What to buy? Cant decided on what used utility quad to buy...

[nybirdman]

My brother-in-law had a 450 Rancher.....retired after 13,000 miles ,yes 13,000 miles and not easy ones being on a farm and five teenagers that hunted and trapped.If we had a decent Honda dealer;that is all we would own.We run Kawasaki and Yamaha and had very good luck with them.
2-Kawasaki Prairies
2-Yamaha Grizzlys
1-Yamaha Rhino(450)
1-Kawasaki Teryx
brother in law now has a 450 Grizzly and his boys Artic Cats(they have been a little trouble)used hard

 

[dfkrug]

I've put a lot of miles on dirt bikes, but the quads suit me much better now.

Me, too. All my dirt (and street) bikes are gone now.

Although I enjoy the rare chance to ride ATVs on trails on land owned by friends, the quad I use on my own
land (Honda 300 4x4) is just for utility use. I do have an Arctic Cat DVX400 here now, and it is scary-fast.

On trails, I have used the heavy utility 4x4s as well as the sporty quads, and I definitely prefer the latter.
Better suspension and I like the control of a manual trans. If you are rock-crawling in a 4x4, I can see some
value to PS, and certainly an ultra-low 1st gear. Can you turn the handlebars effortlessly with the ATV running
and stopped? They seem to use an electric motor.

Since you have tried hi-power sporty quads AND heavy 4x4s on trails, the next thing for you to try is one of
the hybrids: a sporty 4x4, like the Polaris 4x4 Scrambler 500. I have not tried one and I wonder if it has a
low-low range.