Resident Farmers Guardian tester, James Rickard, put several of the top manufacturers’ machines to the test to find the best performers for the variety of tasks carried out on-farm.

To quote James; ”The quad bike represents many things to many people. For some it is a leg saver, for others it is their main workhorse. Whatever its task, there is inevitably one on just about every farm in the UK.

But with so many makes of ATVs on the market…which one should you go for?

To give you some idea before you buy, we wanted to find out with a group test which one was best. Our selection consists of ATVs from the top-selling agricultural manufacturers; Honda, Kawasaki, Suzuki, Polaris and Yamaha.

To try to achieve a relatively fair comparison, each manufacturer was asked to supply a four-wheel drive bike as close to 400cc (most popular size of model) as possible, with an automatic transmission.

We were particularly interested in finding out how the transmissions compared, especially as most have gone down the Continuously Variable Transmission (CVT) route, while others, such as Honda, have stuck with more a traditional sequential ‘box’. Would this have a big impact on fuel and general usability?

To get an all-round evaluation of the machines, each bike would be put through its paces on a busy dairy farm carrying out various duties such as moving, transporting and feeding stock, and fencing – not to mention a gruelling agility course which would test even a mountain goat’s sure footedness.

Fuel consumption, on a 5km tarmac course consisting of hills, twisting corners and long straights, was also taken into account.”

In the KVF300 section of the test, some of the comments James made were:

“Having recently tested a Kawasaki KVF on its own, we were keen to see how it faired against the rest of the group…it was interesting to see how much of a difference a lightweight, small bike performed against the others.

As expected, on manoeuvrability and agility it literally ran rings around the others. Having only 2WD – and light steering as a result – it was easy to handle. Even when coupled to various trailers, it maintained a high degree of control, especially in and out of buildings and around the yard.

….as our fuel test shows, it drank the least fuel, both with a laden trailer and without. We can only conclude its lightweight nature contributed to this, especially when towing on the flat. ….compared to the bigger bikes, which tended to sink, the nimble KVF skipped over the wet patches.

Even when it did get stuck, its pint-sized proportions meant it could easily be man-handled out of sticky situations.

Its lightweight character makes you feel in control at all times, unlike one or two of the heavier bikes, which tended to dictate to the rider where they wanted to go.
As for the transmission, being able to see the lever’s gates allows easy selection of high and low ranges and neutral and reverse.

For storage, a handy sealed box up-front provides enough room for small tools, while a pocket just in front of the rider’s right knee could accommodate medicine bottles. “

So the verdict…

Despite giving the overall win to a larger and more powerful machine, Farmers Guardian were more than impressed with the KVF300. Noting what an advantage the machine’s light weight can be in boggy terrain, the KVF also won praise for its commendable degree of traction – a welcome bonus for a two-wheel drive machine.

Head and shoulders above other positive comments were a series of references to the outstanding fuel economy of the KVF saying that; “It was also a pleasant surprise to see it do so well in the fuel economy test.”

See the Farmers Guardian web site here.

With thanks to Farmers Guardian for the use of copy and comments.