We're looking to buy a utility vehicle to use daily in our work, some call them side by sides, some utv, not sure exactly what everyone refers to them but we are wanting one with a full cab with a excellent heater, no ac required, 4x4 that handles nicely and isn't going to shake us to death bouncing across chiseled corn fields while doing ag tiling. I'm leaning more to a diesel model than gas and am wanting one with auxiliary hydraulics to run a cylinder on a pulled implement behind. We'll outfit it how we need it to carry things after we get one, does anyone have any experience with the different models and makes out there. I've done some reading on comparisons but they never tell anything more than just the operational things, like durability, long term use and what breaks down, weak areas of the design, problems starting in cold weather, slow to warm up heaters that people are cold in and it takes an hour to warm up and throw some heat in the cab, a 500 dollar part thats always breaking, life expectancy of the engines, constant transmission belts repair, things like that. We've ruled out the deere gator for now, we tried one that a customer let us use and we didn't like it at all, too cramped and for some reason it didn't fit us right, haven't tried any others yet, but were looking hard at a kubota 900, my dealer near me will let us try out a used one when he gets one in, but as of yet he hasn't had any trades, everyone around me runs polaris rangers, I've run several over the years, can't really say one way or the other, never ran one with a full cab though, people I know complain a lot about the belt drive transmission always needing fixed on those, about 500 bucks a shot I'm told and several have told me its a yearly event, others more often, some less, depends on how its used. The kawasaki mule is another option, I've had several kawasaki engines over the years and swore I'd never own another one ever again, both never ran or started from the day they were new and always had constant carburetor trouble, but maybe the newer one's are better. Speed doesn't interest me much, more of a chase here and there, pack mule, carry all, tote people around to save walking, chase fittings from my fitting trailer, do job site inspections and initial scouting type work and no a 4x4 pickup isn't going to work, been there done that and am always stuck or out of gas. Right now we use a 4x4 atv and love it, we take it everywhere, but am wanting a cab with heater and a box to haul things in to take its place. Anyone with any experience please give some advice, I thought maybe the construction people would give me some better answers than the consumer or weekend users would, I'm not planning on waxing and washing it every weekend, I plan to buy it and wear it out not trade it off every year for another new one, its going to be a long term investment, I'm thinking maybe that 5000 hour mark before trading it off kind of thing, I'm thinking the diesels would last that long, gas probably never would but does anyone know the life expectancy of any of them?
I have no first hand experience with utility vehicles, but I have lots of experience with 4x4's. 99% of the time, getting stuck is due to having the wrong tires- lack of floatation and lack of traction. I had an f250 on 36 x 16.5" wide DC Fun Country tires that would float over soft wet ground without leaving ruts. I could drive over customers' lawns right up next to marshes with a half ton in the bed without making an imprint. I never got stuck and it wasn't for lack of trying . Running out of gas has nothing to do with the vehicle. A full size truck is not going to be smooth on rough terrain and sounds like overkill for what you describe. However, an S-10, Ranger, Dakota, Suzuki Samuri or Jeep with floatation tires will get you anywhere you want in comfort, with heat and maybe even ac. Although, they all lack the aux hydraulics that you mention. A split shaft pto transfer case adaptor can be added to drive a hydraulic pump. The plus side to modifying a truck is that it costs a lot less than a UTV, even after adding aux hydraulics. The downside is that you generally don't get your investment back when it's time to sell. Jeeps tend to hold their value or can even increase in value when they're modified for off road use. You could set up an old Jeep Cherokee for under $3,000 that will go anywhere you go on your ATV (assuming $2,000 for the Cherokee, $800 for a used set of 32 or 33" tires and $200 for fuzzy dice and air fresheners etc). Don't bother with a lift kit and just trim the sheet metal as needed for tire clearance. One drawback for all UTV's is theft. They're relatively small, very valuable and are best kept under lock and key. Diesel is convenient since you don't have to make special trips to get fuel. We have an older kubota diesel lawn tractor with 1,100 hrs that we use for mowing and pulling a trailer. I hate to think about how much abuse it's taking during the short 5 minute runs when I start it up in the winter to bring in firewood. It never gets a chance to warm up. If the engine is used for lots of start and stop driving where it never gets to warm up, gas is the way to go. So, that about wraps up my reply that includes absolutely no first hand experience with UTV's.:drinkup
