4 wheel Utility Vehicle

marty · Aug 24, 2001

After opening up old logging roads I am dreaming about getting a 4 wheel utility vehicle such as "mule". Does anyone have a good link to a discussion site for such items? Any recommendations for models with good records and having the following traits:
* quiet - want to be able to take hunting
* stable for steep side hills
* reliable
* optional 4 wheel drive to eliminate potential errosion

Thanks in andance for your feedback!!

scruffy · Aug 24, 2001

If you do a search for "John Deere Gator" on the internet you will find a slew of sites to peruse!

cowboydoc · Aug 24, 2001

I don't know of any sites but personally I have the Kawasaki Mule and it has been great. Growing up we had the Gators and they also were dependable machines. Got too good of a deal to pass up this Mule though.

Bird · Aug 24, 2001

Marty, I know one neighbor who has a Gator and likes it. I believe, from a picture Cowboydoc posted, that he has the smaller model Mule, and my brother bought the bigger model (I've forgotten the model numbers) in '95 and after I took a rancher neighbor for a ride on it fixing fence, he bought a new Mule, too. This rancher neighbor is an eccentric character who will, under no circumstances, buy a new car, pickup, or tractor; says to let someone else take that initial depreciation, but after one day on my brother's Mule, he promptly plopped down the cash for new one himself./w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif And he really does use it a lot, too.

Bird

beenthere · Aug 24, 2001

Am curious what you mean by "4 wheel drive to eliminate possible erosion". Some, like the gator, have 4 rear wheels that all drive, but when they turn, the wheels must drag causing some scuffing (i.e. erosion?). I don't know of any utilities that have front wheel assist, in addition to rear wheel drive. And how does 4 wheel drive "eliminate erosion"? I have the gator 4X2, and am amazed at the power and agility of getting around. I steered away from the ones that have rear suspension, as my experience using one on a side hill with a medium load in the box, tipped over (like right now).

TxBilly · Aug 24, 2001

Marty
Check out pugpower.com. I have one of their Back Forty series and it is a well made machine. They have several different models that will suit your purpose.
Bill

HR_Mutt · Aug 24, 2001

cowboydoc
<font color=blue>Kawasaki Mule </font color=blue>????????????
Is that an American Corporation?(ref. your post in off topic and just for fun)
Mutt

Bird · Aug 24, 2001

/w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gifVery good, Mutt./w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif/w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif

Bird

TWINKLE_TOES · Aug 24, 2001

I bet the Mule gets washed at night with a Honda pressure washer under the lights of a Honda generator. /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

Al

cowboydoc · Aug 24, 2001

You know guys pretty poor taste from some guys I thought more of. I deleted the post and explained my reason for it. Guess it wasn't good enough for you guys that I had some compassion for my country and the men who work in it or rather aren't working right now! I never said I was perfect in not buying american and seeing what's happening around here I'm pretty sad that I didn't.

glennmac · Aug 24, 2001

Everyone,

I dont know what was in that thread or who said what, but some feathers were obviously ruffled in our first class and friendly barnyard. That's life. Now forget it. It would be best if no one responds any further. Let's go back to making believe we know something about driving tractors.

Glenn

Bird · Aug 25, 2001

Poor taste? Maybe. Of course, the above comments were posted before you deleted the post in question. Hope no one's mad at anyone else anyway./w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif

Bird

Duckhunter · Aug 25, 2001

I have a Polaris Ranger 6x6. I have never gotten this thing stuck. I have pulled duck blinds with it across flooded rice fields. It has a dump bed, liquid cooled, auto transmission with high and low range. I have a winch on the front but never used it. Perfect for carring tools around the place or feedbags etc. Check it out at the link below.

http://www.atvconnection.com/editor/review/atv/polaris/00ranger/review.htm

rmorgan · Aug 26, 2001

Marty--

Your first question was whether there is a good discussion site for the various utility ATVs. I looked high and low a few months ago and couldn't find one, but looks like you've got one started here--I hope people will add some likes/dislikes, if any, about the various brands. In fact, I didn't know about the Pugs at all until billw's post. I got as far as test drives of Gators and Polaris Rangers a few months ago and was really impressed with the 6x6 Ranger. They have just started making 4x4 and 4x2 models this year. The 6x6 is just about all wheels and Duckhunter confims what I thought after driving one for awhile on the dealer's rocks and slopes--it'd be about impossible to get it stuck. On the other hand, the noise level seemed a little high to me, not surprising given its ATV bloodlines. Cowboydoc--have you had enough use with your Mule on steep slopes to know how they do?

