Quad size

[Pedro]

Don’t know if you are thinking new or second hand. But if you are thinking second hand, you are better off looking for something not too abused. Many farmer owned quads have had a hard life. Condition will be more important than make/model within reason. Having said that, I’d stick with Honda, Yamaha, Suzuki or Can Am. As for engine size, as a minimum, 350cc as a minimum to be able to cope with most things, ideally a bit bigger. Some have 750cc and suchlike. Very nice of course but not strictly necessary.

 

[75]

Mmm..fair enough

Can't confirm for other manufacturers though! Just I went through the same thought process when I bought mine and was looking for reasons not to go for the bigger bike...

 

[hedge hunter]

What @75 said. We keep being offered stupid money to trade our Honda in, so that is something to think about - although like everything else new prices have also gone up.

We tend to go for smaller engine sizes as the big ones are more desirable to our brand of thieves and scumbags (Bradford postcode). 4wd is handy in wet holes, power steering and semi auto boxes are nice to have but are another thing to go wrong. Older models suffer less from restrictive emissions problems but are by nature older and perhaps more likely to need expensive work.

Depending where you live, though I presume it's the same everywhere, have a think about security. Our neighbour had a quad nicked while he hopped off to check a mole trap, and most farms round here have had one pinched in the last five years. Ours hasn't been yet but we have the most layers of security compared to our neighbours - no doubt they will succeed eventually.

Funnily enough I have been looking at a few from round your neck of the woods.thanks for the heads up

 

[hedge hunter]

Thanks for all the info lads definitely food for thought.

 

[pendle]

I have a king quad 300, why did you get rid of the two? They're incredible machines with mechanical levers so not much to go wrong. The ability to lock all 4 wheels and go into super low range makes them unstoppable, they are also light enough to man handle and fit in a small quad.

The first one I used for mole catching and my helpers rode the 2 wheel drive.
Then sold them when I packed up. I bought the second one off a mate and where I was keeping it at an old hall they wanted it moving out of that work area. So sold it but kept the Ozark. As I had put new tyres on it and put a new diff and drive axle on it. Which was sourced for me by a SD member Suzuki mechanic
The Ozark is now sitting in a storage container keeping dry till it's next adventure

But for me the 300 king quad did it all.