Ranger VS Gator XUV

[aesanders]

we used Polaris Sportsman 500's, and a newer '04 Ranger. We used these to the extreme over rough terrain (often times worked ground), and in the dead of winter when the ground was frozen. We were constantly taking the 500's in for repair & service.

And that is the problem with this scenario. You base everything on one set of experiences without having something to compare it with.

Say you had a John Deere gator instead of the Ranger. It too may have had issues under the extreme conditions you were using these under. Or maybe no body would have wanted to use it since it took twice as long to do the work. Unless you having something else in the same situation that outperformed tgheother product it is all speculation.

Ny the way, my brother has had a Polaris for 10+ years that he works on his farm pretty hard. never any issues. So as with any company you have some machines with issues and some without.

 

[gordon21]

OK guys, who is Polaris?? I did a quick Google search using the words Polaris and UTV and nothing came up that sent me in any direction to find the company. I vaguely remember them making 2nd tier snowmobiles years ago but that is it. There were a couple links to people selling accessories and that was it.

Is the company actually named Polaris??? I went on line to see if there was a web site and where the nearest dealer might be.

The only UTV brands I have seen around here being sold are Kawasaki, JD, Yamaha and Bristors. It seems to be almost 90% Mules and Gators.

 

[Skipholiday]

OK guys, who is Polaris?? I did a quick Google search using the words Polaris and UTV and nothing came up that sent me in any direction to find the company.
Is the company actually named Polaris???

Keyword Polaris #1, 2, and 3 in list

 

[TOMMYHPX4X4]

I dont have any problem DUDE. I am not starting any trouble, are you a moderator? What defects are you talking about? Have you driven an xuv, how can you make judgements by looking at something? It seems that you had trouble on this forum before with other people. I am here to learn from people. Just because I just joined doesnt mean I cant say what I think.

i have 15 years welding and fitting experience most of my welds are x-rayd for pipe line (b-31) i built offshore cranes / offshore boats crew boats . drilling rigs . i have been a foreman and pushed welding crews converting a ship over to a oil driilling srip for diamond offshore oil company at atlantic marine in tilmans corner in alabama . i built offshore platforms too for production platforms and drilling platforms . so i would say yes i am pretty qualified to look at something and say it's "weak" or say the welds aren't done right. after all i was a welding foreman and a fitting foreman .. so you asked how can i make judements by looking at something thats how . you can say what you think that is what we all do but don't say that i said something i didn't say.and don't try to say you went back and read my old post because if you did you would have known that i was a welder/fitter for alot of years .i'm certified to weld with everything but heiliarc. i was messing around with it when i got injured but never got certified in it. but everything else like short arc/ fluxcore/ 90 k2 /stick/ i got my papers on all them.now i like john deere and i. like the hpx but i will still stick by what i say about the xuv when i say that the lower rearend is to weak for the rest of the frame and all them welds should have been sealed instead of just tacked on the top and bottom . when the mud gets in there it's gonna rust from the inside out not to mention it's gonna add a few more pounds to the rearend too when all the tubing gets filed with mud .if anyone was smart they would take and run a bead of weld around the tubes and seal them off or if they don't wanna weld it run a bead of sylicone . but them thigns being not sela is bad news.oh i forgot i built offshore cranes too thats when i got hurt. lol remember i live next to the gulf so alot of my work was offshore or had to do with the water.

 

[TOMMYHPX4X4]

Keyword Polaris #1, 2, and 3 in list

das a good one skip .i usaualy just pop in polaris atvs

 

[gordon21]

I found the site. Thanks. The nearest dealers are an hour or more away and from a quick glance the Ranger appears to be more of a Rhino clone than a Gator clone. Their website offers direct comparisons to other UTV's except JD. That's kinda surprising since they would beat JD on speed and HP. You would think they would play that up for their brand.

I was curious since I have never seen one, nor has anyone in my area mentioned owning one. Since the dealers are far away, that explains it. Most people will buy something less than an hours drive if there are other choices. The list prices seem to be the same as JD.

 

[TOMMYHPX4X4]

i would like to see a ranger and a xuv or hpx hooked up together and see who could drag who. i know the hpx can drag the rhino but i wonder about the ranger??it would be interesting. does anyone have some buddies with one??

 

[Skipholiday]

Their website offers direct comparisons to other UTV's except JD. That's kinda surprising since they would beat JD on speed and HP. You would think they would play that up for their brand.

I found that strange as well.

Rangers are nice vehicles. If a dealer was closer I would have considered one b4 I went with the xuv. They seem very close in comparison~!

 

[jcmseven]

Marshall,

I did not unintentially prove any point. I like Polaris. I bought my father a Polaris ATV. I am not involved in any brand war, nor am I blinded to a machine which is not my primary brand but is a quality machine. I do not feel Polaris makes a substandard product, quite the contrary, I think Polaris makes a fine product--in most cases. Perhaps I have been jaded slightly by the Polaris units I have seen. Of the ones I tested, three (of seven) had what I considered major cosmetic or workmanship issues. These issues would not have affected performance much and or longevity, but I expected more out of such an expensive machine. I think the Liberty engine is a nice powerplant and the Polaris is a powerful and nice machine. I am thinking of getting my father one to replace his ATV. I felt for my usage the Gator was a better choice. It has an improved four wheel drive system, better load hauling capacity (even though rated for 1,500 lbs. the Polaris has some heavy hauling issues), and more stout construction. It is the target UTV for 2007, all categories considered. Next year, who knows. I will say I have never been disappointed in any JD product I have owned, and they have a loyal customer by providing me with good machines that have high build quality. I might buy a Polaris myself in the upcoming months, but I, for one, would like to see the details mastered a bit better first.

John M

 

[TOMMYHPX4X4]

yea they are nice i looked at them a few times and i still look at them now the frames are not as well built as the john deere but they can go through some mud.loli seen them haul some nice loads they did squat with the load in the bed but they did haul them with no problem from what i seen they have a really soft suspension with alot of travel they have some serious power(700xp) the donw side of them are they don't come with a real "rops" and they have a belt problem after 200 plus hours but from what i read the belt is easy to change and if it's like the hpx belt it's really cheap (28.00) so i figure it really ain't a belt problem if deere recomends you change thier belt at the 200 hour mark too . so if you was to change the belt every 200 hours i don't think the belt would be a problem i think the biggest problem would be finding enough mud to ride in . i seen a 6x6 doin about 40mph at the clay shoot this year that was impressive.loland it was dominated by 700xp's last year there was a wide range of utv's but this year there wasn't that many other utv's one or two rhino's and a few mules and one bota the rest was ranger's. i don't know how the bed would hold up to my abuse .lol i go to the back bayou and dump and load up with bricks and big lime stone rocks and my son we don't set them down in the bed easy we drop them or throw the bricks now the gator holds up good with the all metal bed but that ranger with the mostley fiber bed i think it will break up.thats one reason i went with the hpx it's built like a tank.