The all-terrain vehicle in the UK is a wonderful cross–between Japanese engineering and farmers’ aptitude for adapting machinery to fit their needs. And the UK is still the biggest agricultural market for ATVs by far. While literally hundreds of thousands are sold in the USA as boys’ toys, the 6,000 sold to UK farmers have to work hard. Here we test what’s on offer in the popular 250cc to 300cc bracket
Ask a shepherd to choose between a dog and an ATV, and in many cases Fido will end up very disappointed. Since springing onto the market in the mid-1980s, the farm ATV has become as common as baler twine – and just as useful. Developed mainly for the American leisure market, it was the UK farmer that first spotted the ATV’s potential as a go-anywhere farm runabout. Since then many old Land Rovers and yard tractors have had to give way to the ATV.
Nothing can rival the ATV’s virtually unstoppable off-road capability, combined with speed, ease of use and low capital/running costs. There’s also nothing that comes close to an ATV’s light footprint, which is kinder on the soil and sward – be it in the hills or on arable fields.
There are now more than 40 different makes and models to choose from, ranging from the tiny toy-type bikes up to the 500cc high capacity workhorses. In this comparison we look at the biggest sector, the 300cc category; the test includes seven machines from five different makers.
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