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3 wheelers rule
I 've never had a quad that could go as many places as my ATC-200es.
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3 wheelers rule
You are right, especially if you consider how often three wheelers sent their riders to the head trauma units. I worked in and around hospitals in Alaska in the late seventies and early eighties and we had thousands of those things running around the state. I lost count of the head cases I saw or heard about from a 3 wheeler flipping over it's front wheel. Kids were the usual victims, although even if you drove one slowly and sanely, they were still prone to go head over tea kettle if you were going downhill and hit a rock that turned the front wheel. If you still have one of those old things, I hope you also own a helmet.
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3 wheelers rule
It seems to me that the 3 wheel tractors had about as many problems.
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3 wheelers rule
Yup. Been there, done that.
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3 wheelers rule
Nothing better than a nice cup of coffee and a severe slap in the face from some loony lefty who is only trying to protect you from yourself.
It's pretty obvious to all of us that hillbilly is some neanderthal that just doesn't get it.
We can thank our lucky stars that Mark is around to save us.
I, too, live in Alaska and drive a 3 wheeler even though its getting harder and harder to find parts. The government has determined that it is unsafe to ride a 3 wheeler and consequently they haven't been sold since 1986.
For some reason I just don't get, the protectors of humanity, always blame they tool and not the user. Almost sounds like another issue we hear a lot about today, guns and how evil they are.
Here are some conclusions from the Consumer Product Safety Commision concerning 3 and 4 wheel ATV's.
The ten-year CPSC study revealed that many ATV-related fatalities were caused by improper use of Off-Road Vehicles. Nancy Minard, President of North Carolina's Off-Road Vehicle Association (NOVA), put the statistics in perspective. "People sometimes use them improperly, but if you use them for what they were designed to do, they are perfectly safe." Indeed, the CPSC's own statistics support her. The majority of fatalities were caused by circumstances which were entirely unrelated to design. For example, 608 of the reported 3411 fatalities involved collisions with other vehicles. Most of those were cars, jeeps, dune buggies, or pick-up trucks. 31 involved collisions with trains, 4 with tractor-trailers, another 4 with tractors, 2 with buses, 2 with motor homes, and 1 with a police car. Other fatal collisions involved a skid loader, a parked dump truck, a parked wagon, a hay wagon, a field roller, boat trailer, and a hay bailer. Five children died when quads ran over their go-carts. 15 deaths were caused by collisions with other ATVs or dirt bikes.
Other fatalities were caused by a victim's negligence or misuse of his ATV. Seven riders died when they struck mailboxes. Others perished when their ATVs ran into an oil tank, a manure pile, fire hydrant, goat pen, barn, tombstones, a porch, or a speed bump. Three died when a weapon they were carrying on their ATV discharged accidentally. One of those involved a cross-bow. At least 4 were electrocuted when they touched a live electrical wire. Obviously, those tragedies were not caused by ATV design.
Lack of caution was an obvious cause of many fatalities. A large number of riders died when they collided with logs, utility poles, fences, and railroad ties. The second most frequent cause of death involved collisions with trees (387 fatalities). Even some of those were bizarre, with at least one rider being impaled by a tree limb, making a macabre trail marker.
Very few riders (5) perished because of mechanical malfunctions. 2 died after their ride lost a wheel, 1 when his throttle stuck, 1 from an axle malfunction, and 1 when his trailer disengaged. More riders (13) died in collisions with animals. Seven (7) died in collisions with dogs, 2 with deer, 2 with horses, and 2 with cows. Nature took her toll in other ways. 18 ATVers drowned when their machines feel through broken ice into freezing water.
Many other deaths may have been caused by maliciousness. 58 riders perished when they struck a rope, cable, wire, or a barbed-wire strand that was strewn across the trail. Many of those (at least 10) were strewn at neck height.
