In search of the farm utility vehicle...

[Wayne02]

Been looking for a vehicle to use as a general purpose, people and tool transport around the property. This vehicle would not be licensed or insured for street use and would stay on the property. We are beginning development of some raw land have a long journey ahead of us. I've been borrowing an atv for this purpose and have concluded it is not the best vehicle for our application, and I'm getting tired of beating the snot out of my daily driver truck sticking it in places it shouldn't go.

Our property has a variety of terrain with parts of it being very rough, and parts being very muddy. In addition much of it is heavily forested and requires a narrow, short wheel base vehicle to even think about making it through. Then there are other parts that have a finished gravel road or lawn that should not be damaged by said vehicle. The vehicle would need to have a winch on at least one end of it, because it will get stuck eventually.

I find that much of what we are doing involves getting on and off the atv frequently as we advance the clearing for a fence line say. This gets to be old really fast as you have to swing your leg over the big box on the back rack that holds the tools. (ok for you young guys but not for us old guys) Or you spend a bunch of time riding the atv with your your knee on the seat instead of sitting down on it. In addition the atv cannot hold many tools and supplies unless you put big boxes on the front and back. Towing a small trailer to carry tools and supplies works to a point, but it becomes a real mess when you try to tow that trailer back into the woods and then need to back up to turn around.

Wife and I went out to look at UTV's the other day and really like the polaris ranger as it was large enough to be comfortable for two people ride in, had good ground clearance but still low enough to get into and out of without too much struggle, locking diffs, no doors so easy in and out, auto trans, easy to pressure wash and clean, easy to work on, and it was small enough to fit in the machine shed with all the other stuff in there.



The drawbacks to these things are:
1. the bed is still smallish, although much bigger than atv boxes.
2. they are really expensive new (9-11K)
3. they are really popular and have not been on the market long so the used market is almost non existent.

So, I'm wondering about possible alternatives... all of course have pros and cons.

1. Geo tracker = small, narrow, short, 4wd, but with all the added complexities of a street vehicle (some of which could be removed if desired like the doors etc) - weight, stuff to go wrong, manual trans, harder to work on etc and not a whole lot more cargo space in the "bed".

2. Nissan or Toyota type small truck = somewhat narrow, good tool/cargo space in the bed, 4wd and ground clearance?? Too long?? Add complexities of a street vehicle as above. I guess there were some of these made with small diesels but the backyard bio guys have bought most of them up already. Would be convenient to be able to fill it up from the 200 gallon diesel tank on the place instead of messing with 5 gallon fuel jugs (although there are already a bunch of gas powered stuff on the place that need this type of fuel anyway)

3. Imported japanese mini truck. Saw the other thread on these and they look intriguing but I can't find anyplace around here to look at them in person.

4. Jeep - don't know much about these but they might be small enough, prolly not as small as the tracker though, and of course all the added complexities of a street vehicle.

What options am I missing? What do you use for a farm specific utility vehicle??

[big rockpile]

We thought about the Ranger,but decided with the money we put in it we could buy a nice Tractor and do more with it.

Plus we could take the Tractor on the Highway where we couldn't take the Ranger without a Permit.

big rockpile

[CGUARDSMAN]

kubota makes a utv thats diesel the one thing about the box being too small is that they do a place for a ball hich so you could pull a trailer. you could find and old toyota 4x4 that has bed rot and put a flat bed on it. i use to have one that would go about anywhere i wanted it too...it saw some pretty serious wheelin

[Wayne02]

Originally Posted by big rockpile

We thought about the Ranger,but decided with the money we put in it we could buy a nice Tractor and do more with it.
big rockpile

That's very true. In our case we have the tractor and it can be used for a people shuttle, but my wife gets really tired of riding in the loader bucket while I drive...

Also, in our case multiple members of the family use the tractor so I hate to tie the thing up for use as a people/tool shuttle when someone else may need it for real tractor work.

[gccrook]

Japanese Mini Trucks (KEI)

[Cabin Fever]

How about one of these?

[CJ]

LOL Cabin, what is that thing?

Wayne, we went through the same thing on our land. We recently gave our Jeep to one of our kids, and there's no way our pickup will get around most of our land. We love those utility vehicles, I'd have one a heartbeat, but like you said, they're too darn expensive!

I asked a ton of questions on here, and we ended up going with a Honda atv, which works out great in addition to our tractor. The extra money was better spent on more tractor implents (at least we thought so).

[CGUARDSMAN]

the texas deer wagon

[bill not in oh]

If I were going to get a UTV, I'd go with the Kubota, also. But I think a Jeep (wrangler models) would be more practical and would do more work for you. I had a Jeep when I lived in New Mexico, and never got it stuck - and I gave it plenty of opportunities in both snow and mud!...

[NWMO]

We purchased a Kawasaki Mule for our place. It has been a great addition and very useful and reliable. Bed is excellent for bales of hay or transporting water / feed buckets. We ialso looked at Artic Cat models and the Polaris. Heard various feedback about the reliability of the other models and the Kawasaki dealer is just a few miles from our place if we ever needed service.

