quad bike (and trailer?) as a bov

[Ranger]

any thoughts or experience on these types of vehicle as i could see a number of advantages over regular 4X4's, access narrower routes, lower ground pressure, easier to recover, lower profile so easier to hide with cam net. one example i quickly looked at was this

http://www.apachequads.com/quads/agri4004x4.php

[Skean Dhude]

A good choice. But as everything else you need to choose what is best for you.

[Highlander]

I think that these are an excelent BOV,... except for one thing,.. they are a one man transport,..if you are planing to be on your own, they are perfect, but if more than one of you, you realy need one each

But as a BOV they are quick, and as you say, they will get you to places other vehs cant get to, they will manage ground other 4x4s will manage, and are easily hidden when you get there,....and I am guessing that when most other 4x4s are down and out because of a solar EMP,.. that your quad will be still running,... [ which is why I would rather buy an older kick start quad than the fancy machine you show in the advert]

[Ranger]

(30 December 2012, 19:21)Highlander Wrote: I think that these are an excelent BOV,... except for one thing,.. they are a one man transport,..if you are planing to be on your own, they are perfect, but if more than one of you, you realy need one each

But as a BOV they are quick, and as you say, they will get you to places other vehs cant get to, they will manage ground other 4x4s will manage, and are easily hidden when you get there,....and I am guessing that when most other 4x4s are down and out because of a solar EMP,.. that your quad will be still running,... [ which is why I would rather buy an older kick start quad than the fancy machine you show in the advert]

i think the advert mentions that you can have a passenger legally but in a shtf situation you're not really going to care. about 20 yrs ago me and my uncle went to help out my uncles shepherd friend in the cheviots, in january, and he met us at the bottom of the valley on his quad. we got all our kit, food, beer, three grown men and a dog on it. luckily, the health and safety stazi never saw us. great fun

[Highlander]

I know the Quad takes two, but you would have little space to carry gear,.. I know you talked about a trailer but that does restrict the Quad a bit,.. where as two second hand older Quads with rackes front and back, would carry more [ and further ] than one Quad with a trailer.

I used to feed cattle high in the hills using a [ Big Red ] Quad bike and carried up to six bags of cattle feed in one go over rough ground

.....and you are right,.. great fun...

[bigpaul]

Quad went past me the other day when walking the dog, makes one hell of a racket and i heard it when it was a long way away, so not really a vehicle for being quiet on more like go like a bat out of hell!

[Mortblanc]

They are dandy toys and I have used them often. The problem we get into over here in the States is that we are not allowed to put them on the roads. SHTF no one would care, but until then all we have is a very rugged and capable toy useful only on occasions when we purposely go somewhere to use it.

A second consideration is that for less than the cost of a good used quad I can buy a good used Jeep. The Jeep will carry ten times as much and tow the quad at the same time.

[Highlander]

I agree, a Good old Jeep would be great,.. love to own one

Going back to the original post though, The one pictured is a road legal Quad, it is fitted with indicators,.. best of both worlds as far as Quads go,... except that I doubt they can carry as much as [ what we would call ] `Farm Quads`

[Mortblanc]

One of the advantages you guys have is the wide variety of vehicles you can put on the roads.

Here we can not even put the micro-trucks on the highway in most states. We have almost zero 3-wheelers except for cycle based open riders. No enclosed cab 3-wheelers. No road approved quads, only the farm quads.

You can drive a farm tractor on the road but you can not drive a farm quad on the same road.

[BeardyMan]

(30 December 2012, 21:33)Highlander Wrote: I used to feed cattle high in the hills using a [ Big Red ] Quad bike and carried up to six bags of cattle feed in one go over rough ground

.....and you are right,.. great fun...

Was your "Big Red" a Honda by any chance? I had one when I was a kid, 300cc, geared for towing (huge wheelies in 1st gear), went absolutely everywhere it was pointed, even took out an apple tree when I got a bit excited. We had a pond out the front of the house, the entry / exit angle was about 60/70 degrees. You couldn't walk up it, you had to scramble. Being a fearless child and being egged on by my brother in law (I think he wanted the quad to squash me) I attempted the ascent. He told me to lean forward and go very steady. So I lent forward, jammed on the thumb accelerator and shot up the slope, got about 3 foot of air and landed in the road!

I've been trying to find another one that isn't hundreds of miles away, or broken. If you're ever offered one at a decent price then go for it, you will not be disappointed!