Well, I have a Kubota RTV 1100, and sort of use it like you mention. But for the most part it is just around the place. In fact, I went with 5W40 full synthetic because I felt I was doing too many start/stop cycles for the diesel in the cold. My TN cold won't be like yours in Iowa...! But for 2 seasons I ran it every morning to check and feed livestock. I love mine. I bought it with 50 hours, so saved the big deprec hit. My Kubota dealer tells me that the basic drivetrain is the same as their hydrostat tractiors. I can believe it. I believe rated to tow 900 pounds. We take a 14' 2 axle lawn trailer and stack it to the gills with split firewood, and haul it 1/2 mile across the place to the barn. Pros- have never had to wrench anything. If run sensibly, can run a 8 hour day of driving around on less than .5 tank of fuel. Cons- you'll never sneak up on anyone. The diesel just isn't quiet. Not the most comfortable seating position, but I don't ride for more than a few minutes before I'm out doing something. When we first got it, had complaints from the family of hard to drive. When you released the throttle, there was no coast whatsoever. I mean, bam- shutdown almost like applying the brakes. I found a coast valve on EBay that "fixed" it. Much more well mannered now. My heater works great. Mine is a little bit older ('08 or so), so it doesn't have the side windows that open- like a greenhouse. I find myself running the A/C when I might not otherwise. They are a touch topheavy. I can tell you from experience that a teenage boy, running 25 MPH can cut the wheel hard to the right, and lay it on the side. I would love to have some wheels that had a wider stance. But I personally have never felt afraid of rolling. But like was just mentioned, I saw a new one at Louisville Farm show with a 20K price tag. I had to wonder to myself if I'd replace it for that, or find a small 4x4 pu. But, it is truly more manuverable and handy than a small truck around the farm.
How about the bobcat utv? They have hydrolics and on some i belive you could put attachments on the front. I also have zero knowledge with the utv's but i do own a polarise 800 sportsman and can tell you the belts are a pain but not 500 bucks. I had to buy one a few years ago for around 150 bucks and at the time didn't have the time to fix it my self so had the dealer do it. The total bill was around 220 buck.
I use a maxIV for my off road utility needs.It's 6 wheel drive is great for off road and has a low center of gravity for hilly terrain plus it floats in water. www.maxatvs.com/index.php?src=gendocs&ref=guided_tour_max4&category=GuidedTour The customer I am working for now has a kubota rtv900 with the cab & heater,they like it. www.kubota.com/product/RTV900XT/RTV900XT.aspx Might look at these japanese mini trucks as an option,they look cool and I'm sure ya wont break the bank buying one. www.twinriversatv.com
Kawaskai mule or johndeere gator, havelots of excperoence on many and those were the to best
We have a Polaris Ranger 4x4 w/ front end winch, cab & heater and is a gas model. Use it for everything around the farm and plumbing business - very similar application as you would have. It has been trouble free and very handy. I will buy another when this one wears out.
not what you want. I think you are looking to use your machine in the wrong way. If you plan to pull something get a tractor. They are not built well enough to use it for what you suggested. we have a ranger and had a mule. they were both great machines for what they were intended. They are not meant to pull an impliment. The john deere is one of the better built ones. the one I looked at last fall at one of my customers place had a 3 cylinder liquid cooled engine. It reminded my of a firefly engine. may have been a suzuki built engine. The polaris engines are not built for that kind of load. Yamaha has just a 4 wheeler enigne, can ams go like stink . so again not what you need. Arctic cats use suzuki quad engines. Not familiar with bobcat or kubota, have not worked on any but I would guess that you should check those out. The bobcat looks more like a tool carrier, so it may be the toughest. If you want something for running around, we like the ranger better than the mule it is larger, and faster. But I was told by the dealer that sell both that the mule is a vastly superior machine. the polaris clutches need rebulding often. a sled can get 5000 km without rebuild but snow is much cleaner than dust.
