Advice on UTV

My wife and I are getting older, we have 6 acres with horses, pasture is flat. Primary tasks are having a portable work surface and easy way to carry tools back and forth on property to fix things, haul a few bales of hay at a time from hay tents to the paddock area. We want something with seats as opposed to saddles, so that leaves us with something gator like as opposed to an ATV. It won't be used in the mud or any real rough terrain although the pasture was formerly crops, so it's still pretty rough. I looked at an older JD AMT 626 which has a nice big dump bed, but it's only about 8hp which seems small, also not sure about the whole belt drive thing. I'd like something that's a proven workhorse, low maintenance, easy to get parts for. I have a tractor so I don't need it to plow, pull trailers, or do anything heavy. Thanks for any advice.

Have you thought about golf cart? I know a lot of horse people that bought used, refurbished golf carts with a bed for $2k and love them. It wouldn't be my choice because I use mine for camping, trail riding as well but if I just used it for what your talking about, I would, for sure have one.

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Originally Posted by 1969grandpa

Have you thought about golf cart? I know a lot of horse people that bought used, refurbished golf carts with a bed for $2k and love them. It wouldn't be my choice because I use mine for camping, trail riding as well but if I just used it for what your talking about, I would, for sure have one.

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Yes I did think about them, but none seem to have enough bed for either a decent work surface or hauling hay. They're designed for loading golf clubs so the tail end is bobbed off kind of short. I thought of modifying the backseat to hold equipment and hay, but I'm not looking for a big project. I would prefer something electric anyway, one less engine to take care of. I did look at a used JD electric gator, big bucks and it needed new batteries so I couldn't be sure how well it worked. But I liked the idea.

Take a look at the Kubota RTV500 and the Polaris Ranger 400. Those two I can personally recommend. The Polaris rides like a dream over rough surfaces.

Two ideas (we have both):
1. Golf cart with a bed on it such as: Yamaha G2/9 Golf Cart Aluminum Dump Bed $500-$4000
2. Toro Workman MD/2100/1100 - (Our Workman 2100 cost $1400ish)

The Workman has a 4x4ish (inside dimensions) bed and will haul around 1000# in the bed. The golf cart has a 3x3 or 3x4 bed and will haul 400# or so without complaining.
We have stacked 6-8 bales of hay on a golf cart (5 stacked 2 per layer in the bed and one in the passengers seat) and it worked well. My mother in law prefers golf carts to the Workman as they are much quieter.

Aaron Z

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Originally Posted by aczlan

Two ideas (we have both):
1. Golf cart with a bed on it such as: Yamaha G2/9 Golf Cart Aluminum Dump Bed $500-$4000
2. Toro Workman MD/2100/1100 - (Our Workman 2100 cost $1400ish)

The Workman has a 4x4ish (inside dimensions) bed and will haul around 1000# in the bed. The golf cart has a 3x3 or 3x4 bed and will haul 400# or so without complaining.
We have stacked 6-8 bales of hay on a golf cart (5 stacked 2 per layer in the bed and one in the passengers seat) and it worked well. My mother in law prefers golf carts to the Workman as they are much quieter.

Aaron Z

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Never heard of a toro workman, that's slick. I like the plastic bed. Having seen that dump bed for the golf cart gives me new hope for golf carts. I guess now I have to go off an a golf cart research adventure. I don't have a clue about brands, motors, batteries, zippo. We're in a cold climate but it would be plugged in all the time so that shouldn't matter. If anyone has suggestions on golf carts, I'm all ears.

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Originally Posted by PapaPerk

Take a look at the Kubota RTV500 and the Polaris Ranger 400. Those two I can personally recommend. The Polaris rides like a dream over rough surfaces.

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I like both, I'm still struggling with whether to go full blown gas/diesel UTV, or scale back to a golf cart sized thing. I think the Polaris is right in the sweet spot if I decide to go fossil fuel. Although I have a tractor and snowthrower, who knows, maybe a plow would be more manageable at some point in the future. I also like that there are lots of accessories for the Polaris.

I have a Transmule, 4 seater, and with the backseat folded up I have a large work space and tool hauling ability. It also works great for hauling lots of produce out of the fields, plus I usually pull a small trailer behind it for the produce. The ride can be rough if the ground is not smooth. I test drove the Polaris, JD, and the RTV900 but I needed the 4 seater to take people to the field. The Polaris (to me) was the most comfortable ride with JD second.

If you lean towards the golf cart you could put a hitch on the back to pull a small trailer with a couple of bales of hay.

I have a Polaris 800...the machine is a beast but rides better than any other I've been on/in...it will haul anything you care to put in it and will tow just about anything you can hook up to it...it is roomy, comfortable and VERY ease to operate...I highly recommend it, and a second choice would be the 500 series...one nice thing about the 500/800 is the turf mode drive selector, you can select turf, turf allows you to drive on surfaces without the outside tires skidding, ie...you won't tear up the lawn !, you can lock the rear tires or select full time 4wd...that's all at the push of a button...I have used (and been on the close edge of abuse :) ) with mine for over two years without a hiccup ! On one memorable occassion I hauled 19 fifty pound sacks of corn through a cutover, little over loaded but the machine handled the job with ease...there are literaly hundreds of aftermarket products available to customize the machine to tailor it to your specific needs...again, I highly recommend the Polaris 800 or 500 UTV...

Rich

Edit: The 800 is also available in a "Crew" configuration...the "Crew" will haul six adults with ease...

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Originally Posted by hunterridgefarm

The Polaris (to me) was the most comfortable ride with JD second.

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That's useful, if I had it to do over again I'd buy my tractor based on how comfortable the seat is, every other oddball thing on it I've gotten used to but discomfort never goes away.

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If you lean towards the golf cart you could put a hitch on the back to pull a small trailer with a couple of bales of hay.

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That's a good idea, might be cheaper than adding a rack and can haul more weight.