Which Farm Quad

damian1250

I'm in the market for a used farm quad, budget around 3000-3500

What should I buy, thinking Honda but people tell me to stay away from 420, why?

Which is best Honda or Yamaha ?

What to watch for ?

Thanks for your help guys

The Sidewards Man

Good luck trying to find a used quad here, this country is the pits for used quads.

damian1250

The Sidewards Man wrote: »

Good luck trying to find a used quad here, this country is the pits for used quads.

Donedeal is full of quads, just wondering what to watch for

The Sidewards Man

Full of molested wrecks of yolks, people hardly service their cars not to mind quads. Up your budget and buy new.

colm_mcm

A new 400cc one would be nearly €8k

The Sidewards Man

Taking a pure chance on a second hand one, ill give you 3 examples. I know of one farmer who buys new and sells on 2 years later never services it after the free service. Puts over 2000 hours on it. Another farmer I know buys new every 4 years, he services it but only the oil not the filter, puts about approx 3500 hours on it over the 4 years. Third farmer buys new every 4 year also, services it once a year with universal tractor oil and dont change the filter.
Which of the above 3 quads are a good buy Colm?

damian1250

The Sidewards Man wrote: »

Taking a pure chance on a second hand one, ill give you 3 examples. I know of one farmer who buys new and sells on 2 years later services it after the free service. Puts over 2000 hours on it. Another farmer I know buys new every 4 years, he services it but only the oil not the filter, puts about approx 3500 hours on it over the 4 years. Third farmer buys new every 4 year also, services it once a year with universal tractor oil and dont change the filter.
Which of the above 3 quads are a good buy Colm?

Guys, thanks but what I'm asking is, which is best, forget about quads being serviced, what I want to know is Honda better than Yamaha, what are know faults on each.
Any car, tractor, quad, van can have a **** service history and you'll never know about it, I'm guilty of it but I think I know a worn engine from a good engine. I'm thinking Honda is best but not sure.
Any experience of Honda 420's, good or bad ?
Thanks guys

The Sidewards Man

Honda will be as equal as Yamaha, the 420 is a good machine. Its not just the engine that suffers from lack of servicing either. Unless you do a compression test and/or scope the cylinder how do you tell if an engine is getting tired or not?

9935452

I have a 420 manual shift myself. 08 road registered water cooled with 400 hrs on the clock.
The water cooled came in 08. both air cooled and water cooled are meant to be good machines.
What hondas are known for is the gears in the back axels going .
What im told is there is a shaft/sleeve that is coming out of the diff on both sides of the axel that comes loose. When it comes loose , dirt and water get into the diff and wreck it . So both these should be rock solid.

Manual shift is known to be more reliable than electric shift but it only seems to be a bad battery that causes the problem most of the time.

damian1250

9935452 wrote: »

I have a 420 manual shift myself. 08 road registered water cooled with 400 hrs on the clock.
The water cooled came in 08. both air cooled and water cooled are meant to be good machines.
What hondas are known for is the gears in the back axels going .
What im told is there is a shaft/sleeve that is coming out of the diff on both sides of the axel that comes loose. When it comes loose , dirt and water get into the diff and wreck it . So both these should be rock solid.

Manual shift is known to be more reliable than electric shift but it only seems to be a bad battery that causes the problem most of the time.

Thanks for that,
Been looking at a 420 & 500, both good machines but id say the 420 slightly better, the 420 just had the bearings and seals done on the rear diff but had 2800 hrs on it, he said the diff should be done every 1000-1500hrs.
Anyway I've just bought a 2008 420 manual shift with 870hrs from a local who looked after it well so time will tell how good they are!
Thanks guys.

The Sidewards Man

The back axle in the Hondas wouldn't be an issue nor should they be downgraded if the serviceable parts were replaced at their interval.

9935452

damian1250 wrote: »

Thanks for that,
Been looking at a 420 & 500, both good machines but id say the 420 slightly better, the 420 just had the bearings and seals done on the rear diff but had 2800 hrs on it, he said the diff should be done every 1000-1500hrs.
Anyway I've just bought a 2008 420 manual shift with 870hrs from a local who looked after it well so time will tell how good they are!
Thanks guys.