i have LOTS of experance with utv's. stay away from the mule its underpowered, not very good suspension, or much ground clearance. the kubota is nice but heavy with full cab & extras u will b stuck. the rhino is very strong motor, the rest of the utv is just not as strong as the motor, axles r a problem from day one. the polaris ranger is good all around utv but its a bench seat, belt drive is a problem BUT you can upgrade to a kevlar snowmobile belt to permently fix that problem. the artic cat will just not hold up to much abuse at all. i have a John Deere gator hpx that is fuel injected. I will encourage you to get fuel injection if you go with gas, dont matter which brand you choose u will like it esp. in the winter. i also now have a honda Big Red its great all around the farm, job site,kinda small bed for haauling stuff in, i wouldnt want to get in & outa it a bunch of times a day tho. you ask bout life expectancy, i have a neighbor that has a jd gator that has 5683 hrs on it never had anything done to the motor. oil is changed every spring, air filter is changed/cleaned every 2 weeks like clockwork. i have another neighbor that has a kubota rtv1100 diesel that has 2140 hrs on it, also does the maintaince like clockwork never had any problems yet just wear items brakes,tires,& 2 windsheilds lol yes same bushog differant rock tho!!!! if you have any questions just ask. all my buddies have had every make out there. ALSO STAY AWAY FROM THE CHEAP UTV'S SOLD AT FARM SUPPLY STORES. they are just plane junk, hard to near impossible to get parts for.
I have a kubota RTV 900 diesel. Love it love it love it. Never going to throw my leg over an ordinary ATV again. Great for aging parents. My folks wonder all over the place on it, and power steering makes is easy to drive. Its design can be traced more from trucks, not motorcycles. A look under the dump bed and you can see it has way more metal under there. No belts, just a beefy hydrostat. Selectable 4 wheel drive and lockers at both ends. Trailer hitch at both ends. Cons, mechanical tranny is clunky and hard to engage. Lunges when you let off the throttle. You get used to it. I put my FMX on it this spring for gps survey work
Watglen- look at this http://www.ebay.com/itm/Kubota-RTV-...898?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item27c5b39f9a I am generally not one for anything other than OEM, but I say that putting this in my RTV1100 made driving much nicer. The lunging is much helped, but not all of the trans braking goes away.
The current Bobcats are made by Polaris, for the most part they are the same as the previous generation Ranger. Ed
Do you know if the Deere was an HPX or a XUV? I"m pretty sure the HPX has a smaller cab. Between my brother, dad, and I we put 2500 hours on our 6x4 gas gator, so the kawasaki motors will last in this application. Only problem we ever had with it was a lack of ground clearance. And when you ground out a 6x4 gator, even empty it takes a tractor to get it moving again. I also pulled out every quad and side-by-side in my area with the diesel that replaced it at one time or another so i'd call that a wash. I'm guessing your implement of choice is a stinger trailer? That 1000 lb towing capacity is a pretty solid limit for high speed or rough terrian. I wouldn't want to be dragging much more than that up and down terraces for sure.
It's important to note though, that the Toolcats are not part of the deal between Polaris and Bobcat. The Toolcat is still made by Bobcat.
