Replacing Hunting Equipment

[Deadeye]

That is good thoughts. I have switched my thoughts as I've aged on vehicles. When I was younger I'd buy an older car for little and work on it yearly to keep it in running shape and thought I was being smart.

Then I started buying New and found out that as long as I took care of it I could run that vehicle for YEARS without having to do much to it. I'm not one to trade every year, so my last Truck I bought New and it had 123,000+ on it when I traded it in. The SUV I now use as my "run around town" vehicle I traded it for has 180,000+ miles and is still running like new with very little work done on it over the years. I've had it for 13 years now and it's not worth anything to sell or trade so I'll keep running it until it dies.
I did but a New To Me F-150 last year, but it was such a great deal it was hard to pass on. Lady owned it for her "Florida Truck" and it was a 2009 with 41,000 on it for $17,000. Hard to beat that one. Still looked like new.

The ATV I bought used for $2500, so putting another $400 in it still puts it way below it's Book Value and it's only has 300 Hrs and about 2400 miles on it. The bushings just wore out from Age not abuse.

 

[Elkaddict]

Getting back on topic about these unplanned expenses like your atv, some of those are unavoidable, and fixing up your old atv was probably a much better value than a new one. But just last year I had this same thing happen to me with a slightly different twist to it.
I have multiple atv's, which I put about 300 miles a year on each. One was a 2005 yamaha kodiak 450 with 4k miles on it that had served me well for many years as my sprayer and seeder rig, and one day a year ago I was looking at that machine, thinking how much good use I'd gotten out of it, and suddenly I said to myself, this machine is just at the point of becoming a mechanic's special and someone else is going to be fixing it! The factory was offering a special on new ones for $6900, so I sold the old one private and paid about $4000 out of pocket and had a new 2019 450 kodiak with camo. Anyway, the next owner pretty much had the same list of repairs as you did during the next year, he did nothing but fixing. My point is, spending money, and having the aggravation of breakdowns can be two different things. Yes, I spent $4K, but if history repeats itself I'll have another 14 trouble free years of atv use without any aggravation, at the low cost of $286 dollars a year while the other guy will be fixing my old one for very likely an average of $286 dollars a year and a lot of aggravation.
I have some old equipment that I'll keep, as long as it's solid and easy to fix. But I'm quick to bite the bullet and upgrade if need be, I'll often think to myself, what are the annual costs for this piece from this point forward, vs trading up?
And sometimes, laying out a little dough up front can save a lot of trouble on the back end, while coming out the same dollar wise.

Your post is timely. I have a 2006 Grizzly that has hit that point. It still runs strong but needs a CV boot, new brake cables, and the carburetor needs a rebuild (I’ve been milking it all year, and after letting it sit for a couple weeks, it clogged up to the point that it will start but won’t do much more than run at near idle speeds). I’m leaning towards fixing and trading off for a new machine, but the thought pains me as it has been by hunting machine across much of Utah, SE Idaho, SW Wyoming, NW Colorado, Eastern MT, of course NY. If I do replace, I’ll pick up another 700 Grizzly or Kodiak. It has been a fantastic machine!

 

[Mennoniteman]

Your post is timely. I have a 2006 Grizzly that has hit that point. It still runs strong but needs a CV boot, new brake cables, and the carburetor needs a rebuild (I’ve been milking it all year, and after letting it sit for a couple weeks, it clogged up to the point that it will start but won’t do much more than run at near idle speeds). I’m leaning towards fixing and trading off for a new machine, but the thought pains me as it has been by hunting machine across much of Utah, SE Idaho, SW Wyoming, NW Colorado, Eastern MT, of course NY. If I do replace, I’ll pick up another 700 Grizzly or Kodiak. It has been a fantastic machine!

I too had some sentimental feelings for all the memories with my "old reliable". But by buying the identical machine new, those feelings kindof just transfered over. I sure like that yamadog 450. $6199 for a new 450 is one the few great deals on new equipment available today. One "must have" upgrade for me, I have 1.5" extension bushings on the wheels, all my buddies use the bushings as well. The dealer said absolutely don't put the axle extensions on, I said, "watch me". They give the kodiak and my 700 Grizzly a better ride and so much more stability. It won’t turn quite as tight, but it's not a noticeable difference.