No bother .
Best of luck with the new quad .
The recommended service intervals are 100 hours for oil filter spark plug and fuel filter. Fuel filter im told is very important as they dont like dirty fuel.
Change the oil in the diffs every 300 hours.
Make sure to run the tyres at a very low pressure , recommended ie 3.6psi. If they are anyway hard they are too hard. they need to be soft for a few reasons. Firstly they will burn off if they are hard , also the steering will shake very hard at speed on the road.
Dont use 4wd at speed on the road either , it will be weaving allover the place dangerous

damian1250

9935452 wrote: »

No bother .
Best of luck with the new quad .
The recommended service intervals are 100 hours for oil filter spark plug and fuel filter. Fuel filter im told is very important as they dont like dirty fuel.
Change the oil in the diffs every 300 hours.
Make sure to run the tyres at a very low pressure , recommended ie 3.6psi. If they are anyway hard they are too hard. they need to be soft for a few reasons. Firstly they will burn off if they are hard , also the steering will shake very hard at speed on the road.
Dont use 4wd at speed on the road either , it will be weaving allover the place dangerous

Excellent advice, thanks for that exactly what I'm looking for. I guess the first thing to do is full service and get the diff done for peace of mind. I've been warned never put 2 stroke mix in it as it blocks the filter.
Next move is to build a trailer.
Cheers, guys.

mayota

damian1250 wrote: »

Thanks for that,
Been looking at a 420 & 500, both good machines but id say the 420 slightly better, the 420 just had the bearings and seals done on the rear diff but had 2800 hrs on it, he said the diff should be done every 1000-1500hrs.
Anyway I've just bought a 2008 420 manual shift with 870hrs from a local who looked after it well so time will tell how good they are!
Thanks guys.

Well wear.

mayota

9935452 wrote: »

No bother .
Best of luck with the new quad .
The recommended service intervals are 100 hours for oil filter spark plug and fuel filter. Fuel filter im told is very important as they dont like dirty fuel.
Change the oil in the diffs every 300 hours.
Make sure to run the tyres at a very low pressure , recommended ie 3.6psi. If they are anyway hard they are too hard. they need to be soft for a few reasons. Firstly they will burn off if they are hard , also the steering will shake very hard at speed on the road.
Dont use 4wd at speed on the road either , it will be weaving allover the place dangerous

Had the front quad wheel in for puncture repair and guy fixes it but says you'll need a new tyre soon there's cracks showing. What pressure did you put in says I? 35 he says! And it wasn't the first time either.

9935452

damian1250 wrote: »

Excellent advice, thanks for that exactly what I'm looking for. I guess the first thing to do is full service and get the diff done for peace of mind. I've been warned never put 2 stroke mix in it as it blocks the filter.
Next move is to build a trailer.
Cheers, guys.

Another reason to change the oil often is afaik the engine oil is the gearbox oil too.
My advice on a trailer is to build a 7x4 foot trailer . Something that the quad can be put into and be towed behind the car , take the quad off and put the trailer on the quad.

mayota wrote: »

Had the front quad wheel in for puncture repair and guy fixes it but says you'll need a new tyre soon there's cracks showing. What pressure did you put in says I? 35 he says! And it wasn't the first time either.

The front tyres on mine say max 25psi. The book says 3.6 psi. The quad came with a 0-5psi pressure gauge as most gauges wont read that low.
I put tubes into the front of mine as i was having problems sealing onto the rims at that pressure. I believe i stretched the bead slightly when i changed them over as they are quite soft.
The funny thing is when i see them for sale at shows the tyres are pumped rock solid .
When they are that hard they go round like a motor bike tyre and wear very quickly in the centre and last pissing time. At 4 psi the profile is flat and they wear evenly and give better grip

yeller

I have 2 Honda foreman 450's 1999 and 2002, have both over 11 years and never give me one bit of trouble, huge power, theyre best Honda to buy. one trader wanted me to trade in for a 420 and was looking 400 euro on top for one but no deal,

9935452

yeller wrote: »

I have 2 Honda foreman 450's 1999 and 2002, have both over 11 years and never give me one bit of trouble, huge power, theyre best Honda to buy. one trader wanted me to trade in for a 420 and was looking 400 euro on top for one but no deal,

To be fair they are both different ranges , the 450 is a foreman and the 420 is a fourtrax, like comparing a passat to a golf.
One odd thing about the hondas is , the 500 is actually a 475cc

yeller

9935452 wrote: »

To be fair they are both different ranges , the 450 is a foreman and the 420 is a fourtrax, like comparing a passat to a golf.
One odd thing about the hondas is , the 500 is actually a 475cc

yes but such a reliable machine, tough as old boots