mandatory ATV accessories?

[GR]

Any mandatory ATV accessories for roaming the AK woods?

GR

 

[Deepercreek]

Short trips

Short trips

Winch, tire repair kit.

Longer trips add basic tools (mechanical and survival) and a partner.

 

[AkHunter45]

Good tires, stick stoppers, winch.

 

[forAK]

beer, food, lighter, fire-arm. If un-familiar with area a GPS would be handy, and the above mentioned posts.

 

[EricL]

accessories

accessories

snacks, winch, extra tow strap (incase that tree is more than 50' away), firearm, gps, extra clothing, rainsuit. my satellite phone also always goes with me! Eric

 

[Snyd]

Better than stock tires.

 

[Water_Gremlin]

Beefier tires, winch, cargo bag, extra gas, electric compressor, and TOOLS. You can never have enough tools on the trail. I have a tackle box filled with them.

 

[GR]

good info, thanks

good info, thanks

What type of tires? Any recommended brand/model? Stock rims?

Who makes good stick stoppers?

I've got an '03 Honda Rancher.

Thanks

 

[EricL]

tires

tires

i have itp mudlites. 1'' taller and 1'' wider than stock. they are mounted on itp aluminum wheels. These are on an '04 Rubicon. Eric

 

[Contender]

My Tricks

My Tricks

I have a 2500 pound winch on both of my machines but I also carry 100 feet of 1/2 inch rope and a rope come along just in case I am out by myself and need to get myself out of a bad situation. I've never needed it by the way.

I made a fishing rod holder out of a section of 4 inch ABS pipe with a cap on one end and a screw in plug on the other end. I attach this to the back rack with large hose clamps. You never know when you will be at a stream or a lake that needs fished. I have an ultra light reel inside the tube along with the 2 piece fishing rod and an assortment of small jigs and spinners. I have taken some nice fish incidently this way over the years. My rope and come along are bungied to the 4 inch pipe with all of this on the back side of the rear rack so that I can still load a tote or a cooler on the rack. Any questions on this I can enclose a picture to see.

I also have installed hand warmers on every one of my quads. I ride in some pretty cold weather and it just plain feels good to have them turned on.

A GPS bracket is a must too for me and I always reset my GPS when I leave my vehicle. When you are in the mountains above tree line you want to know where you went up over the top if you need to find the trail head back down. Sometimes that is the only way back down without encountering a steep roll over type of drop off and the trail is impossible to see in the bare rocks. You can shoot a waypoint at the breakover or you can follow the cookie crumb trail back off the mountain.

 

[Water_Gremlin]

I have an 01 Rancher for the wife to ride. It sports 27" Blackwater XT's with a warn 2.0 and cargo bag. Also for winter riding hand warmers are a must.

With a rancher I would stick with 25" tires or maybe 26" if you want to spice things up. You will loose power though. The extra traction and durability will make up for it. The type of tire you need really depends on the terrain you ride. Tell us and we can make a better recommendation for tires.

 

[GR]

Contender,
Please post the pics. I'm interested in your setup.

As far as terrain, don't know yet. I'll be living in the Delta Junction area.
Any suggestions based on that? I was looking at the ITP 589 M/S.

Glenn

 

[AkHunter45]

beer, food, lighter, fire-arm. If un-familiar with area a GPS would be handy, and the above mentioned posts.

I certainly hope the beer is for after the ride and not during. On tires, i also second the ITP Mudlites in 25x8x12 and 25x10x12, thats if you have 12 inch rims on the back but Ranchers usually have 11 inch. If you go with any bigger tire than a 25 you will feel a power loss on your machine. I also like to carry an ax and extra gas with me, you never know how far you may end up riding.

 

[Snyd]

Blackwaters in Swap and Sell

Blackwaters in Swap and Sell

There are some blackwaters in the swap forum that look like a god deal. Here is a guy I know running them on his rancher. they work pretty dang good. I run 27inch MudMachine BiTri Claws.

 

[AkHunter45]

27's are a little to big for a Rancher in my opinion, my wife has one and I would never let her put 27's on her machine. Stick with 25's.

 

[forAK]

I certainly hope the beer is for after the ride and not during.

Yeah, sure would be horrible to pop one while taking a break.
Personally, I wouldn't go over 26"ers. What kind of roaming around the woods do you plan on doing? That'll govern how much you're filling up your racks.

 

[Snyd]

27's are a little to big for a Rancher in my opinion, my wife has one and I would never let her put 27's on her machine. Stick with 25's.

Oh ya. They are 27's. You're right a little big. The new Highlifter MST's look like a good tire. They make them in all the popular sizes and I think they are on sale right now. My buddie in Anch. is selling is 29.5 outlaws and going to the 27 MST's on his 686 griz. I guess the 27's are measuring 28 mounted up on 7 inch rims with 5psi.

Lots of good tires on the market that's for sure. One think about Alaska though is you can run into such a variety of terrain on the same ride. Everything from sand to watery mud to sticky mud to rocks and snow and ice! The MST's look like a good all around AK tire to me.

 

[forAK]

What do the MST's weigh?

 

[Water_Gremlin]

MST's are some of the best climbing tires I have seen. AKHNTR has a set of 27's on his Prairie 700 and they are truly impressive. At Pinochle he followed me on my lifted Brute 750 with 28" bugs everywhere and beat me in a couple of holes. For those of you who have ridden Pinochle you know its not an easy trail. For those of you who havnt the trail is primarily mud with some rock covered trails and one nasty hill. For Alaska's all around conditions you cant go wrong with either bugs or MST's. 589's, Mudlites, and other popular AK tires are pretty good too, I have my preferences but out of all the tires on the market you cant go wrong with a sturdy set of aftermarket tires. I have used and ridden with people that use a majority of them and there are two that stand out in my mind. Some I have more experience with others but the Bugs and MST's are my favorite so far. I would really like to compare MST's and swampwitches.

Unless you rides are nothing but mud I would stay away from Outlaws, EDL's, and Zillas.

I would have probably bought those 29.5's from STG if I didnt already buy a set of Zillas about a year ago.

 

[Water_Gremlin]

MST Sizes & Weight

MST Sizes & Weight

From Mr. Bushyhog himself

22.5x12x9............. 24 lbs ( the worlds biggest little tire )
25x9x12.................23
25x11x12...............25
26x9.5x12..............25
26x12x12...............31
27x9.5x12..............27
27x12x12...............32
28x9.5x12..............28
28x12x12...............34

All MST tires are true height, 6 ply rated and have 1" lugs. Weight expressed in round pounds. All are currently in stock