Quad Bike Advice

[oxfordshirestalker]

Hi all,
I’m thinking about getting a quad. It seems to be a bit of a minefield. Rather than looking for specific brands and models at this stage (although I’ll probably be after something very secondhand from one of the big 4 - Honda, Suzuki, Kawasaki and Yamaha) I’m more looking for ideas about engine CC, 4x4 vs 2x4 etc.
My budget is about £2500 inclusive of vat. I might be able to stretch to £3000 if £2500 is wishful thinking. Here’s what I need it to do, any advice gratefully received:
3-4 times per month for towing A small trailer of logs around the field, extracting fallow, roe and muntjac from mainly arable land but some woodland. General pack horse for tools, me, rifle and lamp on pen repairs and pest control trips. Road legal would be necessary for travel to and from local patches of land within the village but at the same time, small and light enough to tow behind a small/medium sized car and easy to wheel around on a trailer. (If it could also tow said trailer that would be ideal). Then it’s other job would be to tow a small (14 foot) motor boat up and down the beach and slipway and a small distance up and down the road, too. Not a heavy boat, just an open topped dinghy with a 15hp outboard on the back for fishing but it’s on a fairly over engineered and therefore heavy trailer.
4x4 seems like a good idea to me but in terms of engine CC, I’ve got no idea where to start.
Any advice gratefully received, thanks in advance!

 

[woody]

I use a Honda trxfm 500, aka foreman, brilliant plenty of power and reliable probably the best one out of the lot, only thing I can't get it Road legal, you have to buy a new one for that but buy once cry once.

 

[deerstalker.308]

What he said, I have the 420 fourtrax and it’s great but for the weight you want to pull the 500 would probably be better.
Mine is an agri reg’d road legal machine, 2011, not the prettiest, it’s been used, but I bought that (probably over priced as it was from a dealer) for £3500 so your budget shouldn’t be a major problem.

 

[J.kerslake]

I use a Honda trxfm 500, aka foreman, brilliant plenty of power and reliable probably the best one out of the lot, only thing I can't get it Road legal, you have to buy a new one for that but buy once cry once.

You can get them registered, you have to send off for a number...like a chassis number but not, can’t remember the correct term for it! But I did it with a 2014 Suzuki king quad I bought second hand.

 

[woody]

You can get them registered, you have to send off for a number...like a chassis number but not, can’t remember the correct term for it! But I did it with a 2014 Suzuki king quad I bought second hand.

Ok, pretty sure I can't mine is 2006, but will look into it again.

 

[J.kerslake]

Ok, pretty sure I can't mine is 2006, but will look into it again.

The easiest way is to speak to a dealership and get them to do it! Cost me £20 for the certificate and then something like £55 to register the quad. Maybe you can’t register older stuff...I don’t know, it I certainly managed to do mine.

 

[tattie]

Be sure and get something that is switchable from 2wd to 4wd as if permanent 4wd it wont do it a lot of good on dry hard road surfaces.

Unless you are VAT registered, I would look for something private or non vat.

Cheers

 

[Pedro]

1. For the use you will put it to, anything 400cc and above will be good. The earlier diesel ones were rubbish so avoid them.
2. I don't know what terrain you will be encountering but selectable 4WD is good. The ability to lock diffs is also good.
3. Ideally already road registered.
4. It's good to stick to the big four Jap makers but don't rule out a Can Am, which are often favoured by farmers too.
5. Some quads are physically bigger than others. Yamahas tend to be smaller and Suzukis bigger, so bear that in mind if it's important.
6. When looking, it's sometimes difficult to think where. Private CAN be good. Quad dealers too. But also consider general agriculture/tractor outlets. They often will have part ex machines from farmers who change theirs every year or two.

However - from reading what you will want to use an ATV for, legally you MIGHT have to register it PLG rather than agricultural. That'll mean you end up paying road tax equivalent to a car. So perhaps you could as an alternative maybe think of a small 4X4 car. The likes of a Panda 4X4 or Suzuki Jimny. Maybe or maybe not, but thought it worth mentioning.