I don't have a lot of experience with other brands. I will tell you that when I was working as a park ranger, I recovered a stolen Honda ATV. It was about 14 years old, and had actually been stolen and recovered once already before I got to it. People were not kind to this machine - it looked like it had been dropped off a cliff. It was hotwired, and the VIN had been filed off (purchased for cash on Craig's List).

It ran perfectly.

my dad has a arctic cat 550 and it is a 2002 it is 5 speed we use it for everything. it has been drug all through are 236 acre farm partly woods and runs great we are currently working on a outdoor project and we pull our 12 foot single axle trailer up a large rugged incline with no prblem we also pull a small 4 footlong lawn trailer up in our woods with a 150 pound generator 85 pound toolbox and many other tools with no trouble what so ever the guy that had it before us used it for hunting and brought back many deer on it i have a smaller arctic cat that i have had no prblems with other than annual maintenince.

I have a 2001 Suzuki 300 King Quad. If they make them any tougher I haven't seen one. I push snow and dirt and have a 50 pound piece of railroad track on top of my blade to make it dig in the dirt and I use it like a bulldozer. I haul out wood in a trailer from the woods without a problem. When I can't get there with a trailer I drag logs out to a landing. With the gear setup I have plenty of power. I don't know about the new Suzuki's but if they are half as tough as my old one they are great. I know that this one will see me out but if I was going to replace it, it would be with a Suzuki. Oh I forget it is great to get my deer out of the woods too.

Its hard to go wrong with any of the major brands. we have an arctic cat that hasn't been that great but its not bad. my preference in order is Yamaha, Suzuki, Honda, arctic cat. Ive owned and had experience with all of these and the're all great there are just little personal preferences that make the difference for me.

I like Polaris its as close to made in the US as you can get. They are all good. Your best bet is to find out who the closest dealer who can service it for you.
I've got a '99 sportsman 500 and a '99 ranger. They will last forever if you have them seviced properly.(and don't total it doing something stupid)

I agree with Trapper Vic. I was able to purchase a 2011 Polaris Sportsman 550 which is fuel injected (helps with the cold starting on mornings plowing snow plus don't have to adjust carburetor when I go up in elevation) for a 1000 less then they wanted for the same year of a Honda Rancher 420. Polaris are independent rear suspension, Honda are solid axle. I will admit that I'm not a huge fan of the Polaris rack system but I got a bigger machine with more bells and whistles for less money. They will all last if you keep the fluids changed and things lubed on schedule they will last you a long time and have good resale and trade in value.

I have a suzuki ozark 250 and she can haul 1100 pound hay wagon and with a winch seh can move large bucks and then jsut throw then in a cart and no problem pull it. i also have a set of harrows that i use on our gravel laneways around our barns and stuff like pasture seeding and stuff. i have had mine a while and my brother has the same on too they need no work only change oil and filters 1 or 2 times a year depends on how much you use it. ya they a a good affordabe machine i love mine for hunting and farm jobs. i cna pull alot of wood in a 6X4X3 traielr i built through creeks and bumps and stuff . so hopefully i helped you out making your atv buying decision

I switched from a big bear 400 to a articat 400 and i regret it, the articats, especially bigger ones have a lot of tranny issues, but are a powerful machine, but my big bear with the manual transmission could do almost anything! it had even pulled a few trucks that were sunk almost to the axles out before, and even as low as it was made it threw mud pits no other machine could, and hauled out 4 deer on it before all being New york whitetails waying in between 130 to 190 pounds each, and when your going down steep banks and threw rough terrain you can down shift it into 1st gear and crawl threw almost anything, plus it is cheaper then the grizzly, but my dad has one and its a very strong machine as well, I would say cant go wrong with a yamaha

I just got a 2013 Honda Rancher 4x4 EFI, Manual Transmission. I haven't done much riding with it yet as I got if for Christmas (My wife is awesome!!!)but so far, its been great. It starts quickly, even with about 7-10" of snow on the land I hunt, checked trail camaras with it and didn't have any problems in 2wheel drive. I got to one drifted in area, shifted down and but it in 4 wheel and it didn't even spin. I wasn't towing anything but my daughter was riding with me, I'm about 200lbs. she's about 100lbs. My experience has only been with Hondas and Suzukis. I think they are all excellent machines. I really like my new Honda a lot, simple, rugged, dependable and fun. Besides hunting, I also trap quite a bit and I do wood so it will be a utility vehicle for the most part for me.