Sometimes you just have to be different. Life is too short to do whatever everyone else does, or to mow your lawn like everyone else does. This super-rare 1988 Yamaha Terrapro Moto-4 ATV with a factory Yamaha mower attachment is listed here on Facebook Marketplace in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and they’re asking $2,500. Here is the original listing. I couldn’t pass up this one when I saw it listed. Hopefully, it’s interesting to a few Barn Finds fans.
Last July, we saw one other example of Yamaha’s rare Terrapro ATV “tractor”-type lawn and garden care vehicles here on Barn Finds. Some of the comments weren’t glowing, but they weren’t negative either. That’s all any of us here can hope for! The last one was similar, but maybe in a bit nicer cosmetic condition.
I’ve mentioned YouTube guru Joe Weber a few times here. He finds and gets old motorcycles and ATVs running in a few hours. His 2Vintage site and YouTube page are worth checking out, and his Yamaha Terrapro video can be found here on YouTube. He recently found one of these and brought it back to life. He’s shown it on subsequent videos in his new storage building, so I’m guessing he’s keeping his Terrapro. At the end of that video, he mows the entire field next to his new building (sped up, of course), and it looks like it’s perfect for that type of job. Here’s a fun ad showing the Terrapro and some happy owners.
Yamaha only offered the Terrapro and related attachments for the 1988 model year, from what info I can find, and they’re rear-wheel drive only, so this is not a 4×4 ATV. Be prepared for that if and when you remove the mower or any other attachments and think that you’ll be out climbing sand dunes with it. This example can use some cosmetic work if a person cared about such things. The mower attachment (a 48″) would be a relatively easy restoration project that a person could do between mowing sessions. This is the finer three-blade FM-48 (48-inch “finishing mower”), so it does a finer job compared to the two-blade RC-42 (42-inch “rough-cut” mower) used for more brushy areas.
The coolest part of this little rig is the power take-off (PTO) shown in the photo above. It’s said to have been the first ATV to have such a feature, and there were several implements a buyer could use with this ATV. Here’s an old auction listing showing a few attachments. The engine is Yamaha’s 348-cc four-stroke SOHC single-cylinder with 14.5 horsepower and 10 horsepower at the PTO. The dual-range 5-speed (with reverse) manual transmission sends power to the rear wheels. The seller says they’re the second owners, and it was just serviced and has a new battery. Would any of you use a system like this Yamaha Terrapro Moto-4 to do your yardwork? I love it for the oddball factor if nothing else.
Had a plain Moto 4 (no pto) most useless thing I ever owned.
Had a “plain ” Moto 4 as a kid. Most fun thing I owned, at least as a kid.
When you’re a kid, anything that makes noise that you can ride is cool.
Before coming to CO. I spent a summer in upstate NY, and the person I stayed with, had a non-pto ATV like this. I was surprised it was 2wd, and I don’t think the guy knew that when he got it. He just figured all ATVs were 4×4. I wouldn’t say it was useless, just not as versatile as a 4×4. It needed a lot of work, and was amazed most parts were available. I wouldn’t buy this for what a traditional ATV is used for, but still a good workhorse, I suppose.
I got a Moto 4 225 when they first came out in 1985. Used it around the farm and it was fantastic. Great on gas mileage, better than my Grizzly and Kodiak, both are 450cc. I loved the manual transmission. Everything is is CVT now, just have to live with it. Parts may be discontinued now. That is what I found out when my 225 broke down. 2 wheel drive was fine with me. Rarely do I use the 4 wheel drive on Grizzly and Kodiak.
When I first started looking for a quad, I was quite fixated with these. They seemed like a great multi-use machine, with a few implements. In the end, anything I found for sale was in need of a rebuild, parts seemed absent, the mowing deck was the only implement anyone had, and it occurred to me that a self-powered mower could be pulled by any quad.
I still think there is a demand for a new multipurpose quad with, say, a cat0 hitch and live PTO, but the market would be small, and the price would probably rival a small tractor (which is likely more work-capable).
I have thought a 4Wheeler with the mower on the front would be the best arrangement
I don’t think anyone with a really nice lawn would want to mow with this thing. I know I wouldn’t. For other non-lawn chores, this would be a good thing.
Built for pre-zero turn days
When I lived in NH, the neighbor across the street that had ALL of the toys had an 4 wheeler with a snow plow blade attached to the front. He could not get any traction and it was a chore for him to clear his driveway.
Although I did not get along with these people – pretentious show offs – I saw the wife struggling to plow the driveway with that ATV while hubby was away, so I went over with my 15 year old Craftsman snow blower and took care of it for her.
Sometimes it doesn’t pay to re-invent the wheel.
I much prefer an ATV with a plow to a walk-behind snow blower. An ATV is much faster and I would much rather sit down, turn handlebars and press buttons then have to wrestle a snowblower around. I too live in NH and We have both an ATV with a plow and a snowblower and the snowblower rarely gets used. The ATV does most of the work.
My neighbor must have had a bad setup or something. Maybe a 2WD as opposed to a 4WD? I used to hate it when he would get up a head of steam and push the snow across the street and pile it up on my side. It would push the road salt onto the snowbank which would melt and injure my grass in the spring.