No offense, but the kubota utvs suck, they have no ground clearnece, but i agrre with onetoomanyhobbies, if you are going to pull a lot of stuff get a tractor, like a john deere 2000 series, i have one and love it
We are planning on making a mini stringer to pull behind whatever we get, right now we have a mini stringer that holds what I call the dummy rolls, or 100-250 ft rolls, I'm wanting to make one with smaller tandems, just a shrunk down version of a maxi stringer but will hold about 4 smaller rolls, or dummy's as I call them, and use a hydraulic cylinder to tip it with, it should weight about 600 lbs total when done. Right now we use a tractor to string tile with, but most times we use a cat with tracks to go where we need to go, I've winched the tractor out so many times, we've got a cable hookup mounted permanently to the front of it, last fall water ran into the cab it was in so deep in the mud, along with everything I had there at the time trying to get the previous stuck machine out, its just part of the job I guess you can say. And to think we went where it was dryer, we stayed away form the really wet area's. Someone has tried to talk us into the jeep thing in the past, but I'd have to buy a different trailer to haul it to job sites, due to lack of drivers, and also they weight I thought was too much, most weight in that 3000 lbs plus range that and the gas consumption is pretty tremendous, with pickups we were running through a tank of gas a day, compared to about 10 gallons a week on an ATV, the gas savings alone paid for the ATV in one season. I was originally wanting a diesel due to the fact every truck we'd have at the job site has a diesel tank in the back, right now with the ATV, the gas can's never in the truck we have where we need it, not a big deal, just another pain to keep track of, that and it seems every time I use it I'm out of gas about as far from anywhere as I can get, with no more gas on the job site at all, a real time killer on days is all. The deere gator was a 620i xuv or something like that, we ran it all day again today, but without a cab and as cold and windy it was today, everyone was complaining, me the most of all I guess, a local polaris dealer was willing to demo us some used rangers with cabs on them, haven't had the time to take him up on it as of yet. As for the rangers, some have told me that as much water and mud as we're in, the belt would be near worthless to run, my original interest in the kubota in the first place, everything's sealed and hydrostatic drives. Any ideas on these issues with belt drives, I'm also told that mules, gators also had drive belts, any advice on those as well. Anyone ever submerged the drive system in a creek or muddy area and see what happens to them? any experience with them in those conditions? Even after we'd pull them out, do they work or just slip, smoke and go nowhere? The sales pitches never tell me those things, even the salesmen won't comment much when pressed with the question, as they say not everyone needs a machine to run 40mph, down a paved or gravel road, some of use go where others won't and my needs start where others tend to stop. Don't get me wrong, we're not in those conditions every day on every job, but we're in the mud and muck, water and everything else way more often than we are on dry pavement and gravel roads. The cab and heat is a must on whatever we get, thats the biggest problem with the ATV we've got now, I want some place warm and dry to go to warm up and get out of the wind and cold, even a few times a day, my ditch helpers who are wet and have hands in cold water all day long are also on board with the idea of a high out put heater, with pickups, we let them idle most of the day to keep the engines warm so when we did hop into them, it didn't take a half an hour to throw some heat just sitting idling. Thanks to everyone who's tossed out opinions and input, pro's and con's on everything is appreciated, we're looking at everything and nothing is too bizarre or out of the question as of now, I'd rather ask questions and have someone point out something I haven't thought of now rather than after spending a lot of money and wished I'd done something different instead.
Just one more option to consider: you can add an auxillary diesel fired heater to any vehicle, trailer or machine. They use way less fuel than idling the engine.
My gator is belt drive between the engine and transmission. As far as i know the belt has never slipped in deep mud. I'm certain it ha never slipped afterwards. It'll either run out of traction or power and only when i'm doing something i really shouldn't. Or it gets hi-centered, but i already covered that. Cab and heater are available for the XUV's but it's a 2K option, but if your guys aren't comfortable in a open cab, i don't think a cab kit will make it any better. I totally understand the place to get warm, but they sure don't make it cheap. I don't know if there is a factory option for the Polaris, but i have seen after market heaters. I think i'll bug a salesman or two tomorrow, while i'm waiting for some hoses to be made. The deere dealer is a polaris dealer also and the kubota/case dealer is across the street.
Joispoi, what are the diesel fired heaters you mentioned, I've only ever seen the engine heater versions, to keep engines warm instead of idling the trucks all night long, any links or web address's for those? hvy 1ton, there has to be cab kits available for the deere's, I've seen a lot of them on farmers gators where I've worked, one farmer told me, he'd never be without his cab and heater ever again, but we didn't use his machine at all, it was his personal unit nobody else drove. As for polaris, they make several aftermarket cabs for them, a local dealer has three different cab styles on used machines in his lot, a canvas cab, fiberglass, and complete steel with steel doors, we looked at one of those and we kind of liked it, that has a heater and it was nice inside it, but we only drove it around the lot for a few minutes is all. Yes the cabs are expensive but when you look at the cost of the rest of the machine, to add comfort, the added cost isn't much more. Does anyone know whats the difference between the drives on the deere, mule, polaris machines, are they basically the same, with just another name stamped on the machine, or is there some mechanical difference which makes one better than the other. One thing we noticed right away was the larger cabin on the polaris machines, the bench seat was plus on the polaris, a lot better than the bucket seat on the gator, we had enough room to sit my 8,000 dollar laser box between two people on the seat so it wasn't bounced around as much as in the back or else we could put it between us on the floor. Being on so hilly of ground that I have to worry about tipping over isn't really a problem for me, most area's I go could be driven with a pickup most times, yea there are some steep hills but very few and far between, so the action video's of the typical use of rocks, hills, trail riding and etc that every company has for their promotional use are pretty much worthless to me, I'm not in those conditions at all, ever.