[stonykill]

I use a Jeep Cherokee around the property. I removed the tailgate, but decided to leave the doors on as I don't like my butt wet. It goes most anywhere, and as 4 wheel and off road called it " one of the most capable factory packages available" . Best part of mine was the price FREE.

I drive over fallen trees, thru mud, the stream, down rough logging trails, it just goes. When not using this, its an old 12 hp jacobsen hydrostat. The Jake actually can haul as much firewood as the jeep, but gets stuck easier. Oh yeah, the jake was also free and doubles as a backup mower.

If I was going to spend that kind of money on one of those uts, or whatever they are called, I'd save a little more and get a small 4x4 tractor. For me that would be more practical. pto, bucket options, etc. You can just do more with it.

But then I'm tight. I'll look for more free stuff, and make it work till it dies, fix it if I can fix it for almost free or free, etc, etc.

[agmantoo]

There is no single vehicle that will meet all your needs! For cheap, find a wrecked rice burner that will still run and remove the doors and the hatch. A Subaru brat makes a decent universal doall.

[Up North]

Originally Posted by NWMO

We purchased a Kawasaki Mule for our place. It has been a great addition and very useful and reliable. Bed is excellent for bales of hay or transporting water / feed buckets. We ialso looked at Artic Cat models and the Polaris. Heard various feedback about the reliability of the other models and the Kawasaki dealer is just a few miles from our place if we ever needed service.

Second the vote for Kawasaki Mule. I particularly like the full bench seat feature, which is easy to slide in and out, and kids or grandkids can squeeze in and ride along. The hydrostatic type trans shift on dash is easy to use and handy.
Also, the fuel consumption is a big savings over an automobile/truck.
But yes, they are a big chunk o'cash.

[Shadow]

Tried the atv too small good toy but need to haul much or pull something and its a toy. Jeep or small pickup had several handy but will get stuck and just will not do everything.
Bought a small tractor good thing with a small trailer but two wheel drive but only stuck twice in almost 22 years. Would turn a garden is you were not in a hurry, cut grass, bushhog with a five foot bush hog still have it and do finishmowing with it.
Three years ago the wife bought me a kobota tractor with a front end loader, 40 hp four wheel drive. It goes all over the farm not found a place it can not get out or, front end loader makes hauling gravel, rocks fire wood, resonable logs pushing dead trees back into the woods when bushhoging, levening out a spot, hauslin trash, water in barrels you name it Ad a trailer and you can haul almost anything encluding the family.
The tractor does not require a permit on the road. It is insured with the farm. Having an uninsured vehilce even if it does not leave the farm is a bad idea.
The tractor is expensive but well worth it. You can find a used one for about 10 to 12 k with the four wheel drive and the front end loader, now what I want is a backhoe attachment for the three point hitch.
Just my opinion.

[Shinsan]

Originally Posted by Cabin Fever

How about one of these?

LOL

Straight out of South Africa, mon.

OK if your property has been 'mined'.

[Cheribelle]

We used to rely on the old Jeep Cherokee a lot. DH had it in all kinds of situations. Then got a 4x4 4 wheeler. Got the Yamaha Grizzly. Tighter turn radius, we love it. But we didn't get my Jeep out of farm duty until we got the Kubota with the loader bucket/ $10,000 used. Actually I traded for a little nicer Jeep, but still can haul 10 ft copper pipe in it!

[3sunz]

Originally Posted by Up North

Second the vote for Kawasaki Mule. I particularly like the full bench seat feature, which is easy to slide in and out, and kids or grandkids can squeeze in and ride along. The hydrostatic type trans shift on dash is easy to use and handy.
Also, the fuel consumption is a big savings over an automobile/truck.
But yes, they are a big chunk o'cash.

We also have a Kawasaki Mule, in addition to several 4 wheelers. My son actually owns the mule since having his ATV accident. It is safer that an ATV, can go more places without getting stuck, can haul more and has more room. I 3rd the vote for the Kawasaki Mule.

[m39fan]

We had the same issue. After looking at a number of (expensive) UTV's, we spent $1000 and bought a Tracker. More power and room. I used it on the farm during the summer and weekends and the wife used it during the week in the winter to get back and forth to work. Try that with a UTV!

[Chuck]

I have a kubota RTV, and we use the heck out of it. (well, when we're THERE, not HERE.) Anyway, it's a diesel, and built like a tractor. That was the big difference that made me shell out the extra cash for it (ten grand) All the others were built like motorcycles.

We got the winch on the front, and I'm surprised how handy it is. We use it all the time. And it's strong - we've had 14 people in it (mostly kids) for tours around the place. It pulls my horse trailer (empty) when it needs moved around. I love it.

[Chuck]

I think CF's takes the cake, though.

Have you thought about a used Jeep? It would be cheaper than an RTV.