Auto VS Standard?

[660 SilverTip]

Which quad in your opinion, would be the best for swampy muskeg? Brand....and or tranny.....besides tires and why? Do you have any personal experiences. Just asking because I haven't had time to take the Grizz out yet....soon though.

 

[MrSled]

I have driven and owned quite a few Yamaha quads and I think think the Grizz is the best to date that I have been on. The Kodiak 450 and 400 are also really great machines just lack a few ponies.

 

[Octane]

Any CVT is nice

Its been my experience that any ATV that has a CVT (belt-drive auto) is a good mud runner.
The reason for this is that you dont have to let off of the gas. You can run wide-open through the mud and the clutch will give you whatever gear ratio it needs.
Water will stop a CVT dead in its tracks though. If you can keep the belt dry there is no stopping a CVT, though.
Honda Foremans were always strong mud runners too. You can sink those things in all the water you want, as long as you keep water from going into the airbox you wont stop it. The only downfall is that if you need a lower gear, you have to let up off of the gas and shift. Ive seen many people with manual-shift ATVs get stuck this way. They let off the gas for the split-second, and they are stuck. You could always power-shift, but thats kind of hard on a tranny.
I think overall, mud is more rider skill than machine. Ive seen little 300cc 4x2 utilitys go through a lot of mud and thats with just the stock knobbies.
As long as you have a rider who knows how to pick good lines through the mud, you could put them on just about anything and they would be OK.
In my opinion, Polaris' are good mud runners. They have always made good power, have enough weight to where they get good traction and have CVT trannys. I had that '97 500 Scrambler and when I trail rode that thing I was always hunting for the deepest sections. Other would stick to the edges where it was the most shallow, not I. I would get a nice run and *SPLASH*! When we would get back not a single inch of that quad or me was clean. To me however, thats what its all about. We'd get back from riding and Id be out there for a good 2 hours cleaning up my ATV. Id get it all clean and wax it up, only to take it out the next day and get it all dirty again. Good times!
Hebi

 

[MrSled]

great info guys....this site gets better and better everyday

 

[660 SilverTip]

Wheel speed and flotation is all it takes I guess. You could have good flotation like I have with my electronic shift Honda, but there is that split second where I have to back off and shift. I guess if a guy really thinks about it, how high up a mountain would a sled make it if you had to back off and shift....Not too far at all.

 

[TylerZ_AT]

I have an electric/autoshift Honda, the Rancher AT and it's great in the mud. I had hit the mud fast and downshift when I need to, once I get more speed I can shift up again to get the tires flying again. You are right, it's all in technicque. I can go trhough more than my brother in law with his P700 twin efi. He's horrible in mud, no skill.