utility vehicle

[ethan]

I am interested in buying a kawasaki mule, polaris ranger, or a john deere gator. Can somebody please give me some info., on which of these might be best on a farm.

 

[frank_f15]

THINK U MIGHT NEED TO GIVE A LITTLE MORE detailed info. what are ur intened uses? what size farm?

 

[ethan]

I have about 100 acres, & what I intend to do is fencing, some feeding of cows & just some pleasure riding around on the farm with my kids.

 

[Bird]

Ethan, that may be like asking which brand of tractor is best./w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif The best one is the one you like best. I've only had experience with the Mule and it was a great machine. It belonged to my brother, but stayed at my place quite awhile. I had a rancher neighbor who would never buy a new car, pickup, or tractor (always bought older used ones), but after I took him one day on the Mule to do fence repairs, he promptly went and bought a new Mule; uses it to herd cattle, carry feed, carry a spray rig for insecticides and herbicides, carry the tools for fence repairs, etc. And his wife uses it to go fishing./w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif If you get the hard top, as my brother did, it makes a great platform for pruning trees, cleaning rain gutters, etc. and with the power dump bed my brother had, we moved a lot of dirt; could not overload it.

 

[Mark_in_NH]

Take a look at Bobcats new Utility vehicle called the "Toolcat". It Is The Cats Butt. Of course it is also around $30,000.
But what an awesome concept. 44 horse Kubota Diesel, 4 wheel drive, 4 wheel steer, FOPS, a pick box on the back, an available enclosed cab, a host of Bob-Tach implements A 7' lift height. Ugghh Ugghh Ugghh
I Want One !!!!!! I don't need one & I can't afford one.
BUT I WANT ONE !!!!!!!!!!!!!
Here is a link to it.
<A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.bobcat.com/products/twm/index.jhtml>http://www.bobcat.com/products/twm/index.jhtml</A>

 

[Mark_in_NH]

I could do this !!!!!! /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

 

[kcbarnes]

<font color=blue>I Want One !!!!!! I don't need one & I can't afford one.
BUT I WANT ONE !!!!!!!!!!!!!</font color=blue> That makes two of us. /w3tcompact/icons/love.gif

 

[JATO_RaT]

Here, look at this!

 

[Will_C]

My brother (must be something about brothers, Bird), bought a Mule right before deer season. He also uses it on around 100 acres. It has completely impressed me! We used it deer hunting to bring deer out of the woods and to transport people to their deer stands. It hauls about 1/2 face cord of wood with the racks he made for it, and it will haul much more dirt than you can dump out of it by hand.
I have driven the Gators, and, while I don't want to make the JD owners blood boil, I can't see the reason to buy one over the Mule. The 4wd is practically a necessity when there is more than 6" of snow.

 

[cpicton1]

ethan,

With the exception of the Toolcat, this one might have a little more function than the others you spoke of. I'm sure it would be a little easier on the pocket book than the industrial quality Toolcat. Might be ok for working but no room for passengers.

<A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.steinerturf.com/prod13.htm>http://www.steinerturf.com/prod13.htm</A>

Sure do like that Toolcat though. /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

 

[Steven]

Arctic cat also makes one

Engine Displacement/Type
480cc, Air-Cooled, 4-Stroke Twin

Lubrication:
Full Pressure

Starting System:
Key Start, electric

Drivetrain:
Constant Variable Automatic Transmission

Speed:
0 - 16 mph (0-26 km/h)

Brakes:
Mechanical Rear Drum with Metallic Pads

Suspension Travel:
Front: 5 in. (12.7cm)
Rear: 26 in. (66cm) Rotational Travel

Tires:
22.5 in. (57.2 cm)

Box Volume:
14.75 cu. ft. (.43 m3)

Bed Capacity*:
1,000 lbs. (454 kg)

Total Load Capacity*:
1,400 lbs. (635 kg)

Towing Capacity*:
800 lbs. (363 kg)

Overall Length:
115 in. (292 cm)

Turning Radius:
9 ft. (2.74 m)

Overall Width:
59 in. (150 cm)

Wheelbase:
79 in. (201 cm)

Ground Clearance:
5 in. (12.7 cm) Rear, 9 in. (22.9 cm) Under Footwell

Fuel Capacity:
7 gallons (26.5 litres)

Weight:
1,000 lbs. (454 kg)

Standard Features:

Headlights, DC Outlet, Fuel Gauge, Temperature Warning Light, Hour Meter, Parking Brake, Cup Holder, Cell Phone Holder, Glove Box, Underseat Storage

 

[Harv]

Hey, fellers!

These are fascinating machines (I want a Toolcat bad now), but let's keep the following in mind.

