Home Depot Bulldog 700 4x4 UTV?

[MotorSeven]

My local HD has been selling these for over 4 years & sells every one they get. My Yamaha Kodiak 400 is 10 years old and the only thing I have done to it is fluids, filters & one petcock. I will not be selling the Kodiak, but am considering a Bulldog. They are obviously chinese made and sold here under the American Sportworks brand. I have googled quite a bit and can't really find a lot of info on them good or bad. I'm just guessing, but there has to be thousands of these out there since most HD's have been selling them a long long time. At a price tag of <$6500 they are very attractive except for the 25mph top speed.

I did a search here and can't find much either. So, does anyone here have any direct experience with one of these machines?

Here is an ad with the spec's:
Bulldog 4X4 700 Utv 653Cc | FindNSave

 

[BuzzardA91]

My 2:2cents: for that much money you should be able to get a slightly used UTV that's way more machine then that. I found a few year old Polaris Ranger 500 with under 200 hours for $5k. A lot out there for under $6,000.

 

[94BULLITT]

I'll second a used UTV. There is nice RTV with some goodies and a Blade for sale locally for $6800 at a dealer.

 

[MotorSeven]

I have thought about used, but I'm dang curious as to why I see very few negative first person reports. I have to wonder if these are truly a real good value that has just been ignored by us name brand ATV/UtV-ers?

Not to beat the China vs Japanese argument around more, but China is catching Japan's quality slowly & surely. I have a Boily-Pro 3600 watt knock off Yamaha digital generator that has been performing great for over 5 years. Maybe I will have to be the first TBN Bulldog test dummy

 

[clemsonfor]

i work with a guy with one. Its ok for what he does, he own about 1/3acre or so and uses it to ride down the hill to the dock, and to use a a motorized wheel barrow. He likes it but I think on a rural or farm property you would rag it out pretty good.

Its more jerkey and gokart like to me than a gator or ranger. Its got a small engine and not as comfortable as a ride I think. I do think those things go on sale I was thinking he only paid like $4000-4500? He has had it maybe 2 years. It had a problem shifting but I looked and just some screws or bolts were loose on the shift lever allowing to much slop and not allowing the cable to be pulled far enough to engage the gears right. Its just way simpler and basic to me than other ones I have looked at but I have not many hours on anything utv personally. But at 6500 I would buy a used ranger!!!!!!!!!

 

[JOHNTHOMAS]

My local HD has been selling these for over 4 years & sells every one they get. My Yamaha Kodiak 400 is 10 years old and the only thing I have done to it is fluids, filters & one petcock. I will not be selling the Kodiak, but am considering a Bulldog. They are obviously chinese made and sold here under the American Sportworks brand. I have googled quite a bit and can't really find a lot of info on them good or bad. I'm just guessing, but there has to be thousands of these out there since most HD's have been selling them a long long time. At a price tag of <$6500 they are very attractive except for the 25mph top speed.

I did a search here and can't find much either. So, does anyone here have any direct experience with one of these machines?

Here is an ad with the spec's:
Bulldog 4X4 700 Utv 653Cc | FindNSave

I don't know anything about these but the fact that there are thousands sold with not much info isn't to valid. Like the cheap Chinese scooters. There are thousands sold but not much said about them. I believe the scooters are ridden a few times and then just garaged but maybe not. I have a friend that bought 2 of the chinese scooters. He put 8000 miles on the first one with not many problems (in a year). He traded it to another bigger model and had problems starting at the second week and the dealer finally gave him his money back because it was broke constantly and the dealer could not get parts for it. My friends Brother has also recently bought one of the 3 wheel scooters and the chain keeps coming off and the dealer can't fix it. I started buying Japenese cars (Datsuns...Now Nissan) in the 60s and the lack of parts was the problem. No used ones and very few were in stock so long boat trip from Japan plus most mechanics would not work on them.
Some times there are bargains that the rest of the world can't see but usually there is a reason the price is lower and people aren't boasting about their wise purchase. It's your money but I'd encourage you to do some deeper research concerning current owners experience with these machines. Especially concerning who repairs them and can parts be obtained quickly/easily.

 

[MotorSeven]

I'm still kicking it around and I have looked at quite a few used Rangers....none under $7500. One thing I can say about the WWW, if someone has a a problem with a product they seem to get on there and bark really loud. I'll keep digging & report any interesting info here. I appreciate the responses.

 

[JOHNTHOMAS]

My neighbor bought a RTV900 a couple of years ago. Just had Barlows do his first 50 hour service. It has a glass windshield and a top. It has never been in the rain, stays in his garage. Looks new. He told me last week he doesn't use/need it and will sell it for $9500 and he said the new ones are $14000. Just sayin. If interested let me know and I can/will give you his name and number.

 

[megaboz]

Well, my first thing I would check is the availability of parts. I was looking at a 4 wheeler that Cabelas was selling after doing some research, I figured it out to be some off brand (probably nothing wrong with it) but couldn't find any sites online to find parts. So if you were to break something like a wheel or an axle, getting parts could be painful, or you might be subjected to a single high priced source. It might also be hard to find a local dealer that will even work on it or even to source parts like air filters or oil filters.

 

[KubotaToy]

I have a trailwagon 650 made by American sportworks. Should be similar, I work it hard, use it to pull 2k trailer loaded all the time, have hilly 5 acres where I used it to skid logs, so far it has done all I ask. Have about 150 hrs on it and the only thing needed is tune up and fluids. Mine is carbed Subaru engine, it does not like the cold until warmed up. Filters are available aftermarket but parts are from sportworks and a limited dealer network (not all sellers can order parts).

Biggest drawback in my opinion is engine braking or the lack of it if you forget. I plan to get a RTV1100 soon for comfort while working but will keep my trailwagon.