Farm UTV/RTV Purchase

[AGreenFarmer]

Perhaps some of you very wise farmers out there can direct me to determining what UTV/RTV to purchase for my new farm. It will need to have 4 seats (Family) and a lift bed. Kubota is an interesting one. Any help would be appreciated. A couple of things. Farm is 22 acres of pasture, few trees in North Texas. Plan to have cattle, orchard, vegetable and berry farm.

 

[Snobdds]

The delineation line today is speed. The Polaris/can-am/Yamaha use belt driven chassis. The Kubota uses HST transmissions.

The Kubota can do more work, but is painfully slow. Any hills you have basically neuter's the machine. The others can go much faster and are more nimble, but may suffer in pure work type activities.

Honestly, the belt driven machines have so much power, they really don't suffer in the work realm anymore. They are not a purpose built machine like the Kubota.

 

[AGreenFarmer]

Didn't realize that about Kubota. Although, I have no hills to speak of, I hate to get neutered in the future.

 

[nforktractor]

I've been pretty happy with my 2018 Polaris Ranger XP 1000 EPS in Sunset Red. Lots of cubicles and places to put tools and equipment, five gallon bucket fits under passenger seat.

 

[JCoastie]

I have a full size ranger 570, it has been great for us. They do make a larger crew version which seats 6 (4 comfortably) and does have a lift bed. My 570 does about 53mph, plenty for me, but they do make a 1000cc crew model, which is more expensive if you need a more capable unit. The 570 is great bang for the buck, no regrets.

 

[mx1alex]

I've had both a Polaris Ranger and a Honda Pioneer 1000-5. Both were nice machines but a year ago and swapped for a Kawasaki Mule Pro FXT and I love it. Not as fast or powerful as the Honda or Polaris but it's built like a tank and just suits my needs better. Can fit up to 6 people but not as long as a bus like the ranger/defender crews are. All have the pros and cons. You just need to do your research and see what fits your needs the most.

Also look at what type of accessories you'll want. Some models have tons of options where others are more limited.

 

[coobie]

I have owned 2 kubota RTV,s 2006 RTV900 and a 2021 RTV1100c both have been working machines if you are not into speed. As far as hills go we live in a hilly area your speed on hills will go from 25 mph down to 15 mph.I love the diesel engine/hst tranny its a real work horse.

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[Cougsfan]

I bought an Hisun E1 electric UTV. There are other brands just as good or possibly even better. I love the electric UTV over a gas rig because you just hop in it and go, whenever. No starting issues, no warm-up, little or no maintenance, highly reliable, lots of torque, 2 or 4wd, winch, good ground clearance, adequate cargo capacity. Even my wife will drive it. (she wouldn't touch a gas powered UTV) No drawbacks really. I plug it in at night once every few days to recharge (it usually doesn't need plugged in yet). Never have ran out of battery. I use it for several things that I used to use my tractor (drag harrowing, pesticide spraying). It is the most frequently used vehicle on my place, by far, including our automobiles. If I was using it to go hunting or exploring out in the woods I would probably prefer a gas powered rig for better range and higher top speed. But around the farm, I would consider a gas powered rig to be substantially inferior. It is sort of like a golf cart on a heavy dose of steroids.

 

[ROUSTABOUT]

Polaris Ranger Crew. I worked at a kubota new holland big regional dealership. Been in business since 1944. Also had Polaris and Kawasaki. Worked on others. If someone could run fast enough to give me a Kubota I would sell it and buy a Polaris. Belt drive system is tough. Pull a full size 16' trailer. I have a new Honda that has only seen a dirt road but its not going anymore. I replaced engines on Polaris because they were rolled over and not primed with oil when started up. But if you keep out of deep water and dont flip them, will last and last. Kubota is fine until you want to drive a mile or two. Really they are over complicated. Polaris will do the same thing a Kubota does, good after market support, and is not complicated. My dad's pulls big trailers, welding machine, pull a truck out, whatever. 15 years and same belt. But, no mud playing and no deep water. Sure he gets stuck but no playing in it. He's on over 100 acres, four chicken houses, run 100 head cattle.

 

[LittleBittyBigJohn]

I just got a Polaris 570 full size a few weeks ago. I like it a lot. I couldn't justify the expense of the XP1000. I find that the 570 has plenty of power and pep. Mine is not a crew though.

