We own 6 atv's, my kids have been hard on some of them. I bought a 1 year old repo sportsman from my credit union, "a great deal" I just sold it before hunting season and swore I would never buy another polaris, there is a reason why thier such a great deal.
I am partial to automatics. I have a 2001 yamaha 400 and a 2004 450, my first choice. A honda rubicon, great bike but not the ride of the yamahas. A artic cat 400 and a artic cat 300, I don't think the 300 will hold up as well as I had expected. A kawasaki 650, just got a recall, something about stearing but a good bike.
I've also owned suzuki, and even a chinese couger, "stay away from that one" closest service is in china.
Get what you like, there are fans of every make and model out there. My personal fav is the yamaha.

 

I have a 04 1/2 Polaris Sportsman 700 (and pics to prove it! )! I love it! Its has more power than you need and I have never seen another quad that would out do it in the mud...of course I have a 2in lift and 29in Mudzillas on it. It has 700 miles on it and has never given me a problem at all. I have had Kawasakis and Hondas in the past and while they were all good (the Kawasaki had a ton of carb problems) I have enjoyed this one more than any of the others. For $7K for the two and a trailer...thats a steal. If they were not sold I would come get them. To everyone saying dont buy them get the Recon or what ever...keep in mind he was asking was it a good deal or not...the Recon will cost more than both used quads and the trailer.

 

Are there any rock crawling setups for quads. I'm drooling just thinking about it. I went rock crawling in a kawi (I'll find out soon what model it is), and go often. I went up some hair raising cliffs and it performed fantastic. It sometimes gave a slipping sound that scared the chit out of me going uphill but did not stop pulling. I couldn't believe what I went up and through. I have been riding it for a couple years and beat the hell out of it, no major problems yet. It's my Aunt's, not mine. When I do buy one, I will not buy it new, I never buy anything new. I don't know what brand I'll get, I'm going to have to research them like I did the f150's. Almost 5 months and still don't have one yet (F150).

 

I also have a polaris atv. It's an '05 Polaris Scrambler 500. It is their "hybrid" bike. it is both a sport bike and a 4x4. It has plenty of power and i love being able to switch it into 4x4 if i want to do some crawlin or muddin'. I have never had any problems with it, but it is also pretty new. I bought it new this spring and have put a couple hundred miles on it.

Here is a crappy picture of it (sorry, it was before i learned how to use my digi camera).

 

Ride alot huh.... I have put 1200 miles on my Kawasaki 750 4x4 in 2 months.

Over 8000 on the Rincon in 2 years. No wonder I stay so tired all the time.

 

ya, i dont ride very much, i would love to get out and ride more but i just dont have the time

 

Come on guys, someone has to have heard of one. Are there any rock crawling setups for atv's (with nice flex/articulation, etc)?

 

Im not sure what you mean by "rock crawling setups" but if I was to set up a 4 wheeler for crawling around on the rock, I would probably go with an IRS equiped wheeler, widen the stance some, a little bigger and better tires, and a manual (constant low speeds, or getting wedged between a rock and trying to nail it to get up could burn a belt on an auto pretty quick). Possibly a lift depending on how big these rocks are.

Thats just my oppinion/what I would do.

 

I am not sure why a stock stance machine would not rock crawl but here you go.....see if this will work.