Who makes the best overall Utility vehicle

[Robert_in_NY]

if your looking for a uv that will go lightly on soft wet ground, look at the argo. it is available in 6 or 8 wheel versions that have a light foot print, and can go anywhere

I have seen the Argo's in action. A friend of ours sells them and we had one at our Jakes day event to take the kids out on the pond. However, they don't have the flat box that I need for being able to haul wood crates in the back. Also, I am not very fond of how they drive. They drive just like a dozer which would tear things up too much on this ground.

 

[Chandler1]

I do not have a lot of steep hills but I do have some muddy places during the wet seasons. I wound up buying an RTV more for it's tractor like toughness, for it's power and as a workhorse. I bought it to use for hunting, yardwork, and farmwork. It was the right decision afterall for me and I am happy with it so far. I don't need one to go fast. It will go just about anywhere I need to for my use. The RTV is not perfect, they (utv's) all have their advantages and disadvantages. Each person has different needs. You just have to take time to check out all the utv's and get the one thats right for you.

 

[MadJack]

Robert in NY, I read most (but not all) this thread and will reply with two choices:

Ferterl has purchased PUG and make three models of UTV. The Wilderness, Back Forty and my all time favorite, the Badlands. The Badlands is basically what I own but mine is a 1970 and only sports an 11hp Honda engine with no hydraulics. My 11 year old daughter drives it all over our property to recover game. I use it to skid logs out and move large rock we sell for rock walls. All the wood in the picture was hauled more than 300 yards with this rig.

Now they come with hydraulic steering (so they don't bust your wrist) and a dump bed (lots more options too) that can hold nearly a yard of gravel and drag 2200lbs. Check it out here:
Pug Cargo ATVs



The other company is Land Pride, maker of tractor implements. They make basically the same rig with a little better stats, called the GONDO.

These are not atv's they are work horses! They are not fast by atv standards but they will go where you point them.
You've seen the polaris commercial??? The only thing this won't do better is "outride" the polaris ranger, everything else is B/S and I have proven it with my antique PUG!

You save you have a vineyard and orchard, either of these will serve you well. Stream crossings are seldom a problem as the engine is mounted higher than most and I have crossed 24" deep water with mine. The articulation keeps all four tires on the ground for the best traction too.

No I don't sell either rig, I just think they are the toughest all around workhorse out there.

 

[Robert_in_NY]

Thanks for the information. I have not bought yet so the more choices to look over the better.

 

[TWO GUNS]

Robert_in_NY,

Just I would just throw in a note. I, like you, have asked alot of questions. Wanted the very best for my workload, hunting, and deer management. For over a year, before letting go of the money. I done some really deep,deep researce on all the utiltiy vehicles. As you can read, everybody has a say on what they like or dislike. Like another said, ALL the utility vehicles has thier good & bad points. ALL OF THEM !!!!
We have used & test fired just about all the popular units avalible. (we used all of them approx 5-7 days apiece) Used on the on the plantation for heavy work, hunting , and doing the year round deer management from disc plots, setting up food plots, hauling barrels of corn & suppliment feed to the auto-feeder, & hauling seeds for planting.
After all said and done, we made the big step this Febuary, and purchased a RTV 900. THE VERY BEST INVESTMENT I EVER MADE !!!!
It is not a speed demon !!!! For I don't drive that fast anyway, but found that it has ALL the power needed for the job. Hauls more than I want to load, and that Kubota engine, is IT. We have loaded down the back, and loaded up a the trailer, and goes as if there is nothing there.
I've not done any actual deer hunting (yet) out of this unit that I purchased, but has done everything else we purchased it for. Our dealer let me use a camo model for a week last winter, done EVERYTHING any big time hunter would ask for. We hunt in a alot of swamp / marshy land down here in Louisiana. Also, hunt the plowed up fields in the winter, and they get really bad also, but the Kubota NEVER let us down, not even once ~~~~ The hydro transmission is the only way to go as far as I am concered. Tried all the belt driven units, they all slipped, all of them. Now this might not happen to you or anybody else, but the belt driven brands / models did not perform as we wanted it to.
I had my dealer swap out the tires on the unit that we purchased for the aggressive tires like what is on the Kubotra 900 Camo models (At No Cost)They do just fine ! Installed a ROPS High Mount Air Breather for running in deep water, intalled a Ramsey 3000 lb. winch, tractor inplement lights on the front and back, Remote Control Golight on the front, Glass Kubota windshield,
metal top.
Let me state on one thing, we used All the brands / models the same way.
We DID NOT try to tear things up, find the deepest gator hole and try to bury them, abuse them to prove a point, or try to float them like a battleship.
We used these like they were suppose to be used. This was our money, and wanted to spend it wisely. We wanted this unit to be a one time investement !!!! This statement is not to put down any make or model of any utilty vehicles, for they are some good ones out there. But the one that we found to fit our use, hard work, farming, deer manangement, & hunting, was none other than the KUBOTA RTV.