This is the first site that came up using "diesel auxiliary heater" in a google search: http://www.espar.com/html/products/airheaters.html I'm not familiar with this brand, so I can neither endorse nor condemn it.
I looked at that website and it looks like the guy still suffers from "frigid wife syndrome".
I know this is a little extreem but I remember my dad having a off-road vehical that had 3 wheels on each side and counter rotated like a skid-steere to turn. It was all so amphibeous (sp?). I think I remember seeing ones that were 8 wheel drive also. If you could ever go farther off the deep end how about a snow cat with a flat bed. It's got everything you want good heater and can go anywhere.
maybe you should "step up" a little from a utility type vehicle to something like a toolcat 5600 or 5610. both have aux hyd and the 5610 has a rear 3pt hitch :drinkup
The Ranger is the way to go for your application. Belt failure is not an issue unless you are consistently towing over 1500 lbs in difficult terrain. Have one in a comercial application and it has been bullet proof. It will seat 3 across and is the largest UTV out there. The Kubotas are great on flat ground but get stuck in any mud, have no ground clearance and are slow and clumsy. As someone said earlier the drivetrain is a B series Hydrostatic tractor so they are build rugged but will get stuck very easily with approx 5 inches of ground clearance
would not buy any thing with a snowmobile clutch that grinds gears when shifting(gator)
Govnernment agency I work for has 6 rangers and I buy belts by the CASE! They tow nothing but I replace probally 2 a month on average. We have a bid out for 4 new Kubotas and I CANT WAIT TILL THEY SHOW UP!
you could look into the Bobcat toolcarrier or Asv made a track utility machine. Don't have any have experience with either one. The Bobcat has a boom on the front you can put attachments on like forks or a bucket. both have aux hydros. one of the local snowmobile clubs used an ASV to groom the trails. hope this helps u some.
Expensive but you're done being stuck and cold. http://www.landtamer.com/
Yair . . . Randy88. Do you blokes have the little Suzuki Jimny available over there? One of those little jiggers with big tyres and maybe a lift kit will go most anywhere a vehicle could be reasonably expected to go. I used to cross country in the earlier Siera's into some of the most remote country in Australia and they have never failed me yet. Cheers.
Thanks for the imput guys, I've never heard of most of the last ones mentioned, but I'll check them out to see what if any will do what I want done. We've not decided on anything yet, I have driven most of them out there though, some have promise, others we've ruled out already.
I'd Go with kubota, there quite popular around here. And i believe that offer everything you want from the cab to the auxilery hydraulics. Also kubotas make a very durable product. Have 3 big diesel mowers at work and they run like swiss watches.
Yair . . . this Zuke is worked over a bit but you can see the potential. Street legal with all the goodies. http://thumbsnap.com/3DJtv00n Cheers,
I dont think you would like the Kubota. Im a Kubota person but my neighbor has one and its too heavey. He has a large hunting club and more than onece Ive had to got fetch the RTV with my 2wheel drive 30 hp tractor. I have a friend that has a SUbaru mini truck that was imported with 4 wheel drive and a rear locker and a dump. He added atv tires to it an its got a heater. A friend of mine just had me build a grapple fork for his company Tool cat. I cant wait to try it out.
I think you are looking to use your device in the incorrect way. If you strategy to take something get a tractor. They are not designed well enough to use it for what you recommended.
Anybody know anything about a kawasaki diesel engine in their side by side, I've located a used side by side with a rebuilt diesel engine, the clutch assembly has been rebuilt and has a full cab with heater, once its put together I can demo it. They claim it has sleeves and is rebuildable which they just did, a complete overhaul. Its never been used for much of anything but for a university to do grounds maintenance with and pick up sticks, it never had a plow or anything on it, they claim it'll carry 1000 lbs and still tow another 1400 lbs which sounds somewhat far fetched to me, but way more than I need anyhow, its a mule a 3010 I think, anyone with any experience with them?
