Tractors4u
Elite Member
- Joined
- Mar 10, 2002
- Messages
- 2,542
- Location
- Athens Alabama
- Tractor
- Deere 4310, Kubota L355, John Deere SST18 Spin Steer, 2006 Polaris Ranger
Back in September when I bought my 6X4 Gator the was that the new Gators wouldn not be out until next year. I heard anywhere from MArch until July. I told myself that it was too long to wait and they would probably be $10K. We today as I drove by a local Deere dealership I spotted 2 new 2004 High Performance Gators. And as Gomer Pyle would say, they are nice, real nice.
Here are a few observations:
They look great, kind of a mini truck appearance. These were 4WD, and had low and high range. The tires were not the standard knobby or heavy duty ATV tire offered on the standard Gator. These had an almost tractor tread to them. Built in cup holders! The dump bed on the standard Gators will give you a hernia trying to dump them empty. The geometry of these are better. The bed manually dumps easily. It seems more balanced. Now realize this was an empty bed. I added the power dump to mine. Speaking of, these did not have the power dump but it appeared that there were 2 points for lift cylinders or linear actuators. Sounds sturdier with more lift capacity. The bed appears to be larger, I didn't measure it though. The tail gate still has the same tailgate release mechanism. There is nothing wrong with it, but I expected a change though. The rear suspension of the HP Gator is a trailing arm suspension like those found on an ATV. In this case the entire engine and tranny go up and down. The price they had on these two were $7995. Now I wish I had waited. I sold some stock at $3.42 per share that is now at $4.75 a share to pay for my Gator. I paid $.41 per share in June for it. Attached are some pictures of the machine.
Here are a few observations:
They look great, kind of a mini truck appearance. These were 4WD, and had low and high range. The tires were not the standard knobby or heavy duty ATV tire offered on the standard Gator. These had an almost tractor tread to them. Built in cup holders! The dump bed on the standard Gators will give you a hernia trying to dump them empty. The geometry of these are better. The bed manually dumps easily. It seems more balanced. Now realize this was an empty bed. I added the power dump to mine. Speaking of, these did not have the power dump but it appeared that there were 2 points for lift cylinders or linear actuators. Sounds sturdier with more lift capacity. The bed appears to be larger, I didn't measure it though. The tail gate still has the same tailgate release mechanism. There is nothing wrong with it, but I expected a change though. The rear suspension of the HP Gator is a trailing arm suspension like those found on an ATV. In this case the entire engine and tranny go up and down. The price they had on these two were $7995. Now I wish I had waited. I sold some stock at $3.42 per share that is now at $4.75 a share to pay for my Gator. I paid $.41 per share in June for it. Attached are some pictures of the machine.