 

[Robert_in_NY]

I have talked to the Kubota dealer about the RTV and this fall I will most likely demo it along with the XUV, Trekker and the Cub Cadet. I might get a Ranger out here to try out also but I am not very fond of that dealer. I have to look at some other units still and check out the dealers but I have a couple months still before I buy.

Thanks for the review on the RTV, it looks like a very solid unit and without testing it out yet it is one of my top choices right now along with the Trekker and XUV.

 

[copperdog]

I have a 4X4 Polaris Ranger. The only thing we have ever done to it is put fuel in it and change the oil.

My son works for a local farmer who has a RTV900 Kubota.
Everytime he goes anyplace in the Ranger, he says the Ranger is a much better machine. He is much younger than I am and likes to run them both at maximum capacity as most kids do.

My Polaris dealer was not the most friendly either, if I was buying another today, it would be another Ranger. They have a large dealer network, I would look for another that wanted my business.

 

[Tractors4u]

I was in this situation a year and a half ago. I had it narrowed down to the Ranger and the RTV. I had never even driven a Ranger, but had driven an RTV at a couple of dealers. I ended up with the Ranger XP700. I needed something that I could use for play as well as work. I don't think anything is going to out work or out last the RTV, but for fun and trail riding, it was too slow and heavy. If I were using my for strictly working or hunting, I would go with the RTV. Consider your needs and buy to match.

 

[Dargo]

I was in this situation a year and a half ago. I had it narrowed down to the Ranger and the RTV. I had never even driven a Ranger, but had driven an RTV at a couple of dealers. I ended up with the Ranger XP700. I needed something that I could use for play as well as work. I don't think anything is going to out work or out last the RTV, but for fun and trail riding, it was too slow and heavy. If I were using my for strictly working or hunting, I would go with the RTV. Consider your needs and buy to match.

Yup, I agree with you on each statement. My next "mostly play" unit will likely be one of the Ranger units; not implying that the Rangers can't work. However, I wouldn't expect it to do what I've done with my RTV. I have pictures of it hauling 2000 pound loads of wet clay soil. Not only did I haul 2000 pound loads with it, but I dumped the same loads; about 200 times so far! My RTV is slightly tweaked and will run 31.3 mph (according to GPS) on flat blacktop roads. However, if you were to go trail riding on it, you'd be left in the dust. Being that I really use my UTV around the place and I have a tendency to want to go fast on trails (too many years racing motocross), I opted for two different units. I could have gotten by with either unit, but like vehicles, there isn't any one unit that fits all.

 

[jcmseven]

I really like the Kubota, but just cannot get around the fact it does not have a locking front differential. To me, in one of these vehicles, that means everything. I need mainly a work UTV for my property and I bought a new diesel XUV mainly for that reason. I like JD's but have bought my father a Polaris ATV and would have gone with another brand such as Kubota were it not for that fact. In the end I really wanted a diesel with full true four wheel drive, and that is the reason I went with the Gator. The added benefit is a little more power also. It looks like the new XUV Gator and the RTV 1100 are going to have about the same engine power. I cannot, though, understand why Kubota does not have a front diff lock. They lose potential customers like myself who would have otherwise strongly considered their machine.

John M