Ive been on facebook marketplace heavily lately, looking at used 4 wheelers. Ive narrowed it down to a few choices, but opinions are welcome
Id rather 4wd but its not necessary, just a good reliable bike to ride some trails and drag deer/hogs out the woods
Honda Foreman 450 simple and reliable
Honda Rancher 350 only issues Ive read about these is a spline in the rear end that strips out eventually
Yamaha Big Bear 350, Ive read that the gears are odd and it rides rough but an otherwise solid bike
Kawasaki Bayou 220/250 simple, reliable and nimble
Thanks for any replies guys
Since everything on your list is autoclutch and not manual then I'm assuming that's what you want, so a 250EX or a similar autoclutch sport quad would be perfect for trail riding and dragging deer. 250EX is the most nimble, zippiest, and maneuverable quad. It will turn and stop on a dime, wheelie, bunnyhop, jump, slide. It will go places a 4x4 would be pinned between trees or up hills and off-cambers that would flip a 4x4. It will easily climb over downed trees that a 4x4 would need to winch over.
250EX are a dime a dozen cheap. Put a high comp piston in it and it's a little beast. At 350 lbs you can pick it up if you do get stuck. I can yank mine from the bed of a truck without a ramp: just pull it straight out while holding up the back and let it fall straight down. Every year or two I drag a 150lb deer out that my friend shot. Pulls it like it's not there.
I'd discourage you from any utility quad like foreman, rancher, big bear, etc as they are simply too heavy and bumbly for really having fun on a trail. You only need a utility for work like towing or carrying stuff. A caveat to that is if you want 4x4 to see what you can drive over like a tank or how deep of mud it would go through.
I had a Bayou for a long time and it sucks. Single a-arms, underpowered, drum brakes.... just all around leaves everything to be desired.
The rest on the list I wouldn't even take for free except to sell for the money. I have too many other quads that are more ideal that I would always rather choose to ride. If you want a 4x4 in that size then 300 king quad is the way to go because it has locking front diff and super low. It has 15 forward speeds. At 600lbs it won't handle well though. It's pretty much for driving like a tank or work. But super low is the most fun you'll ever have at 1 mph!
Side note: The 250EX a pushrod engine with no oil filter. Since this is an oil site I thought the fact that Honda didn't see fit to include an oil filter would be interesting to ponder. Evidently it's not needed since I've beat the snot out of my 250EX for 15 years and not only is the engine still mechanically sound but even the clutch is still grabby like new. And I just use crappy Accel 10W-40 SF grade that Walmart used to sell. (The manual says SF grade because of the wet clutch.)