The unsafe practice of doubling resulted in a number of other fatalities. 467 passengers died in various ways (13.6% of all ATV-related deaths), including falling into rocks, trees, or being run over by following quads, among other things. The CPSC study also included bystanders' deaths, 6 in mishaps involving three-wheelers and 4 with quads.
The Commission's report, when scrutinized, does not support the claims of ATV critics. All-Terrain Vehicles are not dangerous when used as intended. CPSC statistics actually show that harm usually follows their misuse, or circumstances which have nothing to do with the machines' design.
By the way, it was also determined that 4 wheelers are not safer than 3 wheelers just differant. I'm sure this gives Mark and his ilk a new direction that will eventually lead to the complete salvation of mankind by doing away with the evil 4 wheeler.
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3 wheelers rule
No matter how you cut it, anything with 3 wheels is inherently less stable than one with 4 wheels, particularly in a turn or on a slope. That said, I completely agree with you that both are safe when operated correctly. Problem is that few are operated correctly. I am sure that vertually every accident is due to operator error. All you have to do is watch 10 people ride them. 1 will be riding along correctly while 9 will be racing like a bat out of hell. A 4 wheeler will add a slight safety margin over a 3 wheeler, but not much.
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3 wheelers rule
I would agree with Bill, but might go a little farther. I guess I have never seen one used as intended at least not consistantly. Most of the time I see them racing up and down the road like a car. I am sure they are not intended to do 50 mph on pavement.
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3 wheelers rule
Last week I was casting spoons in a beaver pond. I really was doing a better job of entertaining the beaver than interesting the trout, but I knew that would be the case. It was just an excuse to walk a fair bit back in the bush along a gas pipeline.
So, I'm up the creek with the beaver, who are swimming across where I cast the spoon (hmmm wonder where the trout were?) and I hear a 4-wheeler coming up the pipeline. When I get back to the pipeline, my wife tells me there were two people on it and they did a bunch of fishing around getting down and up the rocky banks and across the creek.
They're called 4-wheelers around here even if it's getting hard to remember when they used to be missing a wheel. Three-wheelers are just too dangerous on the bush trails around here and nobody has one anymore. Of course, a passenger on the luggage rack of a 4-wheeler does dangerous in it's own right, but then it's the people not the design that's at fault. Don’t even have to be going 50 mph on a road to be inappropriate.
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3 wheelers rule
So…..JimMO…. Folks on this tractor board are pretty sensible, down to earth folks. Most of us don’t blame the stick when we can see the primate behind it. Those ball caps you wear have adjustments in the back. Maybe you can loosen yours a couple notches and explain to the rest us, who are still bound by the laws of gravity, just how you got face slapping, loony leftist, gun grabbing, savior of mankind and evil four wheeler out of what I wrote above. Just curious.
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3 wheelers rule
Tom, I'm going to do something I rarely do, I'm going to disagree with you. At least, with one statement you made. I own a (several actually, I picked up a few for parts) 3 wheeler, a 1985 Honda Big Red, it sits on three of the largest sized tires made for ATV's until recently, they are 25/12-9's. I have owned & operated this machine since 1985. In all of that time the ONLY time it has been off it's wheels it was done intentionally, to get over/through/around/across a tricky piece of Canadian real estate. I have ridden with & on MANY 4 wheelers over the years, my trusty old 3 wheeler has ALWAYS (much to the chagrin of people who spent $10+k. on new 'ultimate' 4 wheelers) outperformed them all, it is far more stable (IMHO) AT THE APPROPRIATE SPEED than anything else I have found yet. Notice I refered to speed. At proper speed, hitting an obstacle with the front wheel causes a bump, but an even dependable bump, no sideways twisting like when you hit an obstacle with just 1 front wheel of a 4 wheeler. Besides all that, my machine at just over 1/3 the weight of the average 4 wheeler goes easily OVER areas that a 4 wheeler has to chew the h--- out of to get THROUGH. Everyone is entitled to their opinion, but for my money, I will continue to 'tread' lightly (and very cheaply....) As always... Best of luck.
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04-29-2002, 08:34 
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