Alaska is hard on stuff...

[reuben_j_cogburn]

I see video's of guy's modding out (bubba-ing??) out their ATV's..... I look at my tired old, tried but true, honda fourtrax machines.... I think of all the hard trail we've shared hauling supplies, firewood, water... critters, and all the "sportsmans scratches", the have acquired.. kinda like me.....
You see my rides, Trigger and Nelle Belle, and you'll know why I don't want to leave them behind...
I made this video for fun.. but also a warning that if people want to live in the sticks... your stuff is gonna start lookin rough after time...

 

[Threespears]

Everything is gone, busted, or broken…
But other than that… SHE’S cherry

 

[badguybuster]

trigger wasnt a horse... i am disappointed

 

[Mobuck]

The guy who rents my pasture tends toward the 'junk' end of equipment. Last summer he brought a Honda 4trax to use for checking cows and it was literally JUNK but it did run in a quirky fashion and did what he needed. I wouldn't have wasted the gas to haul it to the trash pile but he was OK with it so what could I say?

 

[mirglip]

The guy who rents my pasture tends toward the 'junk' end of equipment. Last summer he brought a Honda 4trax to use for checking cows and it was literally JUNK but it did run in a quirky fashion and did what he needed. I wouldn't have wasted the gas to haul it to the trash pile but he was OK with it so what could I say?

It's a matter of principle. New junk doesn't last so we buy old junk and squeeze a few more years out of it.

 

[bobski]

its a tool.

 

[T.A. WORKMAN]

The old adage... one mans junk is another mans treasure...rings true,

 

[Joey]

He said it was bought new. Shows a lot of hard (necessary) use. But still gets the job done..........

 

[reuben_j_cogburn]

I actually bought trigger from a fairly well know guide in talkeetna. he used it to haul his clients gear from the plane to the lodge (I use that term loosely)....
But nearly 20 years of use here in the sticks will take it's toll.... there are more machines that look like mine than look new ( none look new actually). the only shiny machines you see are from those who live in anchorage or wasilla...
Snowmobiles are the same.... I can tell what homesteader is coming down the trail towards me just by the duct tape on the cowling, or windshield... I think rural alaskans keep the zip-tie company in business!... it's just the price that is paid.. If you want to keep your stuff nice, don't bring it out to the sticks, because it won't be nice for long.
now don't you be callin my ride junk!!!.. she's earned those scars.. so has nelle belle... they are both mechanically sound and get their oil, and other fluids changed each season... I'll be redoing the brakes this summer, and recovering triggers seat...
There's no other ATV (s) I'd rather own actually... mine have many lifetimes worth of use.. never used for recreation.... just work... who the heck wants to go for a ride when you spent the whole day, riding.. hauling firewood, logs, water, etc... not me!!!
But I've got a soft spot for those two machines... and tons of memories... wet, cold, mud covered unpleasant memories!!!
pic is from year one... getting ready to haul a load up from the river.... honeydew, my navigator, in her honey bucket....

 

[Armybrat]

My brother’s machine has never been on the pavement in the 15 years he’s used it to haul stuff around his deer camp land.

 

[Glockpride]

The guy who rents my pasture tends toward the 'junk' end of equipment. Last summer he brought a Honda 4trax to use for checking cows and it was literally JUNK but it did run in a quirky fashion and did what he needed. I wouldn't have wasted the gas to haul it to the trash pile but he was OK with it so what could I say?

If it works and does what he needs, it ain’t junk. I guess some of us just have to be a little more thrifty than others.

 

[reuben_j_cogburn]

they are more like old friends... like my first bear dog (Uljas), they are just an every day part of my life... I've done without them..and snowmobiles.. but it's really hard to be efficient without them.
The damage just happens.... there are no "shops", to take them to.... not without a lot of time and expense. But why?.... it's just going to get damaged again...
I had a friend deliver my 92 Arctic cat jag to me.... It was in really nice shape for it's age.... he wanted to go on one last joyride... I told him to stay away from a certain hill...... he didn't listen.... he crashed my cat, going down a steep hill and took a big spruce head on, and shattered the nose cone and bent the front grab bar badly..... the tub was bent badly. I got the tub back into good shape, and did a respectable job of repairing the grab bar, but the nosecone was toast...
I bought a new nose cone.... my buddy came up to help cut and haul wood..... went off the trail... (I told him not to do that. ...), and hit a stump... the grab bar was beyond repair... the brand new... weeks old ($100), nose cone was busted badly.... this time I used tin and rivets to put the nosecone back together....
Rivets, zip-ties, duct-tape, are what keeps things together...
The damage to triggers right front fender was due to borrowing it out.... rule number 1 of homesteading... don't borrow your stuff out... it won't come back the way it left....
Trigger hauling freight back yo the cabin from the chopper pad......

 

[Hertervillian]

I actually bought trigger from a fairly well know guide in talkeetna. he used it to haul his clients gear from the plane to the lodge (I use that term loosely)....
But nearly 20 years of use here in the sticks will take it's toll.... there are more machines that look like mine than look new ( none look new actually). the only shiny machines you see are from those who live in anchorage or wasilla...
Snowmobiles are the same.... I can tell what homesteader is coming down the trail towards me just by the duct tape on the cowling, or windshield... I think rural alaskans keep the zip-tie company in business!... it's just the price that is paid.. If you want to keep your stuff nice, don't bring it out to the sticks, because it won't be nice for long.
now don't you be callin my ride junk!!!.. she's earned those scars.. so has nelle belle... they are both mechanically sound and get their oil, and other fluids changed each season... I'll be redoing the brakes this summer, and recovering triggers seat...
There's no other ATV (s) I'd rather own actually... mine have many lifetimes worth of use.. never used for recreation.... just work... who the heck wants to go for a ride when you spent the whole day, riding.. hauling firewood, logs, water, etc... not me!!!
But I've got a soft spot for those two machines... and tons of memories... wet, cold, mud covered unpleasant memories!!!
pic is from year one... getting ready to haul a load up from the river.... honeydew, my navigator, in her honey bucket....View attachment 103372

MN but this Cat feels every scrape and bump. Brothers from different mothers I’d say.