Gator HPX Diesels are coming!

rockyridgefarm · May 2, 2004

(pictured with optional ROPS canopy, SWEEET!)

FOUR MODELS AVAILABLE
The Gator HPX is powered by a 20 horsepower (617 cc), liquid-cooled, twin-cylinder, 4-cycle Kawasaki gasoline engine (launch date of March 2004).
The Gator HPX Diesel is powered by a 20 horsepower (784 cc), liquid-cooled, three-cylinder, 4-cycle Yanmar diesel engine (launch date of July 2004).
The Gator HPX 4x4 is powered by a 20 horsepower (617 cc), liquid-cooled, twin cylinder, 4-cycle Kawasaki gasoline engine (launch date of December 2003).
The Gator HPX 4x4 Diesel is powered by a 20 horsepower (784 cc), liquid-cooled, three cylinder, 4-cycle Yanmar Diesel engine (launch date of June 2004).

SteveH_CT · May 2, 2004

They are pretty neat little things, but the point of them is generally lost on me. I posed a question about them in the section on ATV's and these. I'd love one as a neat toy, but on the land I've got a cheap pick-up would work better. And the cost... phew, someone is making some big bucks on these things. For that matter, someone probably made big bucks on my tractor to. /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

Tractors4u · May 2, 2004

These vehicles fill a niche between the small low cost beat up pick up truck and a utility ATV. I bought a Gator 6X4 last year and you would have to pry it from my cold dead fingers to get it away from me. That is unless you were going to trade me a new one for it. I have the power dump bed on mine and I have hauled a lot of dirt with it. It is much move manueverable than a small pick up in the woods.

cowboydoc · May 2, 2004

These are no toy for sure. I'd take one of these any day of the week over a pickup. The utility vehicles can do 10x the work that a pickup can do and do it better. The only place a pickup would be better is hauling a big load. Other than that I can't think of anything I'd rather have a small pickup for over a utility vehicle.

rockyridgefarm · May 3, 2004

Hey, Doc, did you get an HPX? What would you think of a diesel version?

SteveH_CT · May 3, 2004

I'll bet the power dump bed is nice. I could use something like that - I've imagined getting a F350 or somthing in that size class with a dump bed - used of course. I don't think I'd need to use it off of my lot, mainly for transporting larger loads than my FEL bucket could carry in one load. Which brings me to a question...

Since we have pretty much the same tractor, will your gator take more than one or two loads from the FEL? I guess my question on the usefulness of these gets to this... in regard to weight, if I have a full bucket of process, which is pretty heavy, would the dump bed take it and unload it OK? What about two heavy loads... I can't imagine the little bed on these taking more than one good load, maybe two at best taking weight and volume into account. So my quandry revolves around that - why not just keep it in the bucket and move it in the tractor? The other thing is our land type, I'm forever pulling large rocks out when I'm working an area. I can picture one of these monsters decimating a gator. What I'm describing is what I am doing a lot of right now. I've been chipping away at about 20 loads of process and moving it to the lower section of our yard. The concept of loading it into a gator - driving it across the yard - dumping it - then going back and spreading it with the FEL seems like more work than what I'm currently doing.

So I guess everyone is right, they are a niche product and I think I don't fit into that niche. Maybe when we get our horses moved over to our new property I would find uses for one. I'm certainly not downing them as a tool - I guess I just haven't found a job that it could do for me. The other thing is winter... no cab, no heat, and mucho more $$ to add either - Yeah, then I'd really want a small pickup...heat baby! /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

One more question to the users of these... would a decent size dump trailer that I could pull with the 4310 serve a lot of the same purposes that I would use a Gator for?

SteveH_CT · May 3, 2004

10x... is that possibly an exaggeration? /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif

Please... tell what work it will do that much better. If you read my post above you can see I'm describing what I'm using the 4310 for right now. In the future when my "Earth Renovation" days are behind me I'll mostly be using the 4310 for brush/lawn cutting and maintaining our gravel roads. Throw in some small horsebarn stuff and you'll pretty much have the idea of what I'm doing. So where I struggle with the relevance of the Gator type vehicle is what I could do with it that I can't already do with my admittedly expensive toy that I already have /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif.

Thanks - and don't take my posts as deriding the Gator, I enjoy hearing how folks use things. I've learned a lot that way. Heck, this weekend I even learned how good a toothbar really is at a given task, and how poor at others. Everything has a purpose and a niche - and thats what I'm trying to learn about the Gators.

BTW - my daughter would love a Gator - she saw one on the floor and instantly pictured herself riding around in it... I'd rather she do a bit more walking right now /forums/images/graemlins/smirk.gif

Tractors4u · May 3, 2004

Usually when I use my Gator as a dump truck there are two of us running the equipment. One on the tractor, one on the Gator. Because the FEL bucket is wider than the Gator bed is long, you use a little bit of the load when you dump it in. We put no less than two bucket loads in the Gator and sometimes three. It squats the rear a bit, and the front end gets light, but the power dump raises and dumps it. The Gator will haul it a lot faster than the tractor will.

Robert_in_NY · May 3, 2004

The gator is not for everyone. It is nice for fixing fences, hauling feed, fixing small pot holes in driveways and such. It is better for these task then a tractor because of how easy it is to get in and out of the machine, it rides a lot smoother, travels a lot faster and is more comfortable all around and just plain handy. Now if you plan on moving a lot of dirt and are considering it just for a dump bed, it will be just as cheap to buy a used tractor with no loader and a small hydraulic dump wagon and be able to haul large loads with that setup. Otherwise, just use the front loader and a dump wagon if you want. Buy just a hydraulic dump wagon, fill it, then hook it up to your tractor and head down the trail to where you want to go. Every body has different uses for different things. Last thing, the gator will get into some places easier then a tractor. But just because some people have a use for a gator and get it, don't try to justify it just for the sake of keeping up. You will regret it as it just sits there in the garage because it don't fit your need. Take care.

cowboydoc · May 3, 2004

Steve,

I did say in post that for hauling heavy loads is one place a pickup would be better. If you do a search we've gone over the use of these quite a few times. I don't know all your uses but for you if all you are doing is hauling material from one place to another then yes a pickup or dump truck would be much better suited. I would not say they are a toy though. I guess for some people they are but they are just as valuable a piece of equipment as a tractor for us.