rtv 900 use for off road hunting and rive banks

bczoom · Oct 28, 2004

Here's what I've heard. Probably what you've heard as well.
The Bighorn's are pretty much the best selling tire out there right now. Maxxis wasn't expecting this kind of sales and is running behind in production.
According to distributers, it'll probably be a few weeks before supply can catch back up with demand.
On the same note (tires), I've pretty much realized that after running the Bighorn's, I'll probably never use the OEM worksite tires again. I've been pondering taking them off the OEM rims and getting a set of 589's or something. Just considering for now. I want to see the Bighorn's do their thing in the winter before I invest in something super agressive.

agronomist · Oct 28, 2004

I had my RTV stuck today. It does a pretty good job in the mud.

Problems:
Very heavy machine, seems to lack power even in the mid range to pull this machine through soft soil. Have had some overheating problems. Air cleaner intake needs to be moved higher.

I have 190 hours on my machine. Use it to map farm fields, and soil sampling. Machine is very durable. Just needs a few tweaks!

bczoom · Oct 29, 2004

agronomist,

Welcome to TBN!
What kind of tires are you running?
Tell us more about you overheating issues and why the air intake needs to be higher.

agronomist · Oct 29, 2004

I have stock ATV type tire for the rec. model. Air intake sucks in corn stalk residue, and exsseive dust. The air intake for the Mule is on top of the roll bar, works much better. Machine wants to overheat when operate at full throttle for extended periods 15-20 min. This should not be a problem with a diesel engine that is made for a tractor.

Dargo · Oct 29, 2004

agronomist, thanks for letting us know your experiences with your RTV. I have some slightly more agressive tires on my RTV and I too have noticed that I can "run out of power" in mid range. This especially happens when I'm in a combination of mud and hills. When I've pushed it hard and had it run out of power rather than spin the tires, I've also noticed that my temp will climb quickly. My issue is that when my RTV is warmed up and running like that, my temp gauge foggs over completely along with the fuel gauge and it's very difficult to read if I can read it at all. Anyway, although it's slower, I've not had any heat issues when I've kept it in low range.
It's interesting that you mentioned the corn husk issue. I was checking my oil and cleaning my air filter yesterday and found a corn husk plastered in there. I don't know where in the heck that came from! /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif

flyingn · Oct 29, 2004

mine has NO problem wot for 20 mins in 90 degree summer temps.. even pulling a 33oo lb trailer UP hills.. Id look into the cooling fan problem that someone else here had a while back.. It was not coming on causing a hot condition

Frank

bczoom · Oct 29, 2004

agronomist,
Thanks for the explanation. I hadn't encountered the issues you're having in that my conditions are very different. Let alone running at high speed for 15-20 minutes, my RTV rarily sees that amount of time without being shut off for awhile. Haven't been in any corn either.

I did find out something when running out of power that helps. I think flyingn brought this up a while back. In any range, when you have the pedal all the way to the floor but it starts bogging down a decent amount, let off the pedal some. It'll then not send so much to the tranny and your engine RPM's will go back up. Once the RPM's are back up, you can either stay there or get back into the pedal again.

I need to check my temp gauge more frequently. I only check occasionally but have never seen it rise. (Again, my trips are pretty short).

equipman · Oct 29, 2004

agronomist
Your RTV shouldn't be running hot. Is your radiator screen clean and/or is the electric fan coming on automatically? The air filter has an inner and outer element, is your inner filter dirty?
Lewis

bobs · Nov 12, 2004

Sparkyca · May 14, 2010

I think Kubota offers a kit to raise the intake up on the ROPS to get it up when you run in dusty dirty conditions.

They also offer a hand throttle kit that lets you bring the engine R's up before the transmission kicks in. You get more power from the same package that way if you can anticipate a difficult situation. Mud hole, or big hill.