Thoughts on a UTV/Property Vehicle for a newly disabled person?

[Panik]

I guess I'm starting this thread because its way too early in the morning for me to be up and I can't sleep. (Been up since 3am) Part of this is venting and putting thoughts to paper for the first time and part is asking for advice, so please bear with me.

We have close to 11 acres in a pretty rural area in NW Georgia. Roughly 3 of those acres are cleared yard with the rest being regrown forest over old terraced farm land. We're actually at the top of a pretty decent foothill outside of what is literally a one stoplight town. It's about as close to being Mayberry as I could ask.

My wife was diagnosed within the last year as having Ankylosing Spondylitis. Broadly it is a autoimmune disease that is characterized by chronic inflammation of joints such as the sacroiliac joints. This can lead eventually to the calcification of joints and loss of joint mobility. In my wife's case, her disease appears to have a particular affinity for her SA joints and seems to be concomitant with a yet to be classified health issue causing the lymph nodes in her neck to be consistently swollen and as well as causing chronic pain in her left shoulder and chest. (MRI's of head/neck, X-rays of chest, and ultrasounds have yet to show anything)

The point being is that my wife is 34 years old and in the last year I watched her go from being an individual who was largely in better health and in many ways more vibrant that I to being someone who struggles with fatigue and constant pain and who has to fight with her own body in order to accomplish her goals for the day. (This is a woman who used to care for elephants and sling 60lbs bales of hay around on a daily basis) Unfortunately Ankylosing Spondylitis is a disease that she will have to work with for the rest of her life. For anyone who has some related experience, we are getting close to trying disease modifying drugs.

It's been incredibly hard watching this transpire as I am the type of person who wants to fix things and unfortunately there is nothing I can fix? At best I am only able to be as supportive as I can and be her advocate in the medical community when we encounter clinicians with outdated modes of treatment and thought. (Many drs. still view AS and being a primarily a man´s disease)

(End of vent)---------------------------------------------------------------

In any case my wife recently approached me about the idea of getting some form of vehicle in the near future order to help her get around the property. To be clear, at the moment she is able to walk without assistance the majority of the time. She might have 4 days a month where she needs to use her arm crutch. It is not something we are going to be able to afford immediately, but something we have put on the radar for the near future. I would like to plan for within the next 6-12months , but realistically that may be me trying to satisfy the need to "fix" things for her.

Where I am having difficulty with this is trying to fit a vehicle to her needs. Were it me, my go to work vehicle would be a toro workman with a dump bed. It would be a perfect compliment to my bx and we used them extensively (i.e. beat the heck out of) when I worked at Busch Gardens.

Something such as an RTV500 would be a good configuration and a good compromise between my desire for utility vehicle and her needs, however it feels like it might be a bit too much vehicle at the moment for 3 acres of yard. We are planning at some point to clear a trail on the remaining 8 acres. At the same time, I've never been real impressed with golf carts for anything off pavement, and from what I understand the price point for a good new golf cart and a UTV are not dissimilar.

I believe from Kari's standpoint her needs in a vehicle would be ease of operation, low maintenance, light off road capabilities and some form of bed to be able to carry light items (toys, for the kids, dogs, chairs, etc)

From my perspective it would be nice to have something as an alternative/compliment to the tractor for yard work and at least have a differential lock. I can also envision really enjoying taking my boys and wife for casual trail riding in the regional parks that allow UTV's. (I used to do advocacy for FL's Division of Forestry's ATV/OHV program)

All that being said anything we buy will be primarily for my wife. In any case, if you've made it this far thanks for reading and listening to me vent a bit. If you have any thoughts or insights about a vehicle for my wife or if you have any experience with AS or being a spouse and care giver I'd appreciate hearing anything you'd like to contribute. :thumbsup:

 

[timster2]

I am in much of the same boat with the AS. On thing I have found is you need something with a soft suspension, just mowing the grass with the BX can get painful at times. I would look into the off road golf carts. The new ones come in many configurations to choose from. My property is fairly flat and I have been eyeing a golf cart solution for a while. Scooters and power wheelchairs, I have both, don't work too well on wet grass or gravel drives. When the back flairs up I often go to the motorized solutions for a few days. As the joints fuse mobility decreases, climbing on and off things like a tractor become a chore so a low to the ground entry and exit off a piece of equipment needs to be considered.