I don't know if you have found the vehicle you want yet, so I will go ahead and recommend Kubota. I have a range land weed spraying business here in Montana, and am in some very rough country. I owned a 900 with hard cab and heater for 6 years, and had 1500 hours on it. I consistently had over 1000lbs on it (100 gallon tank and 200 plus pounds of other equipment). after 6 years i traded it in on the 1100 just because the cab was starting to go to pieces. the cab on the 900 is made by Curtis cabs, which makes cabs for almost all the utv manufacturers. Mostly the doors were cracking. It was kind of a bad design and I think they have a new design now. I have only had the 1100 since this spring, but I love it. The factory cab is tight, the heater and air conditioner both work great. Can you get stuck? you bet ya. but it has to be pretty boggy or deep snow and mud. most of the time I don't even leave much of a rut due to the wide tires. As for the Kawasaki 3010, I had one and it couldn't take the pounding. wheel bearing went out, it also had a transmission problem. I never even got to spray with it, this all happened just running it around my grandparents ranch. As for getting the kubota to coast, I guess I would say that takes away from what it is designed to do. You should rarely have to use the brakes with a Kubota, as all you speed adjustments are done with the accelerator. it might take a couple of days to get used to but otherwise it works great. Also, my granddad has a 900 with almost 4000 hours. had to have axle u-joints redone i think twice, at about $300 a time, mostly labor. The replacement u-joint is able to be greased, which if you are in a lot of mud and water might be a good thing. His got used in the corrals in 5 or 6 inches of manure at times and almost never got stuck as there is a solid base under it. But most of the time it rode on top, even with six or eight hundred pounds of hay in the back. In all, I don't know that there is a utv out there with a better cab than the 1100, and the 900 has as good of a cab as any of the rest of them. It has a hydraulic dump bed, and it has hydraulic fittings for other tools. However, if you are really going to utilize the hydraulics, you should get one equipped with a hydraulic oil cooler. It does only have a bench seat and only has a max speed of 25 mph. One last thing, just my experience, but a dealer who deals with construction or ag a lot has much better and quicker service than a dealer who mostly deals with sports type enthusiasts. Maybe it is just the ones I've dealt with though. I lost a whole summer of spraying with the Kawasaki because I took it to two different dealerships and the first dinked around for a month and totally ruined the transmission after putting it together and taking it apart twice. The second did a better job but it still took two weeks. The one time I had trouble with my 900, I got it back in 3 days from the Kubota dealership. Just a different service mindset. Hopefully this helps, if you are still looking.
One other thing about the heater on the kubota, it works pretty well, but on the 900s it doesn't defrost very well. in the right conditions it will have trouble getting rid of condensation on the insides of the windows. Not sure what temps you are working in, but we had the most trouble in wet snowy 28 to 40 degree weather with the defrost thing. just annoying to have to be wiping the insides of the windows all the time.
Might want to check to see if the AC comes on with the defrost. I am not surr but i know my last few cars had that option. and it worked great on getting the condinsation out of the air.
Thanks rangerider, no we haven't bought one yet, the kawasaki is still there, I never demo'd it, we had a bad fall and so many unexpected expenses I ran out of my funds set aside for this project, we did demo the kubota and it was by far the roughest riding unit out there, it actually shocked us as to just how much we were jarred around in it, to the point of what we do and how we operate it over chisel plowed ground, I'm not sure we could handle being tossed around like a rock in a tin can all day long, otherwise it was a nice well built unit. I think the kubota was the best built utv we looked at, the polaris was the roomiest and best ride, also the fastest, not that we do much speed or thats a big plus, most of the time its sitting idling anyhow, the gator is the most sure footed, fairly good ride but cramped for us to sit in and carry anything in the cab and the kawaski, we never ran it anywhere but the dealership. I'm not sure how anyone could sit in the kubota running over chisel plowed frozen ground and or over frozen ruts in the field and have any part of their body not bruised and banged up beyond recognition, it was our only single complaint, even the dealer made comment it was the only downfall of the machine and largest complaint, if your on solid smooth ground I'd say its by far the best machine out there, if your on rougher ground, I"m not sure about one. I have had several kubota engines over the years in machines and think they are pretty bullet proof units, all the rest of the makers, I"m not so sure of, I"ve had several kawasaki gas engines and they were all junk in my opinion, we never could keep them running ever, but I'd never tried a diesel engine of thier make before. We have even looked at a few of the willies jeeps as of lately, the older military version with the four banger in them, haven't done anything about it yet, just looking and wondering.
