UTV comparisions

[gearpump]

My wonderful new wife found a little extra cash in the budget for a much needed farm toy, a UTV. Anyone have comments on brands, prices, and if these things are worth the expense. I am leaning towards the Mule, or the Ranger. I am sure they get around in the woods better then my full size long bed pickup. Although I am getting pretty good at 37 point turns to get out of the woods on the logging road!

Marty

[802maple]

I have been using a Artic Cat the last few weeks. It was very handy in being able to carry a lot of stuff. It was very stable and the traction was great. The turning radius had alot to be desired though. If I were to rate 1 to 10 with ten being the best I would have to give it a 8.

[Maplewalnut]

I use a Polaris 500 4x4. I have had it for over 10 years and have almost 3000 hard miles on it. It can haul out a cart with over a cord of split wood in it and skid trees bigger than telephone poles with no problem. Can't count the number of deer it has brought out, especially during drives when friends load on 2 or 3 at a time. Never had any problems, in fact the factory battery finally died last year. Let a little air out of the tires come mud season and off you go.

[OGDENS SUGAR BUSH]

I have a polaris also 300 model, 1999. i cant imagine what i would do with out it.

RICH

[WESTVIRGINIAMAPLER]

From the research I have done, the Kubota RTV's are the most machine for the money. They have a full truck type frame, haul 1100 lbs in bed, tow 1800 lbs, have a hydrostatic transmission, 21+ hp diesel engine that would likely last forever, hydraulic dump bed that is aprox 4' x 4', I am not sure exact dimensions and is aprox 11" deep. These specs are for the RTV 900 the best I can remember. They recently came out with an RTV 1100 which would do even more and are coming out with an RTV 700. Most of the others are glorified ATVs and are nice, but won't likely service like one of these machines and they have a high/low range & reverse with the hydro transmission.

Fred has one, maybe he can comment more in the event I am off a little on the specs. I would love to have one instead of my Yamaha Kodiak 450, but I don't need one as my Kodiak is a 2003 model and I have had it over 5 years and it has about 540 miles on it.

[tapper]

I have an Arctic Cat Prowler also. It is almost 2 years old. The main reason for getting the cat was ground clearance because of the rocky stream bottom that I bring most of my sap in from. It hauls 65 gallons of sap out of the woods very well and I am sure it would handle 100 gal. It has less than 800 miles on it and the brakes are shot. Small branches are not very freindly to the plastic fenders either. It is a very handy work tool for firewood or sap buckets and is way more usefull than the 2 atvs that rarely get used since I bought the utv.

[maplehound]

For those that have UTV's. What do you think of the leg room? I have sat on several diffrent brands and have found that most don't have enough leg room for me. With my bad knees and long legs I need room to get my foot on the peddles. Does the Kabota have extra leg room? Or do any of the others?

[tapper]

The Arctic Cat is not so good on leg room. A neighbor was shopping for a utv. He came and took mine for a drive and that was his 1st comment. He ended up buying a Cub Cadet and I think he is very happy with it. The Cubs look a little more rugged, have about the same ground clearance and carry more weight with a bigger box on the back. I am sure with the Cub I would be wrinkling tin instead of breaking off plastic.

[Fred Henderson]

As Brandon has said the Kubota tops the line. The new 1100 will do no more than the 900 except is have a factory cab, AC and heat and boost 3 more Hp to compensate for the AC & heat. There is now the newer 500 which is stated to fit in the back of a pickup. The RTV 900 is what I have and it is 90% work and 10% play. It has 21.5 HP,3 cyl diesel, 4X4, manual differ lock(press a foot pedal) and it has a pull knob to hold it in differ lock. It has a 48"x52" cargo bed to accomadate a full size pallet. Hydraulic dump bed. After market cabs can be purchased for these. Because of my 6' 5" frame I had leg room but I also raised the seat 1" and now I have even more. I put a plactic canopy on and a windshield that I made from some left over Lexan. I am now adding tracks that are on order from a company in Canada, Soucy track. Their company rep was here and let me demo one with tracks for 3 hours. The RTV 900's performances was just short of a tank only because it didn't have a big gun mounted atop. Tracks will save cutting the sugarbush all to pieces using the tractor and 2 others that I lease.
Go test drive one.

[gearpump]

As anyone tried out the Cub Cadet 4x4 UTVs? Looked at one today as was impressed. The frame looks beefy and it has a higher ground clearence then the Mule 3010. The only problem I can see is that you have to get all the after market add-ons from the dealer. Places like Cabela's don't list the Cub's on the manufacture list. Kubota's are nice, but I feel the price tag is too high for my target budget. More research is needed...

Marty

[WESTVIRGINIAMAPLER]

I can pick up a Kubota RTV 900 for around $ 10,500 just for reference. One thing you have to remember with a RTV is that they have a Kubota diesel tractor engine that would save a lot on fuel over the years and the engine should last forever and outlast 2 or 3 gas engines on most UTV's. That sounds like a lot, but you throw in a huge bed with aprox 11" sides and hydraulic dump on top of it and all the other features and Kubota quality, a little more up front will go a ton farther in the long run. I have a 450 Yamaha Kodiak and it will pass about anything and has a ton of power, but it eats gas and it is a one cylinder compared to the 21+ 3 cyclinder diesel in the Kubota.

[Fred Henderson]

The Kubota RTV900 started out as a 21.5 HP tractor. Engineers had trouble developing the tranny and management said aw just make it belt drive they will but it aways. The builders said no and kept working on it and came up with that good hyrdo. I forgot to mention that the new RTV500 will a gas engine.

[sapman]

I have no personal experience with the Kubotas, but have seen a few at work. A large alpaca farm near me has two or three of them. I asked the farm manager how they would compare to the Gators, and he said he felt there was no comparison, that Kubota was a much better machine.

And last fall I was doing trenchwork at a horse farm. The manager was using a full size backhoe to load the Kubota. He saw me laughing as he completely filled the dump bed and it spilled over, so the thing was sagging way down in the back! He said they use it like this all the time, and it stands up to all the abuse.

Tim