I have also found that loosing weight eases the pain considerably and increases mobility. Its a vicious cycle as mobility/activity decreases weight increases. In the past year I have dropped over a hundred pounds and it has made a big difference in mobility.

 

[Gem99ultra]

Panik, I understand your apprehension of golf carts. But - I have two that I use on our 13 acre place, both electric. One is nice looking and the other looks like a Frankenstein creation. Both are lifted with knobby tires and both with a rear bed and trailer hitches.

While I can afford either a UTV, ATV or cart, I still strongly prefer the cart. There's never any 'out of gas' problem. No carb to gum up, and nice and quiet running. The electric cart is always ready to go. It's ideal for a small place with light duty. On occasion I'll hook up my 4' x 8' trailer to pull around to pick up limbs, logs, etc., but for normal 90% of the time - it's just for pleasure or going to pick up the mail at the highway.

Neither cart is anything like new. One is a 1991 ($900) and the nicer one is a 1994 ($2100). You don't have to spend a lot of money for a new cart. If nothing else, pick one up for her. If she isn't completely satisfied with it, you can always sell it and buy a UTV.

 

[dusty3030]

I third an electric cart with some type of bed- Nimble and quiet but still very capable.

 

[ovrszd]

Yeah, I'd agree with the electric cart idea. Less mechanical involvement to get vehicle movement, no gear shifter, less pedals, etc. And with the development of a rigid charging program it'll always be "ready" to use.

A friend of mine recently said to me "If you have your health, you have NOTHING to complain about". Those with afflictions know this much better than those without. Good luck with your adventure.

 

[MoKelly]

I read you worked at Busch Gardens. I worked at the brewery in St. Louis for 25 years. Small world.

I have an electric golf cart on our place. Nothing special. But, it does all the stuff you mention. My wife and younger son use it the most. I prefer the ATV ... but the ATV is much more high maintenance and much harder to operate.

Good luck.

MoKelly

 

[aczlan]

We have a couple of golf carts and an RTV500. We have also owned a Workman 2100 (the light duty one with a plastic bed) and I have driven the heavy duty version.
The RTV and the golf carts are a lot narrower than the Workman so they will fit places it wont.
For what you suggest, I would get a 48V golf cart, add a small lift, slightly larger tires (perhaps the 22" or 24" version of the All Trail or HD Field Trax) and (if needed) look into a locking differential.

On two of our golf carts, we replaced the stock 18x8.5-8 "cant tear up the turf" tires with 18x9.5-8 "Turf Saver" tires. That lifts the back end up about an inch, adds an inch of tire width and gives much better traction but it does not require a lift.
That is adequate for what we do (but we don't get into mud much). I got those for a real good price (already mounted on rims), but if buying new, I would get either the Field Trax or the All Trail.

One thing to keep in mind is that the RTV will not ride very well compared to a golf cart, but you can buckle into the RTV which you cant in a golf cart. The Workman also rode better than the RTV does.

Aaron Z

 

[houstonscott]

I own an RTV 1100, it's way overkill for my property of 18 acres. The cab with AC, heat, and insect protection it provides are the real reason I keep it, plus it's payed for. The AC is a real escape zone when out on a job, allowing a recovery from the heat. The heat has warmed up and saved many goat kids being recovered after birth in a winter storm. With 35 hours on it after two years it might have been a mistake. If I was to do it again I would look hard at these. Bad Boy Buggies - Getting You Closer to the Game HS

 

[charlz]

Why limit yourself to just one type of vehicle? A golf cart doesn't have the dump bed etc. but does offer ease of getting in/out of and ease of use and if she just wants to get out and about without walking that might be the vehicle of choice at that moment. A decent used one is not likely to break the bank. Then a RTV/UTV for days she is actually going to do some work and can put up with maybe a little rougher ride etc.

 

[aczlan]

Why limit yourself to just one type of vehicle? A golf cart doesn't have the dump bed etc. but does offer ease of getting in/out of and ease of use and if she just wants to get out and about without walking that might be the vehicle of choice at that moment. A decent used one is not likely to break the bank. Then a RTV/UTV for days she is actually going to do some work and can put up with maybe a little rougher ride etc.

Generally, you can get a 2-3 year old golf cart and add a dump bed kit to it. We have 2 golf carts with boxes on them, but a dump bed was an option.

Aaron Z