It's Quad Bike Time Again

[samarb]

Hi all, I sold my Trx 350 over a year ago now because it wasn't getting used enough. I now need to get another one quickish, I have available to me a trx400 fourtrax, auto but switchable to electronic manual, it also has selectable 2/4wd. I had no problems with my previous quad, and I like the idea of having selectable 2/4wd. The quad available is the same age as my old one was 2003), but being repaired to have coil rewrapped and getting an over oiling issue sorted. I would like to hear from people with genuine experiences (not just googleing it for me as I am quite capable of doing this myself) with this bike as am a little worried that all the fancy electrics and gear box might give me headaches in the future where the 350 was very simple.

 

Cheers

[doobin]

Gamekeeper mate runs one with no problems. I've used it to feed round for him before, and by God they're quick!

[Rich2484]

Yep, good quad. D a tree surgeons has one. I've worked on it a few times for him. Nothing major, fitted a front winch to it, serviced it, and sorted a starter issue that was worn bushes.

 

No major issues with it at all. Pulls a lot aswell. Had an 8 by 5 trailer well overloaded with timber for extraction and pulled not problem. Also used it to pull the greenmech 1.3t chipper around sites before with no issue either.

 

One of the brake light switches is playing around and not working but it's no drama. The engine seems sound.

 

Can't really go wrong with a Honda quad. I rate them over others any day.

 

Oh and if you look closely you will see the starter motor has been moved from the trx350 position. It's now on the side rather than under the air box. A lot easier to work on.

[samarb]

Thanks for input, how easy was it to mount winch? Was quoted 4 hours by local seller, but added to price of winch and mounting kit comes to around £900. I know the 350 was a good puller so hope along the same lines with this one.

[swinny]

Ive a job coming up where i need a quad. What size would be needed to pull a tw 150? And are there and good OLD cheap quads worth looking at? Cheers. Sorry for de rail

[Rich2484]

We done it in the workshop. Some thick metal plates and good bolts. Had to cut away the fron alloy plate to run the wire through. I would guess it took about two hours. Had to remove the front plastics aswell. Most of the Time was spent un bolting. Once plastics removed it was easy to see where the plates had to go and be welded and where the winch would sit in place.

 

Edit. We made our own mounting plates rather than buy them as the metal was laying about. I've seen the mounting plates that you buy and they are easy to reproduce.

 

Another edit. You will also notice it goes form a kick start one the 350 to a pull start on the 400. This will rip your arm off if you are not carefull. I have no idea why they changed it.

Edited December 2, 2012 by Rich2484

[doobin]

Ive a job coming up where i need a quad. What size would be needed to pull a tw 150? And are there and good OLD cheap quads worth looking at? Cheers. Sorry for de rail

 

If it's just to pull a big chipper then you need a small tractor. Quads are designed to get one man plus a few small tools across difficult, soft terrain. Not to pull large loads (even the biggest are only rated to tow half a ton or so) They just don't have the weight to put the power to the ground offroad with a heavy trailer. Don't waste your time with a quad if it's just for towing.

[swinny]

If it's just to pull a big chipper then you need a small tractor. Quads are designed to get one man plus a few small tools across difficult, soft terrain. Not to pull large loads (even the biggest are only rated to tow half a ton or so) They just don't have the weight to put the power to the ground offroad with a heavy trailer. Don't waste your time with a quad if it's just for towing.

 

Its just instead od a tracked chipper thats all, usually use a 4wd 400cc one at work but wondered it a slightly smaller one would suffice....

[Rich2484]

Doobin is right swinney, we have pulled a big chipper behind the honda but on flat or easy ground, I wouldn't want to use it to pull a big chipper over rough ground. The pull may destroy the clutch and gearbox, but the biggest problem you will have is purely traction and getting grip.

 

Sam. You need to figure out what winch you would want on a bike. The one I fitted was only 900kg, it is purely to pull the quad out of trouble not to pull another vehicle larger than the bike. Or big lumps of timber. An electric wich is only designed for one pull per hour. Or it will kill the battery or charging system. Although they can be very usefull things the one I fitted has yet to actually be used in anger.

[samarb]

Hi Rich, the work site is an absolute nightmare this is the winch I'm after Warn Industries - ATV & Side X Side Winches: Series RT25. I need it to pull up large timber via a snatch block onto a loading bay so will need to use it a lot. The other option is to buy a Lewis winch as they come out about the same price. But a winch would be handy for recovery and other smaller jobs but primary job will be to pull awkward timber where there is no access to just pull with rope. Swinny, I have pulled a 150 with the 350 but would not recommend it on uneven or steep ground as the difference between weight makes the timber wolf in control in event of sliding.