OldDawg

@ jamo- A bit closer to town than you-I'm up Haywire Gulch! I pass Rogers Lake Rd every time I make the dump run/

@ jamo: Hello, neighbor! We're about 10 mi W of Kalispell and ~ 700 feet higher than the valley so we get roughly twice the snow that Kalispell does-

I'm over in the MT Banana Belt [Kalispell]-currently +8 with-11 forecast for tonight...

Once again, TYVM for the feedback, Mark. I may just decide to roll the dice on one regardless. If it lives thru the winter I'll have it for an extra for friends/family to ride and it will only have cost me a grand to plow all winter, which is probably about half of what it would cost to have it done and I won't be last on the list due to being on the end of the road....already plowed 6 times this winter [borrowing neighbor's but can't impose all winter] and am expecting a minimum of another 20 times.

TY for that evaluation, Mark- Any idea about how one of those 250 Tao Tao [or whatever they are] might do for snowplowing if chained up? Our snow is usually pretty dry and fluffy and I try to get on it before it has a chance to thaw/refreeze. My usual plowing chore takes about 45 mins with that Bayou 300 [no chains] for a 6-10" dump on a 200' drive plus about 2000 sq ft parking. For $2000 and change I could buy one of those TaoTao's, plow with it this year while I tinker with the Bayou and then sell it once I'm up and running again...

TYVM, spock-had not considered that he may not want the job. Came as a recommendation from retired small engine guy but really know nothing about him. Gonna go see him Friday and find out exactly how he arrived at his conclusion of bent/broken fork. Knowing zero about how these things are built, it is odd to me that there was NO warning and no noises-if a shift fork broke, seems like that piece would be likely to hit something spinning, and if bent if seems like I would have had to be doing something dodgy at the time of the bend. I'm pretty easy on equipment because I know how much work it can be to fix stuff. I don't bang gears and I don't shift from forward to reverse without a full stop in between EVER. I have a cherry picker so I should have no problem pulling the motor, just dreading having to clear off the entire workbench so I can lay stuff out in order of disassembly. Thanks for the suggestion about pulling then taking to someone who knows what they're doing-I'll ask for his guesstimate about what THAT might cost when I see him.

This will definitely be helpful in nailing down exactly what year my Bayou was built-thanks!

I also just ran across the Chinese-made ATV's, was shocked that you can buy a 250 new for ~ $2,000. Hoping to see folks who have knowledge chime in here with their experiences, whether positive or negative. The 3 YT videos I've watched so far seemed to show a machine that is a decent value for the $$$ but have not yet seen one with any evaluation after several hundred miles of use.

Bummer, kbb...sure is a helpless feeling, isn't it? Mine kept purring like a kitten but when whatever my tranny/clutch/?? issue happened it just didn't wanna move at ALL. At least mine was only in the ditch on the side of the road opposite my driveway. Still a PITA to wrestle it out and get it home in the snow.

TYVM for the response, appreciate it. Realized I couldn't download a manual w/o 10 posts so decided to spam my own thread to build up the post count. Apologies if I came across as impatient. One of the chainsaw forums I frequent often has folks falling all over themselves to respond to noob questions so I probably had unrealistic expectations. I guess what I was really asking without realizing it at the time is-does the mechanic's diagnosis of bent/broken fork sound plausible or are there a number of other possibilities [that would potentially be less $$$] to eliminate before pulling the whole thing apart? If that is a common issue with these machines I'd like to know, and if it isn't I'd still like to hear about it from the guys with a lot of experience. Me, I'm just a 70 yr old guy who needs to be able plow snow again pretty soon without shelling out 4 grand...rode one of these things exactly twice before I bought this one a couple of years ago and know nothing beyond basic mechanics of staying current with the maintenance, keeping things tight, ground connections clean, etc. Thanks also for the reliability vote on the 250-wife has one of those back in KY-she's been talking about selling it since she is there so infrequently. I'll try to talk her out of it now!

Hi- I'm a 70 yr old retired RN with a mid-late 90's Kawasaki Bayou 300 4x4 which has been babied by the PO who bought it new. He put a plow on it and built a blade lift using a Mercedes power window motor. Plows great for about 45 minutes then the battery is pretty well drained... Has worked well for me for a couple of Montana winters but it lost both forward and reverse suddenly while plowing-no warning, no noises, no grinding, no burning smell-nothing. Posted a new topic on it here last week but so far no one has chimed in with any thoughts: My riding experience has been pretty much limited to plowing and trips down to the mailbox ~ 1.4 miles away. Too bad, since I live in the heart of God's country [NW Montana's Flathead valley]. If there are any local folks with Bayous who have experience with their innards I'd love to make your acquaintance!

91 views now, nobody has an opinion or experience to share?

FWIW, on my Kawasaki Bayou 300 4x4, the guy I bought it from made a plow winch from a Mercedes car power window motor and mounted it on the front rack. Used the original power window buttons. Works fine for about 45 mins-then the battery begins to struggle due to voltage drop.

45 views, zero replies so far...I'm guessing that maybe bent/broken forks are just not an issue with these machines?

45 views, zero replies so far...

Hello- Not certain of model year here-was plowing snow and when I went to reverse, nothing...no bang, no grind no whine, motor just kept running smoothly but no gears either direction. Took it to recommended local mechanic and his diagnosis [after ~ 2 hr of shop time] is bent or broken shift fork. Estimate of 33 hrs of shop time to replace [@ $95/hr] + parts [~ $500?]. Says he won't install used parts and couldn't find any OEM. I THINK I located some OEM for ~ $75 apiece-without the machine handy I can't check ser # to be certain they are the correct ones. I realize I'm still living in the last millenium in many ways, but this just seems waaay out of line to me. I was prepared for maybe $1200 quote but $3500-4000 seems nuts. Anyone who has done [or paid to have it done] this particular job want to chime in? I'm not real anxious to tear into to it myself but I do have tools and have done rebuilds on ancient Datsun trucks. No way I'm shelling out that much $$$ on a machine this old even if it has been babied for much of it's life.