From the <A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.tractorbynet.com/cgi-bin/compact/faq_english.pl?Cat=>FAQ</A>:

<font color=red>we do not allow:

5. Posting or uploading copyrighted material without permission.</font color=red>

From the <A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.tractorbynet.com/site/guidelines.htm>Guidelines</A>:

<font color=red>You may not place an image in a post that is hosted on a website other than your own, one you have permission to source an image from, or TractorByNet.com.</font color=red>

Just a reminder.

 

[cpicton1]

TractorByNet.com,

Sorry about that, we let our enthusiasm to help carry us away. I'm sure we will all try to mind the rules in the future.
Thanks for the reminder Harv.

 

[Darren]

Rather than pay the price for a Gator or something equivalent have you considered buying an old 4x4? I've got an old Bronco II that I like because of the short turning radius. A Ranger pickup with the same wheelbase from the same period would do the same job as some of the expensive specialty vehicles.

I use the Bronco II pretty much the same way to carry tools and stuff on the place plus I can drive it to town. With the ground clearance, I can use it like an ATV as long as I don't get frisky and take on too much of a slope.

Around here those go for about $500 in running condition. Beats the hell out of the high priced ATVs and specialty stuff.

 

[JimC]

I don't know where you live, but if you were in central Texas, I have a 4x2 John Deere Gator with about 500 hours on it that I would sell reasonable, $4000.
I moved off of a 70 acre ranch to a 1.5 acre house lot, and with my new BX2200, I don't have much need for the gator. It will haul 7 square bails, all the fenceing tools and supplies you could use in a day and will go places that you would never believe.
My email is jimc@gvec.net. Seguin, Texas, 30 mi from San Antonio TX

 

[cowboydoc]

Personally I like the Gators better. I'm often asked why I buy one as opposed to a 4wd, I actually have a toyota 4wd for the bigger jobs and driving in winter. My number one reason for this is because the gators have the least impaction rate by a huge factor. Plus the handiness is nothing compared to the pickup. I own a Mule as well that is 4wd and there isn't anywhere that the mule has gone that the gator hasn't gone. I really wouldn't hesitate to own either one. The gator also has less of a turnover rate as well. That is the reason the mule has the rollbar and the gator doesn't have one.

As far as the Ranger goes it is an awesome machine. If I wanted something to go out in the woods hunting that would def. be my choice. My brother bought one last fall and it was great for elk hunting. It went anywhere. He didn't like it for the ranch though as he said where you drove with it it really compacted the grass. He also said where he drove with the gator before it didn't kill the grass but the ranger would kill the grass if you drove over it alot.

All three are great machines. For myself if I had to choose it would be the gator as a farm/ranch vehicle and the ranger for off-road, hunting, etc. If someone wanted a little of both I think the mule would be a good choice. It is kind of a hybrid between the two.

 

[JATO_RaT]

I would agree about the 4WD. I haven't seen where the 4WD of my sisters Kawasaki Mule has been needed. She lives in the hills (mountains to folks back East I suppose) and mud, snow etc. never call for 4WD. The rollbar is more for the lights, a way to keep the rain off and perhaps most importantly, a great sunshade. Even with the curves, bumps and boulders the Mule is solid and does not ever feel like a roll over is eminent. The suspension I suppose helps take care of that. Our neighbor has a Gator. After driving it, I think I would prefer it over the Mule. More comfortable. If they added a top, it would be even better for my needs. My favorite vehicle is the Pioneer 1200 from ClubCar. You might even see them running around on the field during todays Super Bowl. It is very slick, comfortable and smooth. Rat....

 

[Bird]

<font color=blue>haven't seen where the 4WD of my sisters Kawasaki Mule has been needed</font color=blue>

You were just in the wrong terrain./w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif Even though our part of Texas is "relatively" flat, we had some ditches and gullies that nothing was going through without 4WD, and we used it in mud, too, fishing in the Spring. The only time I ever had it stop and just spin the tires was when it got high centered in mud, but I had my 4 passengers get out and I was able to drive it on out./w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif

<font color=blue>The rollbar is more for the lights, a way to keep the rain off and perhaps most importantly, a great sunshade</font color=blue>

The shade was very important, and it made a great work platform, and the rollbar is actually the air intake, at the very top back side of the rollbar. While I wouldn't do it, or recommend it, my brother drove us through water that was right up to the bottom of the seat. He sure wouldn't have done that if he hadn't known the air intake was high out of the water. It also gets the air intake up out of the dust.

 

[JDGREEN4ME]

The facility where I work happens to own all three of these machines. The first one they bought was a JD Gator which they had for several years. Recently they added the Polaris Ranger and that has worked well for them also. These two units are used by the grounds departments for plowing snow in the winter and landscape work in the summer. The farm uses the Mule and they have had this unit for a number of years. From what I have seen of them they look like anyone of them would be just fine. The only negative observation of mine would be the Polaris appears to sit pretty high and if you were loading would require a higher liftover. Don't know if that would be a problem for your application or not.

 

[wroughtn_harv]

Ditto. Come on lottery!!!!!!!