4 Wheeler problem

Well maybe more operator error really but this morning cheking cows I thought I would take a short cut from a creek up out of the valley. I was doing just fine till I got to the very top and a front wheel went up on a little bump and I felt it start to tip over. I just stepped off and watched. Nick wasnt far behind me so he saw it as well. It flipped 6 or 7 times at a impressive rate of speed and would have went all the way to the creek but it slammed into a down tree and came to rest upside down. Nick hollerd to make sure I was fine and I didnt have a mark on me and I never even fell down. My trusty ride sustained some damage. We flipped it up and pulled it away from the tree. At this point we are about a mile from the pickup and 2 miles from a public road. I looked at it and started it up and drove it to the trailer. Front rims bent, a arm, front and rear racks, dash has serious damage, handle bars are in a bad way, pretty much everything ahead of the seat is now tweaked and some things behind! Luckily I had left wrigley in the truck or he would have been along for the ride as well. Anyway nobody hurt so all is well but I think I need a 4 wheeler.
What is a good sturdy farm tough 4 wheeler. This was a JD buck 500. It was a tough sucker and had some guts. They dont make them anymore and I hear parts could be hard to get. We have a artic cat and a yahma both. I like the artic cat alot. The yamaha dealer is good. Anything else out there to look at? Any good models to check out?
By the way, be careful out there!
bill

I'm tickled to death with the chinese rebadge of the yamaha beartracker (250cc 2wd)...... Yamaha seems to be the most popular ones in my area also (prolly because the area dealer is Yamaha??)..
Does all I want and not powerfull enough to tip itself over with my 250 pounds on it.... Glad you are around to talk about it. Wrigly wasn't with you??? My old girl has a box on the front she rides in :roll:

I like my Suzuki Vinso 500 .. JD Buck were made by Bombadire I think . Should be able to find parts on E-bay

Bill, I hope we don't find out Wrigley was driving and you're just taking the fall (sorry) for him. Glad to hear everyone is okay.

Glad you're okay! Honda Rubicon all the way....Tough as nails, high and low range, very sweet hydro-automatic with no belts to wear out or slip.

Almost any of the new ones are pretty good if you take care of them. Just find the one that fits you and dealer support is key.

I have ridden a Honda Foreman 450, 450s, and now a Rubicon. Non oil change and fuel costs for repairs for all of them combined is about $1,000. I drive them to about 10,000 miles before I trade.

I've got a Honda Foreman 450 at each farm. Wouldnt trade them for a half dozen new ones of any other brand. The older one, a 99, has 28,000 miles and change (thousand, not hundred). Just put an engine in it this year but that was my fault. Some du..a.. put the oil filter in backwards. Really bad is I do all my own oil changes so no telling who pulled that stunt, lol.

Polaris Sportsman. Made in USA.

(quoted from post at 22:42:54 10/23/11) I've got a Honda Foreman 450 at each farm. Wouldnt trade them for a half dozen new ones of any other brand. The older one, a 99, has 28,000 miles and change (thousand, not hundred). Just put an engine in it this year but that was my fault. Some du..a.. put the oil filter in backwards. Really bad is I do all my own oil changes so no telling who pulled that stunt, lol.

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have Hondas, Polaris, Yamaha, and even a Korean knock off, but .............no way can anything beat the Hondas! Start easy every time when others won't & reliable/tough as a rock.

Our 4 wheeler hardly gets used any more, the side by side is always used now. We did take both of them out in the pasture to take down deer stands the other day and the side by side went every where the 4 wheeler went with ease.

I highly recommend a Honda. We have had a "93 Fourtrax 300 since it was nearly new, have done almost everything you can imagine to it and it still starts easy and runs well. Have had water over the seat several times crossing the river, have dumped it over, have run over so many rocks that the frame looks like it is made of channel iron rather that round tubing, and have repeatedly overloaded it with two adults, 8 or 10 wood fence posts and all our fence tools and wire, but it still works! So far for repairs: Starter brushes, one battery, seals in the rear end and some rear end brake work. Not bad considering... I also am pleased with our "05 Honda Rancher 400- it has plenty of power and runs well, but it is hard to beat the old basic 300. We have tried.

Your JD was probably made by Bombardier which now is Can Am.There appears to be some association with Yamaha also. I have a Arctic Cat 500 and even tho we have an older Polaris Magnum also I prefer to ride the Cat.I let visitors ride the Magnum.JD is turning the Gator into a Yuppie ride now.I"m not sure if they build any ATV"s or not. Glad no one was injuried,roll overs can get nasty.My little Chug "Clea" likes to ride on the gas tank.I place an old woven rug across it so she can get some solid footing and she will spend all day there. She can get in a small bundle and catch a nap when she gets tired,she only weighs 20 pounds.Picture is from our St.Patricks Day Parade last spring.Umbrella is to give Clea some shade.I recommend the Arctic Cat 500 4WD.

Love my Yamaha Grizzly 550 EPS. That power steering is great!

Lucky you were not one of these.

"19 people in Australia have died so far this year.up from 10 in 2006".......

" The latest US Consumer Protection Safey Commission report on ATV'S shows 760 people died in ATV accidents in 2009 with a third under the age of 16,Another 133,390 people were injured."

Glad you're OK but honestly, my first thought was about Wrigley!

We've had Yamahas and they are good but I think it's one of those situations that involves good dealers and good, reliable service.

Honda atvs are made in america, or at least the assembly plant is. If there is a dealer anywhere near you, you simply can't go wrong by getting one. I have two '04 350s and haven't had a problem with either of them and use them a great deal.

glad you weren't injured

Glad you are OK. Accidents do happen. As far as a new one goes, I prefer Polaris. My son and I have 2 Rangers, 1 Razor 170, and two four wheelers. That being said, I would still buy from the Dealer that was local and I trusted. Product is one thing, Service after the sale is an other.

Almost the same thing happened to my best friend on Friday. He was not as lucky. He was going slow down the edge of a deep ravine looking for deer sign. He stopped and stood up to get his cell phone out of his pocket when the ground gave way under the front right tire pitching him forward and into the throttle. His also flipped many times. He ended up with a compound fx out both sides of his wrist. A mid shaft fx of his forearm and dislocated elbow and compound fx of his humorous. One of his carpal bones and the head of his radius is still down in the woods somewhere. Nothing life threatening but he is buggered up. The bad thing is he makes his living as a musician. Not sure how that’s all going to work out. I could post a photo of his wrist but I doubt most would want to see it.

Test drive a 2009 or newer Honda Rancher witht the PS and the Auto shift mode. It has the PS, FI, IRS, Selectable 2WD/4WD, electric shift either manual or auto. Everything the older maodels needed. Not as heavy or gas guzzler like the Foreman or other larger models. All you'll ever need and more.
A few years back I went up a pretty good hill on mine, in 8 inches of new snow with my hunting partner on also, dragging a 200 lb buck on a rope.

Glad you are OK. The wife and I bought 2 Honda four trax 300's in 99. Other than tires, oil and filterchanges the only repairs have been a spark plug in one of them. They still have the original batterys in them. They are used on the farm, ridden a lot but not abused. Joe

2012 Arctic Cat 700 Super Duty Diesel, or maybe a 2012 Grizzly 550 FI Auto. 4x4. Glad that your not the one that needs new parts. Best of luck finding parts or a replacement.

John deere has almost everything still available go to Jd parts.com also eBay has a lot of parts you will want to cross reffrence and make sure they will work with a 500 or 500 ex

That's to bad I have a JD Buck and love that step through design. It was made by Bombarier as the Traxter but I think they stopped making that one to. I think that's one of the reasons JD stopped selling them.