Farm UTV/RTV Purchase

[Forky]

I bought a Polaris 900 xp new in 2014. It is a real work horse and gets the real workout on or steep rocky hills here. Hauling 1,000 lbs of firewood while also pulling a small trailer full of wood is no problem. I've only needed to replace the battery last year and regular oil changes and greasing zerks.

 

[Bryan 45]

I've had a Kawasaki Mule Pro-FXT for 2 years now. Around 700 miles on it- none of which have been asphalt. The convertible 3 seater/long bed to 6 seater/short bed is fantastic. It isn't the fastest UTV by a long shot, but it runs great, has plenty of power, and is a work horse.

I have no complaints, and can't even think of anything I'd improve on it.

 

[tradosaurus]

If by "lift bed" you mean "dump bed" I would suggest the Honda Pioneer 1000-5.

I'm in East Texas with about the same acreage. I have the 700-4 Pioneer but the 1000-5 will give you more speed if you like to take it on the county roads it has a dump bed which I use frequently.

Rather than the automatic CVT that uses a belt, the power from the Honda motor moves through a dual clutch system.

 

[cathy liebchen]

Kawasaki Mule Pro is the best choice

 

[ultrarunner]

The tree farm has some very steep grades making the HST Kubota diesel a good choice for the braking on slopes…

If the ranch was flat would have considered faster machines.

The RTV 900 is a real workhorse and good for the farm hands who otherwise push the limits and some competitors are much faster… not necessarily a good thing when employees drive.

 

[Boss 302]

I purchased a Polaris Ranger 800 HD back in 2010 and it is one of the best purchases I have made as far as equipment to help out around the farm and for hunting. It has been very dependable, zero issues I would hate to be without it.

 

[mo1]

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 have operated several "side-by-sides" over the years and in general have not found anything they are an absolute must-have for and found some other piece of equipment to do a better job at whatever I was doing. The bed capacity is similar to a wheelbarrow or compact tractor bucket on the smaller beds and a utility tractor bucket or hand-pulled utility wagon on the larger ones. None are anywhere near the volume or weight capacity of even the miniscule 5 1/2 foot half ton pickup truck beds of today. If you can get a two-row side by side somewhere, you can get a tractor or a pickup truck there too. But you are on only 22 acres of mainly open ground, so it's unlikely to be very far to walk to get anywhere on your property. If you are looking for something fun to ride around on, a dirtbike is a whole lot more fun than a side-by-side. You also get to dispense with the terrible slippy-grabby centrifugal clutches side-by-sides have in favor of an actual clutch you can feather in a dirtbike. If you want to ride around for fun on the back roads, an enduro/dual-sport motorcycle would likewise be much more fun than a side-by-side. If you want to ride around on the roads not strictly for hoots and grins, a pickup truck or Jeep would be far more sane.

For what most people would use a side-by-side for, a pickup truck is really a better tool, either that or a tractor. If you don't already have a pickup truck or it's a newer/fancy/expensive one that you don't want to use on your farm, I'd personally recommend a farm truck- a well worn pickup truck that still runs well enough to go around on the farm but isn't too nice that you worry about getting it dirty or beaten up. You will probably be in it about what you pay in sales tax on a two-row side-by-side if you don't/can't get an ag exemption (I am not familiar with Texas laws regarding this.) When it dies, haul it off to the scrapyard. That's what everybody used to do before the toys started to show up in any quantity, first ATVs in the '90s and then side-by-sides in the 2000s.

 

[ElSueno Farms]

I am in North Texas, have Kubota RTV500, my wife’s choice, I use Kubota RTV900, plenty of power, dependable and use it like a truck on our 30 acres.

 

[nbking]

I have 6 acres, my rtv-x900 is a beast. It does everything I need. Since your farm is flat it will go 25mph, hydraulic dump bed is ****.

 

[WM75Guy]

We bought a Kawasaki Mule 4010 Trans4X4 for our 14 acres. It is used almost every day. It pulls the manure spreader and the 25 gallon sprayer. As it does not go above 25 MPH it is not required to have doors or side nets. Makes getting in and out easy for picking up trash, fixing fence, etc. Added a windshield and AudioFormz fiberglass roof with lights and stereo.