and no-fault insurance on it. My Tracker does too... and I know this, because I wanted to try to insure it just with my farm liability policy, like my 4 wheeler is. No go, according to the insurance agent... if I ever was involved in an accident with it, because it would be "illegally registered", it could cost you the farm. Do it right, get the road license, and insure it like it's supposed to be.

 

[RDFF]

Beyond that, the pickup is still likely considerably heavier than a SxS will be. The OLD first gen Ford Rangers were about 3000#. So is a Toyota Rav4. And they go up from there... A first generation Ford Escape with 4WD is 3450#.

Polaris Ranger 1000cc 4-6 passenger fully equipped with cab is about 2500#. A Polaris Ranger 1000cc 3 passenger single bench seat fully equipped with cab weighs right at about 2000#.

The Tracker is about 2300#.

The lightest road licensed vehicle I'm aware of is a Smart4Two... at about 2000#, but that'd be totally worthless as a field ready rig!

 

[RDFF]

Suzuki IS still selling the successor vehicle to the Geo Tracker...... just not in North America... called the Jimny. 1500 cc 4 cylinder, good ground clearance, 101 hp, 90 mph top speed, wieghs 2345#. Still a full body on frame 4WD with transfer case and lockout hubs. Reviews say it's still a very capable off-roader. A popular mini 4WD vehicle in Europe/Asia... but I expect it must not be able to pass the more rigid safety and maybe emissions standards here.

 

[RDFF]

Do you mean you can drive the 4 wheeler over the electric fences? If so, did you install a bracket on the front?

No, that's not what I do, but it's a common way too. I think you'd have to have the fence wire a lot looser than I care for them to be to pull it down from mid-thigh to the ground. Greg Judy has a wire catcher on his though I know.

No, I just drive up close to the wire, and I carry a double insulated needle nose electricians pliers in my plier pocket, so I just grab the wire with that and lift it up, hit the throttle a little, and shoot the 4 wheeler under the wire, it rolls to a stop, I step over and jump on. Can't do that with the Tracker of course. I run the 4 wheeler under the wires all the time though. Single HT wire of course...

You'll like your Polaris, especially with the power steering. Wish my Foreman had that.

Here's an image of the wire catcher that Greg Judy has on his 4 wheeler. You have to make sure that if your rig isn't smooth on the underside, that you then have rails that run underneath so that the wire can't catch on anything... And your wire of course has to be slack enough to allow pushing it down to the ground, and then it has to have enough length in it to stretch that much, to allow it to spring back up into "normal position" once you've gone over it. I tend to prefer my fence wire a little tighter than that generally, so prefer just shooting the 4 wheeler under the wire as described. It'd be nice to just drive right over though! Lots of times they're doing that more on a polywire, rather than a HT wire... poly has more stretch and spring back in it, but if your HT fence is long enough, it can do it too.

 

[Atimm693]

Motor #2 in our Ranger 700 spilled it's guts last weekend. Looking like a broken rod, but I haven't gotten the engine out yet. This one is about 6 years old, probably has 1000 hours on it.

The cooling system on these is so crappy that it's next to impossible to keep it from overheating, and the dummy light will not come on until it's already pretty much boiled over.

People say that you need to clean the radiator, well I guess they never though you might want to cross a field or two, as soon as you do it is immediately plugged up. I have stuff to do, don't have time to blow out a radiator every trip.

Seems like used engines are pretty hard to come by and hardly cheaper than a reman. Probably a testament to their reliability, can buy reliable engines dime a dozen because they never quit, crappy ones demand a premium because they're sought after. Compare the price of a used 5.3 GM motor to a 5.4 Ford, the 5.4 will bring double or triple the 5.3.

 

[Butasha]

We have a couple old Artic Cats and a newer Can Am all three are in the 500 range all 4x4. Can't imagine buying an ATV, UTV or truck that isn't 4x4. Sorry can't remember the exact models. Step father loves the Can Am and we bought that one specifically for him as it has power steering. Don't laugh once you buy power steering you probably won't go back to Armstrong steering.

I know they're are pricey but I prefer side by sides with crew seating. We have a couple and run the wheels off them. Our main ranch is contiguous so we seldom need to go on any paved roads. One is set up for fence and pen spraying and the other is set up for fencing, maintenance and all the usual stuff for a cow calf operation. They aren't cheap but they are a hell of a lot cheaper than a new diesel 4x4 pickup. Not to mention the cost of ruining just one pickup tire. Nice write off and no taxes as we are exempt.