Honda Fourtrax Rancher

[BRULEDRIFTER]

I'm looking to purchase a new Honda Fourtrax Rancher 4x4 ES or the automatic. I will be purchasing a Honda so no other opinions please.

Anyone have any opinions on this model? I'll be using it mainly for ice fishing and plowing a decent sized driveway. Is the Auto worth the extra $800 or so? Thanks for any advice.

[Gofishleech]

I have an 2004 foreman-rubican and it has both the honda matic and ES. The auto is nice and the ES is nice for plowing or food plotting. I also have a 1999 foreman that runs fine,,,gota luv them hondas

[crappie todd]

I purchased a new 06 Honda 4x4 Es last fall and used it for ice fishing this year. coldest weather 15 below and it started. I pulled a 5x6 trailer behind it on the lake with 5 people and ice fishing gear loaded on it.

So far it has supplied me with exactly the expectations I had when I bought it.

Color me happy !!!!

[Augusta]

I own three, yes three, Honda Rubicon's (04,05,07) and love them all. In all honesty, we never use anything other than the auto.

[MLaker2]

I'm on my second ES Rancher. It's a good reliable ATV. I would wonder about an ES if you are plowing a driveway. It would be OK if you are doing long runs. If you are doing a lot of forward and back type scrapping then it would be a bit cumbersome. (down shift to neutral, push button, pull lever, downshift to reverse, back up, shift to neutral, shift to 1-2, plow, repeat) ATV's with a hand lever style shifting mechanism usually work betteer for plowing snow.

[stmichael]

My buddy has a foreman ES I have used it to plow and I love it. You can have the button pushed and lever pulled as you are downshifting, until you are in reverse let go. Sometimes, the button sticks on his, that is key right there, just pull on the handle hit the down shift and you are in reverse. I know that this practice is not going to be instructed at anytime soon. Probably should not be displaying it here, but, this is what I have experienced.

[DRH1175]

Do you really need Diff lock. I have always been a fan of Hondas lately I have really been really looking at Diff lock. Which knocks the hondas out. Is it needed? Hondas just seem so bullet proof. And the price seems so much better than some of their competitors?

[jltimm]

Diff lock is a must if you push your wheeler to extremes. You can get out of some pretty bad situations with it. Suzuki and Yamaha are just as good as Honda, and even better in alot of situations. The new Yamaha Grizzly with the power steering is supposed to be unbelievable. Doesn't tire you out after riding hard all day. I think the cold start issue has been figured out also.

[snapjigger]

Just bought the new Grizzly 2 weeks ago. Unbelievable you have to try it to see for yourself. It is so smooth you can pretty much do all your riding with one hand. Have had it out the last 2 Saturdays with my son in tow and it has performed flawlessly. Also has the best Diff lock in the industry push a button and go.

[slotlimit]

I'm with you. I would never buy anything other than a Honda. Mine has gone through anything I have ever asked it. I still own a 19?? 90 3 wheeler. I have never done anything to it besides change oil and add gas. It starts on the first or second pole every time. Get a Honda and be worry free. Just take a look in your local papers. About once a month I will see a old Big Red or something like it for sale. You see 200X'S 250R's all over. You just don't see a lot of the other brands still around like you do a Honda. The proof is in the pudding.

[Scott K]

The smaller atvs didnt ever break, they didnt have the power to tear themselves apart, unlike like the big machine of today. If you buy a big machine, and ride it hard, and take it to the limits, stuff will break, no matter what make or model. As for not seeing to many other models out there from the 80s, the other models didnt produce nearly what honda did back then! In todays market they all make a good machine, and they all get a few lemons here and there, yes even honda! In my opinion the best machine is the well maintained, lightly riden atv. The bad ones are the ones that dont get maintained and that are riden hard! We can pick every model apart and say this was bad in that or my friends had one that did this! Bottom line is each manufacturer learns from their mistakes and improves from there, to build a better machine next year!

[slotlimit]

I agree and disagree. I used to race a 250R as a kid and beat the living tar out of that thing. I jumped it, rolled it, did break stands on the tar roads, etc. It took 100 times the beating of most other machines. AS far as companies learning from their mistakes and building better items today. Why is the saying, "they don't build them like they used to", Used so often? I will agree that their are also a lot of things biult better today then yesterday. Honda has always had a good product. Yamaha and Polaris have had decent products, Suzuki has had not very good products IMO whether it's cars, boat motors, ATV's in the past. Maybe their products today are better, I have heard some good things about their boat motors. But why take a chance you know what you're getting with a Honda. I very good friend of mine is a Salesman at the local Honda, Yamaha, Polaris, Kawi dealer. He has told me time and time again that selling new he sells a few more Hondas then anything but it's close. But when it comes to selling used he can't keep a Honda on the floor very long. He also told me that usually to sell anything besides a Honda he has to throw in a winch or some other item that the manufacture will allow to get their products to sell.