ATV Florida Forum

I am looking into buying a bike that handles well in the mud. Your feedback is greatly appreciated!!!

I like the prairie, mine is a tank and loves the mud

No opinions?

Hands down, The foreman is the best in the mud. It has a very low gear and walks through anything with a locker and some mudzillas or outlaws. A snorkle helps a bunch too when in the deep stuff.

I have a Vinson and it does real good in the mud, I have to pull my buddy's Grizz out all the time. (just kiddin' Warren) My wife's K.Q. does good too but if you get it deep in the water it starts missing like the plug gets wet. Da_Mtg_Man do you have that problem with yours?

WHERES THEY CATS :F

Yep, It spits and sputters for a while and then goes away.What also is happening is it is taking water in the belt drive if you don't keep on the throttle. It does pretty good but my Foreman walks all around it. If the wheels are turning the machine is moving.

OutLander 800!! ;D

mud sucks, GOT JUMPS?

Mud's the best!! Jumps are cool also but in South Florida there are not many jumps around!!

i have to say the foreman is not a fast atv but it pulls well with the big tires

sounds like somebody needs a snorkel on that thing. I snorkeled my vinson and I dont have any worries about spitten and sputterin.

RANCHER RANCHER HONDA RANCHER ;)

Well, theres no polaris or Arctic cat. Those two basically own the mud segiment by todays standards. People say the old honda foremen and ranchers but nowadays IRS is the way to go. The polaris have a locking front differintal on all their quads 300 and up. I don't think any current production honda does that.. Also the air intake is right below the gas tank so it swims very good. BUT... all the polairs models have CVT belt transmissions so it will start to slip if the case goes under. The arctic cats i think though are the absloute best for mud.  Close to a foot of ground clerance, manual transmission so there is no slipping, the intake is also up high, and all models from 250-650 have low range. A concept honda has yet to get. The only downside to the kittys is that i don't think that they have a locker. Other than that i say that the arctic cats are the best mud machines right out of the box. :)

rancher 350

I don't have any problems with my Vinson it's bulletproof, it's the wife's K.Q. that gets wet. Well that didn't sound right...

Arctic Cat does have a locker on 400 and up i think, i know the 500 and 650 have them due to experiance. Its right by the 4x4 2x4 switch on the right handle bar.

If you snorkle it you dont have to many problems with slipping the belt, mine isnt snorkled yet and hardly ever slips the belt(and ive been in some deeeeeeeep water).

Yea your right. I was going off of a 2001 400 i wanted to buy. It didnt' have a locker but they changed that. EVEN MORE REASON AC is it.

I thought the arctic cats were re-packaged prairie's  :dunno.gif

I like how u dont have polaris as an option.....lol 8)  Im personally a yamaha or honda fan, thats my vote.

 ;)

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Da Prairie

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King Quad 700.

Duh.

Arctic Cat 650 V2 has the 650 Prarie engine in it, the AC 650 H1 has the ARCTIC CAT engine in it, the 500 and down has suzuki engines in them

POLARIS 325 4X4





Z400BB

polaris 800                because its so lite my dads got one  its the best its better than are grizz and ranchers

Who told you they are ''lite'', 770lbs. dry is not lite. Thats about 170lbs. heavier than most in it's class.

OK glad to see that the CAT's have made it but which 650? H1 or V2? wait they are all great ;D But the H1 and 500 are the best mudders out of the Cat line up.IMO

 :N

No more opinions?

I voted 500 b/c of the manual tranny over the H1, but think the 500 won the mud nationals.

Toughest bike I've ever seen in the mud was a Polaris 500 so I can only imagine what the 800 would do.  In the thickest most stickiest caked on mud the tires will not stop spinning.  My buddy pulled out a jeep with that thing.  Pretty impressive.

a suzuki z250 with mud sharks ::) :D

honda trx90

econmically wwise....rancher

I have to say the bike is not what is gonna get you through the mudd any faster...the driver plays a huge role. Example: this past weekend we had a Brute force riding with us , he rolled on stock tires through the Okechobee Prairie and for those that know it is pretty soupy out there , I did better on my 400 with gators and even a Recon out played the Brute. So pick the bike you like and power you want to handle, then pick your tires... in my limited experience all bikes seem great , I went with 2 Suzuki's cause for the money they were right on Target..( for me).

I would go with fully independent suspension(FIS), and stay away from Single rear axles(SRA) if you plan on doing a lot of mudding( Higher Ground clearence with FIS) most AC's come with 12inches of GC compared to most stock quads about 9-10

IRS is nice but it seems to me that the difference is the smoother ride. My buddie rides a Grizz (IRS) and I ride a Vinson (straight) and I don't see a where it makes alot of difference in the mud and the straight axle doesn't roll like the IRS when cornering. I must admit though when my wife lets me ride her K.Q. that it's something I could get used to. ;)

Well with IRS you will get more ground clearance with lifts and stuff. With an SRA the onyl way you can get GC is if you get bigger tires. Doesn't the grizz have a swaybar sticking down?

bombordia 800 4x4

Sometimes I sit take a break and watch other riders tooling around there quads at the Hump down in Homestead.   It is extremely muddy at times and there are areas where the water is high enough to float my 400ex.  I will tell you that the vast majority of ATVs with the least trouble I see all have a strange reddish tint in common.

Anyone run an atv with the tires I have seen advertised as "agricultural use"?
     They are advertised as ATV tires for use in 'rice paddies'.......(not to be ridden over 15 MPH or some such thing).  The look like tires off a John Deere tractor.
  I guess if they are made for rice paddies......they should be OK in Florida?  LOL
  And about IRS giving more ground clearance.  I understand the ground clearance issue, but is 2 more inches really that big of a deal in a mud hole?
   Ground clearance to me is for climbing over stuff, rocks and logs etc.
  I guess if you have a rock or log in the mud hole...then you have compounded the trouble! LOL
  I guess it is better to have two more inches...... :-*(wink-wink)


        Chuck

Well everybody has alot of good choices, BUT!! The best ATV you can get to use in the mudd would be SOMEONE ELSE'S, that way when you are done you don't have to clean it, JUST go home.....LOL!!!!

personally i have a rancher on itp 589's and i have had to pull out foremans and polaris's. i love the honda line but anything over a 500 and it is so heavy and wide that you will get stuck more often.

Aint that the truth.......lol......

BF 750 BECAUSE ITS WHAT I GOT. ;D AND BECAUSE ITS NICE TO HAVE THE POWER TO SLING MUD OFF ANY SIZE TIRE YOU WANT. SURE DONT HAVE TO WORRY ABOUT POWER! DIFF LOCK TOO! GIT R DONE!!!!!!!!!!

'06 Honda Rincon can you say EFI :wink.gif

I have never heard anyone(even people that own rincon's) that they are good for mud. Have you ever driven a rincon in the mud or have any other knowledge on them?

The Rincon is all the way at the bottom of the list because it only has a 3 speed tranny so it has NO bottom end.

out of about 30 people that go riding with us 20 of them have ranchers, they flip them in water, push them out, drain the air box and start rite up every time