Ya, can't say I have ever spent the whole day running over that kind of ground. The ground I go over usually doesn't have the bumps all spaced out perfectly like farmed ground would. I also usually have at least a couple hundred pounds in the back, which makes a difference. which did you demo? I know the 900 was definitely rougher than the 1100. Cheaper to buy though, which I know is always a consideration. I do think the Kawasaki diesel is a very good engine, but they have about the same suspension as the Kubota, unless they changed it since my 3010. Well, I hope business picks up for you and keep looking for the right fit. One persons treasure is anothers junk and vice versa.
I have had a Kubota RTV900 for almost 6 years. Only down time I ever had was when i rammed a stick into the fan belt. Biggest complaint I have is the stupid key location. It is a climbing bear on my hilly ground and hauls and dumps loads of wood like a champ. The only time i have stuck it was high centering it on a skidder track. I have pulled full wagons of hay into the barn with no trouble. As for the hydro braking in the trans it is an easily adjusted feature. I leave mine on full for the braking action on hills which is something the others all lack. It is a workhorse and the dump bed can't be beat.
We ran both the 900 and 1100, a customer has had both as well, we've used his two machines over the last few years, yesterday we tried out a honda big red, they came out with a new cab design this year and as of yet havne't found one to see or sit in with that on it. the older cabs everyone I talked to hated, the heater didn't work right and they didn't defrost the windshield and were cold inside them and the doors sucked was what we were told, but boy those units are loud inside compared to anyone else's. The dealer told us he'd demo one to us but right now, we're winding down for the season and are done with the worst of the work, so we couldn't get much good out of demo. They offer the honda transmission, shaft drive, no belts anywhere, the widest utv in the industry was the selling point, honda durability and dependability and etc, etc, anyone have any experience with these units? The carrying cargo weight isn't a big deal to me, the pulling is more important, we are only going to haul, lasers, tripods, shovels and plastic fittings, bulk not weight, but will pull a trailer and maybe even a makeshift tile stringer at times. To haul rocks and bricks and use the dump bed isn't important to me at all, I use it to haul bulk things, not dump anything, I don't care if it even does dump period, I"d rather it didn't, more like a pickup than a utv in that aspect.
I've got a 01 Kaw Mule 2510 diesel. It is not a great vehicle. Rides rough, only 25 mph, won't pull much, gets hung up on undercarrage pretty easy with 4x4. But, its always cranks, has a steel bed thats as tough as a pickup, runs forever on 4 gals of diesel, engine will last forever (5000hrs no problem), cheap I paid 4k for mine with 500hr now has 1100hrs, so ugly no one will steal it.
I need a UTV that can climb a 45 degree hill and carry firewood. Any recommendations? I need a you TV that can climb a 45° hill and be able to carry a load of firewood. Does anyone have any recommendations.
Hill climbing is traction limited for most vehicles. I have a Polaris RZR, if I needed to buy a UTV, it would be the Polaris Ranger. I have a fantastic dealer ~45minutes away, which leans me in that direction as well.
Old thread but oh well. I've had all of them and most of the above statements are true.... The toolcat is a pice of crap, it cost me about $150 per month to keep mine running.....very year it went in for some sort of $2-5k repair even bobcat couldn't figure it out and in the end they ended up bing stuck with it and parted it out The 3010 diesel had a motor and both diffs replaced under warranty and driving across a rough field forget hanging on to the steering wheel it will break your arm! Lol Had several rangers, they are ok for hunting but definatly NOT a work tool The rtv was plenty powerful and would tow anything I NEVER had a problem with it other than the trans got locked in reverse one time but I heard there was an update, the bed would lift anything you put in it! After I put ITP mud tires on it and never got stuck again it was amazing how much it would plow through, I also hooked up a small dump wagon off the hydraulics and used it in some very tight spots