Rick

cowboydoc · Aug 26, 2001

Rick,
We use this one for everything. The primary thing we do is haul feed and water with it. My roping cattle are down in the arena where there isn't water. I haul two 30 gallon barrels of water down a day to them and have no problem in the mule. I have to go down a pretty steep hill and haven't had the tipping problem. The only thing about it is it is a little underpowered. For hauling feed and everything great. I can also haul my little manure spreader no problem either. I tryed dragging the harrow with it though and it bogged it down pretty good. But for most of what I use it for it does great. We use it everyday and it has been one of the best things that I have bought.

Bird · Aug 27, 2001

Rick, if you haven't already done so, check http://www.kawasaki.com/uv/index.html for more information on the Mules. Model numbers have changed from what my brother and neighbor have. They have what was the biggest one at the time they bought them. My brother has an electric screw type dump on his and we pile dirt on until it falls off all sides and have no problem hauling and dumping. Like these compact tractors, if you put it in low range, 4WD, it's going to turn the wheels, so it'll go anywhere you can get traction. We've gone through some pretty steep gulleys, over brush piles, and once a hundred yards through water over 2' deep. My neighbor uses his a lot with a 25 gallon spray rig in the bed for spraying insecticides and herbicides, and he also loads his 3k watt portable generator and air compressor in it to do fence repairs. I haven't looked at one of the new diesels, but my brother drove one and fell in love with it; almost spent the money to trade up when the one he has will do anything he needs to do./w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif My brother also has the hard top on his so we've used it a lot as a portable scaffold for tree pruning, cleaning rain gutters, installing awnings, etc.

Bird

butzkeg · Aug 29, 2001

Duckhunter sent you a good link. http://www.atvconnection.com/Features/ATVReviews/ has reviews on several different utility vehicles. Look around the site and you may find something interesting. I've noticecd reveiws on Ranger's, Mule's and Gators there. I own a Polaris Sportsman 500 4x4, which obiously is in a different class, but I would highly recommend any of Polaris' products. Polaris makes a great 4wd system, that is real 4wd-no limited slip action.

I've seen alot of Gator's and Mule's on farms in my area, and have heard rave reviews on each of them. You would probably want to check out the strong points on each of the models are they can differ greatly. Polaris also makes a 6x6 Sportsman ATV with a box on it, and that will go 50mph, which none of the other models would do. Some have larger carrying capacities as well. Here's Polaris' site: http://www.polarisindustries.com/

There's another area not even mentioned yet either, amphibious vehicles. These are on 6 or 8 wheels, have great floatation on land and water. These are very stable vehicles and all your hunting buddies and game could ride in them. Check out http://www.argoatv.com/ for more info.

cowboydoc · Aug 29, 2001

butzkeg,
I bought my Grandpa the Polaris 500 HO Sportsmen Remington Edition this summer and he loves it. I rode it some and it was pretty impressive. He's 87 now and it's hard for him to get around hunting. This was the best one we found for everything that he needed. I also got a winch and put on it for him so if he ever does get it stuck he can get out or he needs to drag an elk or a deer out.

rmorgan · Sep 1, 2001

I was looking at the Power Trac website this evening thanks to Mark Chalkey's provocative posts, and a look at Por Trac's 6x6 ATV led to the website www.route6x6.com, which is devoted to Argos, MAXs, etc. Lots of pictures. Seems to me like unless you need the amphib capabilities those are not as useful as Mules, Rangers, or Gators--any experience with them out there in TBN land?

Rick