We've went from horses, to honda trail 90's, tote goats (still have one), jeeps, 4x4 elk mobile trucks (son still has one with 38" tires he also uses for the mud bog races)), bronco's (my daily driver), Older Toyota sr5 solid axle, blazers, back to horses, atv's we still have honda and polaris quads, and finally a new honda 1000 side by side 5 seater. Never had a Can Am probably never have one not that they are bad if it has a belt I get a big red flag (more later). One thing I've noticed bigger isn't always better those old school little Toyota solid axle 4x4 pick-ups with the inline 4 cylinder eng are darn near bullet proof and go almost anywhere and get you back, same with old jeep cj's and inline 6 cylinders, my son still fixing his but has the little v8 in it, I don't get warm and fuzzy about big quads. 350's to 500 cc 4x4 quads are about the perfect size for hunting, I didn't say ranching/farming we are talking serious hunting in very rough country, no roads in places, here in our area we can still drive off road to retrieve game animals. I don't like belt drive transmissions for a couple reasons when going down hill depending upon how steep the mtn and atv models you are on the brakes all the time, some of this crap we are in is down right dangerous to drive in like piling rocks to get over downed trees, taking a chain saw to cut our way in old roads with downed trees that drop behind you etc. Climbing hills is another one when you are up over the handle bars to stop you from going. over backwards , we've had it happen to a good friends wife she got in over her head literally and thought she could go up this trail and you know what happened. Atv's I much prefer and electric shift manual tranny i.e. Honda you put it in gear, and it stays in that gear going up / down and you can concentrate on driving / balancing / not braking . I do agree with newer power steering it's nice to have. There are foot shift manual tranny's which are great also. Manual tranny's are less problems and that's a good thing. If you are just out BS's around belts are OK I guess, I have one. 700 or 800 cc quads for hunting are big and heavy, I would get good mud type deep lug tires. Hell I can go 65 mph on my Polaris 500 quad you don't need that kind of speed usually we rarely drive over 30 mph even on good graveled roads, mostly we are just creeping along. Shaft drive with independent suspension, manual tranny and full lockable 4 wheel drive when needed or full time 4 wheel drive is the way to go imo. Not that limited slip 4 wheel drive that engages when the rear wheel slips then the front engages. I don't need to be on the throttle to make the rears slip so I can get the fronts to engage, full all 4 wheels locked when you want it is a good thing in rough stuff.
We've had our Honda Rancher electric shift for 17 years and it hasn't broke yet. Now if you want to ricky race my son has a full on race Honda 450 quad that will scare the crap out of you if grab a hand full of throttle. My son-in-law an engineer for Honda him and other engineers up until a couple years ago would go around the east coast and race the same 450's . 2 people on a quad can be dangerous in rough country for the inexperienced. This is not a knock on what people buy and use I could really care less, buy quality and something that will get you there and back year after year with low maintenance and you can trust is a good thing.
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