working your ATV

[mathteacher]

I have two ATVs both are Hondas. A 650 Rincon (mine) and A 450 Foreman (boss/wife). I use them for trailriding and working around the property. I can't believe that I didn't buy one sooner. I use mine all of the time. I have a 5 by 8 foot trailer that I pull behind both of them. The ATV with a trailer is the perfect compliment to my tractor. I know that all of the brands give you a towing weight. And that weight is usually a lot lower than what we pull with our ATVs. I have pulled over a yard of dirt on that trailer and the ATV didn't even complain at all. I have also dragged around logs that I know weighed over 800 pounds. What is the most weight you have pulled with your ATVs. I have pulled around my Dad's 16 foot trailer. I know that thing is pretty heavy duty in weight. I would guess it around 1500 or so pounds. My wife's 450 actually has more low in pulling power than my 650.

 

[wantabota]

hey with my honda recon 250 I have pulled a 19 foot boat that weighted 3200 pounds. I had some trouble with it but it still managed it

 

[DieselnHooters]

Farmers pull hay-wagons with ATV,not sure how much they weigh but they are way over the towing limits for sure. BTW those limits are more on relation to braking capabilities than power, try to make a sudden stop on a 600 pounds machine towing a 1000 pounds trailer loaded with another 1000 pounds of material /forums/images/graemlins/crazy.gif

 

[johnk]

Heres my son's Rancher with a trailer load of wood he lugged from up my steep muddy hill. More pics of Quads and Tractors on my website......


http://users.adelphia.net/~gizmo/

 

[hockeyhead]

I have 3 honda's,two trx-300 and one 450 forman, and I have abused those 300's beyond my wildest dreams and still no major melfunctions, they are unbelievable. I also own a 5'by8' steel utility trailer, and a 8' by 10' aluminnum snowmobile trailer bought when I bought the 300's. I have loaded rock,(boulders) 3' tall in that snowmobile trailer atleast weighing 1000# per load, and those honda's dragged it 1/2 mile to a guy that wanted it 20 times. That Bolens Huskey quote "garden tractor" that I was my first lawn mower could not come close to any of those hondas. Oh I also move my 27' boat regularly with that forman 450 bought 2years later than the 300's (then I was trying to live an rural life without a tractor). Now I finally own a cut so the 4-wheelers are mostly toys now, Except, I own a 24" by 60" lawn roller weighing 970# when full and my latest and greatest, lawn tractor, a cub cadet 1529, 19 hp kawasaki, hydro. whines like a pig when dragging it around, so that 450 or either one of those 300's will have to roll my lawn to get any life out of that cub. Just as they have done these years past. That 8' by 10' snowmobile trailer has not had a 4-wheeler on it since the day I brought them home in fact it is now my garden cart, firewood cart, garbage to the road, all purpose cart.

 

[hockeyhead]

Now that I have sang the praise of my 4-wheelers, and I like them alot I need to say they are not good at lawn mowing or spraying for weeds. I own the equipment to mow and spray with a 4-wheeler and both are poor substitutes for a lawn tractor or cut. they do not have the ability to control low end speed and do not have a tight enough turning radius to either mow or spray well at all. Now having a ballsy little 4-wheeler around to drag, move, haul, with isn't bad. In fact my neighbor used my log splitter last weekend and used his 4-wheeler to move it to his place.

 

[soarkrebel]

hockeyhead i don't know about the mowing but i have found my atv to be wonderful to spray with. i have a 16 gallon northern tools sprayer that attaches to my atv rack. i use it to spray fire ant mounds and my yard and heck my woods around my home.
it would be tough doing it without this setup. i am going to get me a boom setup to help cover my yard area.

now working my atv's is just norm for me. i first bought one for fun and now they have become tools. actually to the point that we are considering a kubota rtv to help out with other jobs.
I guess i could just let my property grow up and not work so hard to keep it looking great but i love the way it looks all groomed! /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

And thank goodness for modern machinery making our lives so much fun working. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[Birdhunter1]

I've got a 350 Honda Rancher 4x4 manual 5-speed. I've pulled my ranger pick-up out of its own tracks when stuck in wet grass in the yard and I pulled out a Honda Civic buried to the bumpers in mud once. I was quite surprised at both events. I also use it for firewood and farmwork and I have beenmore than impressed with it.

 

[hockeyhead]

soarkrebel,
I have a 25 gal rear rack mounted sprayer with a 12 volt pump and 10' boom. I got it at TSC 3 summers ago. I've used it 8 to 10 times. I have yet to get what I consider good results applying weed killer. I cannot get even coverage, with the 4-wheelers, some spots too much, some not enough, some just right. I blame this on not being able to maintain a slow, steady, constant ground speed with any of my 4-wheelers. I need one with cruise control, Instead now I have a CUT, so a KK, 3pt carryall, and a switched, 12 volt plug on the TC30 and I'm spraying decent. I hope you have better results than me, boom spraying with your 4-wheeler.

 

[soarkrebel]

hockeyhead i haven't used a boom yet and i hope i get decent results. the main thing i have used it for is ant mounds. the fire ant is taking over down south.

i also want a boom for spraying brush killer in my hunting areas so i guess i am not real picky on how well it covers.
but riding around on my atv beats carrying a tank by hand. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif