Swing Arm Suspemsion Better than IRS for Work ATV?

[ike]

How much actual tongue weight would you put on an atv? I pulled a trailer full of 5 gallon water jugs up a icy mountain boulder field with my old Honda Rincon when I was doing perk tests and it never sagged to the point of wishing I had a solid axle. I beat on the machine so bad that I prematurely sold it thinking that the transmission would die.

I replaced it with an IRS Yamaha Big Bear that is also a pulling machine. I recently rode a Yamaha Wolverine with solid axle and felt like I was always on the verge of flipping it.

 

[whistlepig]

Our land is pretty flat and I have a Polaris with IRS and a Rancher with a straight rear axle. The only advantage I can see is the IRS is a smoother ride going fast, less tiring if you ride all day, and better at negotiating stuff like large rocks, creeks, and big logs. An IRS will go some places (not many) that a straight axle can't. For daily farm chores on flat ground our Rancher can do anything that our Polaris can.

 

[ike]

Still waiting for Honda to build an atv with the Rubicon transmission, IRS, and a front locker. I agree there is a place for straight axel but the average user will not out work an IRS machine.

 

[Tkblacktail]

How much actual tongue weight would you put on an atv?

I had a young man helping me skid 30' pine logs last year with this rig... (pictured with some maple).

I thought it was too heavy, there were three 10" X 30' logs and two 4" X 30 footers; the arch had all the head weight, it teetered the coupler up-ward and lifted the rear atv tires a foot.

I didn't know what the heck was happening until I looked. It did it several times that day. I love the solid axle, tough on the mud grips on pavement but awesome.

So, having exceeded the limits hundreds of times from day one; I guess its all about the distribution on the trailer axles.

The longer trailer tonges redistribute the heavier loads..

 

[Skyco]

I love the solid axle, tough on the mud grips on pavement but awesome.

The IRS ones don't have a diff either so they do the same thing on pavement.
I have a Yamaha Big Bear, best work ATV I've ever used, had the old Honda 300's in their day and a 4x4 ES Rancher, like the Big Bear the best and yes it is IRS:thumbsup:

 

[BSVLY]

Thanks for all of the feedback. I went ahead and ordered a 2012 Foreman ES 4X4 with Power steering. Should have it in August. Japan's supply chain got hammered and even though it is assembled in the USA, many parts for it still come from Northern Japan.

Lots of new features for the 2012 Foreman. New 475 CC engine that is water cooled now and the quad has a swing arm suspension with a single beefy shock in the rear. It has been redesigned. The reviews on the 2012 are good. Got my first Honda in 1964-a Honda 50. Just a teen then. This will be the second Honda and pushing 64 now :laughing:. Went with the Olive color, factory Warn/Honda winch, full armour, handlebar headlight switch. Luckily it will fit in the 5X10 landscape trailer; so I won't have to pull the car carrier to haul it. Anyways... thanks again.

 

[Johnny_B]

I had a young man helping me skid 30' pine logs last year with this rig... (pictured with some maple).

hopefully you paid "the young man" some money so he could afford new tires. Those baldies wouldn't make it out of my yard without getting stuck!

Pretty cool trailer setup.

 

[ERIK528N]

go solid !

 

[Tkblacktail]

hopefully you paid "the young man" some money so he could afford new tires. Those baldies wouldn't make it out of my yard without getting stuck!

Pretty cool trailer setup.

Thx on the arch; home made.

Yeah, that guy works like I did 20 years ago, I paid him well + wood.

I ran snow chains on those 489s for three years. I broke down and bought a set of swamp fox last fall.

I didn't know IRS was without a rear differential on some quads. I can't compare ATVs but I drove lots of miles on M151 jeeps and M1025 HMMWVs; they have IRS and it was a lot better on the washboard, way better than the unloaded M35A2s.

The smoothest ride I know of is a T10 parachute.

 

[R_Walter]

Thanks for all of the feedback. I went ahead and ordered a 2012 Foreman ES 4X4 with Power steering. Should have it in August. Japan's supply chain got hammered and even though it is assembled in the USA, many parts for it still come from Northern Japan.

Lots of new features for the 2012 Foreman. New 475 CC engine that is water cooled now and the quad has a swing arm suspension with a single beefy shock in the rear. It has been redesigned. The reviews on the 2012 are good. Got my first Honda in 1964-a Honda 50. Just a teen then. This will be the second Honda and pushing 64 now :laughing:. Went with the Olive color, factory Warn/Honda winch, full armour, handlebar headlight switch. Luckily it will fit in the 5X10 landscape trailer; so I won't have to pull the car carrier to haul it. Anyways... thanks again.

Curiosity compells me to ask where in the desert southwest are you located?