How many of you wear helmets when running your side by side UTV?

[foreman Etexas]

I don't wear one on either the 4wheeler or sideXside. Dirt Bikes are the only time will put one on.

 

[aczlan]

16 gallons of water weigh about 134 lbs...that, plus the weight of the sprayer (and the UTV operator), plus the slope and speed...I can see it happening.

I agree, downhill, off camber at medium speed (to cause the tank to "slam" into the side of the bed) and dropping one wheel off the side of the road and it is flippable.
From the quoted poster:

will live.broke broke ribs, right arm and wrist internal stuff not good. seat bar on d side and parking brake lever came close to fatal. recc everyone heavilly pad these asap. unsure what occured. like front wheel just drove off road and kinda side fell on me. was going slow too.

Sorry for delay but life gets in the way. The short version is that i was going down hill 20% grade on an "S" bend. Had a full 16 gallon sprayer tank in bed that slammed into right bed side. RTV went over on drivers side and roof/roll bar landed on my chest on down hill slope. Broke ribs at sternum and got a grade 5 out of 6 liver laceration. (6 means youre dead). Broke both bones right forearm lifting rtv off me as I couldn't breathe due to roll bar weight. Don't remember lifting it off just that i was out from underneath. Spent a week in trauma icu and 3 months learning to use my reconstructed stainless steel reinforced arm.

RTV is over 10 years old not lifted but has slightly larger off road tires. Never had an accident like this, never been in hospital or broke anything before. Please don't feel bad for me as I'm great now and this near death incident inspired me to get my bucket list going (like leaving the sorry state of calif). As an engineer i would caution you all to consider the COG and the effect of side stability of you vehicles whenever driving. Heavily Padding the seat rails is recommended as well as always wearing your seat belts. I would not transport smaller folks with out belts AND side safety curtains. Lastly I never thought it coulkd happen to me.

Not sure how the tank slamming into the right side of the RTV could cause it to go over to the left or how the ebrake could "get" you if it went over left but I would recommend avoiding the replication of his experience...

Aaron Z

 

[kf4uda]

I have a Polaris Ranger 800xp. I use it primarily on the farm as a utility vehicle. I do not wear a helmet. Whenever I am going on extended rides I do however wear my seatbelt. I have a 25 gallon sprayer for it. I made a base for my sprayer to keep it from sliding causing upset and/or damaging the sprayer.

 

[daugen]

no helmet, but always buckle up in the RTV400 if only to keep me from sliding around, though I normally drive slowly. Wonder why they didn't contour the bench seat a little more, but likely has to handle a wide variety of rear ends. I sat in a JD Gator last year and the seats were very nice, held you in place better. Now I don't expect Kubota to put a Recaro in there, but it would make for a more comfortable driving experience and less hanging on for dear life at times, so the seat belt helps some.

I'd be more concerned about eye protection, particularly if you're going in the woods.

Out West, on the proverbial wide open prairie, if you get going 20+mph, as long as you know where the rocks and gulleys are...you'll be just fine. Watch those phone pole support wires too...

 

[RoyJackson]

I'd be more concerned about eye protection, particularly if you're going in the woods.

Good point!
My Gator does not have a windshield...mistake on my part, but it's a dealer installed option and there is quite a bit of aftermarket availability.
I wear glasses, so there is a limited degree of protection, but as I wrote, you have made a good point.

 

[daugen]

you know wearing the woodcutter combo looks pretty dorky, always safety orange, but those things really do work.
I prefer my own ear protection, higher db rating than what they give you in the combo units, but for short periods, they are fine. Maybe some one could make a similar combo one for other uses, because when that weedwacker spits a piece of something sharp back into your cheek, I think most of us would wear something to prevent that. It should be comfortable, easy to adjust, cool to wear/ventilated, and yeah, i guess be BlueTooth compatible, and maybe a FRS radio built in, and ok, ok, a Nascar feed.

 

[RoyJackson]

you know wearing the woodcutter combo looks pretty dorky, always safety orange, but those things really do work.
I prefer my own ear protection, higher db rating than what they give you in the combo units, but for short periods, they are fine. Maybe some one could make a similar combo one for other uses, because when that weedwacker spits a piece of something sharp back into your cheek, I think most of us would wear something to prevent that. It should be comfortable, easy to adjust, cool to wear/ventilated, and yeah, i guess be BlueTooth compatible, and maybe a FRS radio built in, and ok, ok, a Nascar feed.

I wear the wood cutter helmet (with the face shield and sound attenuating muffs) when using a chainsaw and chipping.
I use a set of sound attenuating when mowing (either on the tractor or using the walk-behind) and weed wacking...sometimes goggles too, especially when weed wacking.
As far as dorky...well, I'm well beyond the age where I worry what other people think.
I'm off topic here, so I'll stop now.

 

[riptides]

...I'd be more concerned about eye protection, particularly if you're going in the woods...

I survived my roll over, my eye and face did not. What if?

Interesting this posting, Roy, got me thinking. And that's not a bad thing, well...

I never wear my seat belt or hard-hats operating our RTV's. Pretty stupid, as I look back and think, heck I go places, and at speeds, my tractors never go or do.

I need to rethink my driving habits across all platforms.

 

[crazyal]

Grew up not wearing a helmet for anything off road. As I got into riding MX I got into wearing one. But never did when driving my 3 wheeler and still don't driving my UTV. If I was to race or drive hard I would but just light playing around and doing work around the house, never bothered.

 

[econometrics]

I never wear a helmet on my Gator 825i, as I am usually just driving it from place to place on my property to jump off and do a chore - so I'm never really driving over 15mph most of the time. If I go out on the county roads, I like to buckle up in it.

I did, however, ALWAYS wear a helmet on this bad-boy: 2009 Joyner Trooper T2 1100cc 4cyl. That thing could hit 65mph, np... and crawl through anything. Well, besides a swamp, as you can see. Took two Kubota CUTs to get it out that day.