OHV vs. 4wd vs. 4x4 vs. ORV vs. Four Wheeler

By Jerry Smith

“Without knowledge action is useless and knowledge without action is futile.” - Abu Bakr

Confusion, chaos, pandemonium, and bedlam are being experienced in the motorized recreation realm.  It seems that latecomers to the dance have commandeered the monikers of the original motorized recreational motivation (the Jeep).  About the only name they haven’t taken is “Jeep”. 

On Calamity Mesa Loop Jeep trail.

As “the original four-wheel drive vehicle”, Jeeps have a special place in history.  But like so many other things, the “four-wheel drive” phrase has been spread to the point of being added to your mother’s sedan, your father’s pickup, your brother’s ATV, your sister’s UTV, and your friend’s foreign made vehicle.

Four wheel drives morphed into ORVs (Off Road Vehicles) that eventually included the three-wheeled ATV, then the four-wheeled ATV, then the Side-by-Side Utility Vehicle, and then the current models of the UTV and SxS.  Then ORV became politically incorrect and we adopted “Off-Highway Vehicle” (OHV) as the catchall phrase.

Where Jeeps once roamed the mountains and valleys alone, now they are losing their dominance to the UTV in numbers.  The need for speed and a more “racy look” have become the choice of many.

Events for Jeeps have been copied by the UTV and ATV crowds to include trail rides and racing.

Along with the formal recreational uses of all these vehicles, public and private land use issues have also grown.

Private “OHV” areas are springing up all over America.  Some of those areas are developing new trails to challenge their patrons and are adding other enhancements like camping and events to lure more participation.  This is where the chaos and confusion seem to originate.

Presently, when an “OHV” event is advertised, what does that event include??  One may be for ATVs only.  The next one is for UTVs.  Another may include full-sized vehicles and yet another might be a strictly full-sized vehicle only show.  Don’t forget the Motorcycles fall under the “OHV” umbrella.  Do the advertisers tell you this… or do they simply say “OHV” event?

The same applies to public land management.  The term “OHV” is used universally even when the implementation is not.  An under 50” wide trail and a full-width trail are managed for different vehicles, but the catchall “OHV” still applies.  “OHV” may even include single-track trails for motorcycles and mountain bikes.  Confusion, chaos, and pandemonium prevail.

So how do we remedy this??  What terms or politically correct jargon can separate the many actors in this play?  And what do we do for the next generation of technologies that are inevitable?

First, let’s take the roads and trails and divide them into the current uses and designations used by land management.

Ø  Single track – bikes, and motorcycles

Ø  50” and below – ATV / UTV / bikes and motorcycles

Ø 50” and above – Full-size / ATV / UTV / bikes and motorcycles

As you can see, we begin having overlapping right away, yet all of these vehicles are OHVs.  So we can retain the OHV name as generic for all motorized and mechanized uses.

Next, we have the distinction between the UTVs.  Some qualify for the less than 50-inch (<50”) trails while others do not.  The commonality is the <50” part, so maybe we bunch them into the less than 50-inch (<50”) group.

Last, we have the over 50-inch vehicles (>50”).  As far as I know, there are few restricted uses on this size of road or trail.  Some places will require licenses, insurance, lights, and horn to be legal.

So now we have a small, a medium, and a large-size way of determining what vehicle(s) we are talking about and the trails they are allowed to run on.

Event advertising can promote either small, medium or large or motorcycle, <50”, or >50” vehicles to alleviate the confusion. 

Land management may use the same designations to separate the groups with better clarity as well.

As for the other monikers we have mingled into our vocabulary over the years, maybe we begin fazing them out.

Looking to the future, it’s anyone’s guess.  Hovering vehicles might be interesting to designate.

The “K.I.S.S.” (Keep it simple stupid) method often shines.