Farm UTV/RTV Purchase

[ArlyA]

We own a "little" 4wd truck plus a work style atv, and use them both on some of the same trails.

You couldn't drag that 6x6 from our cold, stiff, fingers. No Japanese mini's will be found here.

 

[mrpriceisright]

Lots of great answers here.
Have 2 old diesel 4x4 mules here (had a gas gator before them). His and hers, a 1 row w/ dump bed and 2 row six seater. Run on ag diesel they will go up anything (have some steep slopes) no problem, have dragged some 1500lb rocks no problem. They are pretty much in constant daily use. The 3 cyl diesel is strong, sips fuel and as minimal maintenance as I could imagine. In process of adding a small trailer so I can move around a generator easily. (we have a tracked skid steer (CTL) with many attachments for the heavy lifting/work (grading/trenching/digging/augering/mulching)).
Although one neighbor here has Gators, the biggest one has a fleet of Suzuki samurai's and some rolled ford explorers with the roofs removed, the rest are a mixture of Polaris, Kubota and Mule. Those with Polaris mostly use them for driving around rather than actual work. One recently commented while riding in the mule, that it felt like a much more rigid frame than the Polaris he was used to riding in. As others have commented, work or play?
If we replace these we will likely look at a Kubota or mule, 4x4 diesel with locking diff.

The one row seat can easily seat 3.

The 2 row with fold down/extended dump bed seems to be a highly practical option.

 

[RancherGuy]

Perhaps some of you very wise farmers out there can direct me to determining what UTV/RTV to purchase for my new farm. It will need to have 4 seats (Family) and a lift bed. Kubota is an interesting one. Any help would be appreciated. A couple of things. Farm is 22 acres of pasture, few trees in North Texas. Plan to have cattle, orchard, vegetable and berry farm.

I am on the west side of Houston.

1998: Kawasaki Mule. This was when side-by-sides were first introduced. I'm sure they are different now, but it rusted out. Gave it away.
2005: Kubota RTV 900. This is first generation. Used for 1500 hours before buying the next one. Still have it. Has been known to tow a 1500# trailer loaded with 1600# of hay through mud that left 12" ruts. My brother-in-law with me at the time was speechless.
2014: Kubota RTV X1120. This is second generation (all "Xs" are current version). Has 1500 hours and almost 9000 miles. As with RTV above, nothing but fuel and oil changes required, and is exactly why we bought a second one. Looks and behaves like it is 6 months old. Used daily.

I really don't understand those who say the RTV is slow or lacks power. There have been other posts on the topic. If the transmission linkages are adjusted correctly, these work like tractors and have reasonable off-road speed. I can load mine with 8 people (most in the bed) and we all have a great time running around the ranch and up/down rolling terrain. If you need something that does road speed, look for something else, but be prepared for drive belt issues and repair maintenance. If I wanted a new machine, I'd buy another RTV.

One more comment on the RTV. Mine is diesel and my top speed is 24 and could tweak the throttle to get a few more mph. There is a gas version of exactly the same thing that has a top speed around 42. I believe the machines are exactly the same but the gas engine can spin faster, thus the top speeds are different.

 

[jwmorris]

The locked rear also means that the rear tires wear faster if you drive on pavement that has turns, which we do a lot of.

The 3010/4010 4x4 have one control to lock the rear differential and another to engage the limited slip front differential. If you need more traction and need to turn on an unforgiving surface, locker off front and read drive on, is what you would want.

 

[redman135]

Hello AGreenFarmer, 1 thing you didn't specifiy was how wet your place is or is not. Also how much of the year is excess water (ground to soft to drive on)a problem if any?
Soft ground for extended periods will eliminate beater pick ups.

A suggestion was made to use a japanese mini pickup. You can get double cab and tip deck.In New Zealand we put atv wheels on them and drive all around some very wet paddocks(very light) without leaving ruts. If you look at these wear your work boots to test the foot pedals as some models have pedals to close togather(step on both brakes and gas pedal at once). Also check your state laws as some will let your register them for road use while some states won't.

Being able to figure out what questions you need to ask means you are 1/2 way there.
Good Luck

 

[mo1]

LOL , I'm thinking you must be young. No way I would be riding and ATV or dirt bike..

Nope, not young. My recommendation for buying an old pickup or using a tractor or even a wheelbarrow, and predilection for a regular clutched manual, all of which are certainly very out of favor today, speaks to that. For the record, my tractor is an open station 2WD utility tractor with a regular dry clutch gear transmission. We got arguably more done in the past without the "must-have" stuff of today, and that gives one quite a critical eye for what may actually be useful vs. what is useless.

 

[ruffdog]

Now don't start knocking us people that still use a wheelbarrow. It is one way I get my exercise.

 

[FTG-05]

One other thing, lots of talk about the dump bed. Only used that a few times, if anything needs loading and dumping I always go to the tractor, 1000% easier.

Same here. 90% of my dumping is just to clear the bed of debris and mess. If I need to dump something, I'm using the tractor; it's bucket goes up and down, right at the height the load to be picked is; a lot less bending over.

 

[lman]

Now don't start knocking us people that still use a wheelbarrow. It is one way I get my exercise.

You should have bought a tractor when they were still affordable. Beats a wheelbarrow.

 

[Torvy]

You should have bought a tractor when they were still affordable. Beats a wheelbarrow.

When I needed a wheelbarrow a few months ago it took a few weeks to find a decent one in stock. The local Lowes and Home Depots were getting robbed. Thieves drove up and cut the cables, took all of the steel handled ones. Store managers said they think it was construction crews.