 

[Forky]

I bought a Polaris 900 xp new in 2014. It is a real work horse and gets the real workout on or steep rocky hills here. Hauling 1,000 lbs of firewood while also pulling a small trailer full of wood is no problem. I've only needed to replace the battery last year and regular oil changes and greasing zerks.

 

[Bryan 45]

I've had a Kawasaki Mule Pro-FXT for 2 years now. Around 700 miles on it- none of which have been asphalt. The convertible 3 seater/long bed to 6 seater/short bed is fantastic. It isn't the fastest UTV by a long shot, but it runs great, has plenty of power, and is a work horse.

I have no complaints, and can't even think of anything I'd improve on it.

 

[tradosaurus]

If by "lift bed" you mean "dump bed" I would suggest the Honda Pioneer 1000-5.

I'm in East Texas with about the same acreage. I have the 700-4 Pioneer but the 1000-5 will give you more speed if you like to take it on the county roads it has a dump bed which I use frequently.

Rather than the automatic CVT that uses a belt, the power from the Honda motor moves through a dual clutch system.

 

[cathy liebchen]

Kawasaki Mule Pro is the best choice

 

[ultrarunner]

The tree farm has some very steep grades making the HST Kubota diesel a good choice for the braking on slopes…

If the ranch was flat would have considered faster machines.

The RTV 900 is a real workhorse and good for the farm hands who otherwise push the limits and some competitors are much faster… not necessarily a good thing when employees drive.

 

[Boss 302]

I purchased a Polaris Ranger 800 HD back in 2010 and it is one of the best purchases I have made as far as equipment to help out around the farm and for hunting. It has been very dependable, zero issues I would hate to be without it.

 

[mo1]

Perhaps some of you very wise farmers out there can direct me to determining what UTV/RTV to purchase for my new farm. It will need to have 4 seats (Family) and a lift bed. Kubota is an interesting one. Any help would be appreciated. A couple of things. Farm is 22 acres of pasture, few trees in North Texas. Plan to have cattle, orchard, vegetable and berry farm.

I have operated several "side-by-sides" over the years and in general have not found anything they are an absolute must-have for and found some other piece of equipment to do a better job at whatever I was doing. The bed capacity is similar to a wheelbarrow or compact tractor bucket on the smaller beds and a utility tractor bucket or hand-pulled utility wagon on the larger ones. None are anywhere near the volume or weight capacity of even the miniscule 5 1/2 foot half ton pickup truck beds of today. If you can get a two-row side by side somewhere, you can get a tractor or a pickup truck there too. But you are on only 22 acres of mainly open ground, so it's unlikely to be very far to walk to get anywhere on your property. If you are looking for something fun to ride around on, a dirtbike is a whole lot more fun than a side-by-side. You also get to dispense with the terrible slippy-grabby centrifugal clutches side-by-sides have in favor of an actual clutch you can feather in a dirtbike. If you want to ride around for fun on the back roads, an enduro/dual-sport motorcycle would likewise be much more fun than a side-by-side. If you want to ride around on the roads not strictly for hoots and grins, a pickup truck or Jeep would be far more sane.

For what most people would use a side-by-side for, a pickup truck is really a better tool, either that or a tractor. If you don't already have a pickup truck or it's a newer/fancy/expensive one that you don't want to use on your farm, I'd personally recommend a farm truck- a well worn pickup truck that still runs well enough to go around on the farm but isn't too nice that you worry about getting it dirty or beaten up. You will probably be in it about what you pay in sales tax on a two-row side-by-side if you don't/can't get an ag exemption (I am not familiar with Texas laws regarding this.) When it dies, haul it off to the scrapyard. That's what everybody used to do before the toys started to show up in any quantity, first ATVs in the '90s and then side-by-sides in the 2000s.

 

[ElSueno Farms]

I am in North Texas, have Kubota RTV500, my wife’s choice, I use Kubota RTV900, plenty of power, dependable and use it like a truck on our 30 acres.

 

[nbking]

I have 6 acres, my rtv-x900 is a beast. It does everything I need. Since your farm is flat it will go 25mph, hydraulic dump bed is ****.

 

[WM75Guy]

We bought a Kawasaki Mule 4010 Trans4X4 for our 14 acres. It is used almost every day. It pulls the manure spreader and the 25 gallon sprayer. As it does not go above 25 MPH it is not required to have doors or side nets. Makes getting in and out easy for picking up trash, fixing fence, etc. Added a windshield and AudioFormz fiberglass roof with lights and stereo.