Help configure an RTV900

[Boondox]

It'll be a battle royal when I tell my wife I'm getting one, but an RTV really is the ideal replacement for our aging Honda Foreman. The RTV will be used for different things depending on the season. This time of year till the snow sticks it'll be mostly for hauling firewood out of the forest. My tractor with logging winch can reach a lot of downed trees, but most of them need to be cut up in place and hauled out. The L4630 is simply too big for that. And the Honda can only take very light loads -- in some cases only one stove-length round at a time -- so it takes way too much time to make it worth my while.

The RTV won't see much use in winter. Mostly running down to check the mail or transporting the contents of the sheep shed to the compost pile when we muck it out.

Spring clean up, rounding up downed branches and transporting them to the burn pile. But summer will see heavy use again: hauling sand, boulders, gravel, and more firewood.

ATV tires are a must because we have wet mud/clay much of the year. Definately a hydraulic dump bed. A roof (plastic or metal) would be nice to keep the snow and rain off my head, but a full cab or even a windshield isn't in the cards. I'd just as soon just put on more layers to stay warm. But how about a block heater? It gets cold here in Vermont, 30 below is our coldest, but there's about two months worth of minus 10 each year. And I'm getting mixed reports on the usefulness of a winch since the RTV weighs in at near the rated capacity of most ATV winches. Some say they really work. Others say they only work when the RTV is empty and not hung up too badly on rocks or stumps.

The price I've gotten from two dealers is $11,300 for the worksite model with ATV tires. Is that about the going rate in New England?

TIA, Pete

 

[Steve_Miller]

If I were your wife, you have me convinced. I'd check into a plow as well for the snow and definately the canopy or roof.

Steve

 

[Boondox]

If I were your wife, you have me convinced. I'd check into a plow as well for the snow and definately the canopy or roof.

Steve

Thanks for the positive vote, Steve! LOL! Having used the tractor several years for snow removal duties before I discovered the joy of a heated cab, I'll stick to the Chevy for snow plowing.

I'm having a hard time justifying the price of the roof, plastic or metal. Youch!

Pete

 

[nolefan]

I second the motion on your decision Boondox! You definetly want the ATV tires. I have them on mine and they are way better than the turf tires but I will probably replace them some time in the near future with something a little more aggressive. They do tend to load up in the mud on some of my trails after wet weather. I can't comment on the block heater but at the temps your talking about I would look into one! I have a Warn 3.0ci winch that I haven't installed yet so I can't help you there either but I hope it will work.(I got a great price on it and couldn't resist ) If your wife hasn't test driven the RTV I suggest you have her drive it after test driving one of the other utility vehicles you have considered. I did that with my wife and as soon as she got in it she loved the power steering and the braking of the hydro transmission. After that the price difference was not as big of deal.

I don't know about your price but my dealer originally quoted me $11,600 for the worksite with the ATV tires and hydraulic dump bed. I used a quote from a large Kubota dealer a few hours away that was over a $1,000 dollars less and after a few phone calls back and forth we agreed on $10,600 with me picking it up. I was happy with the price but I have seen posts where some have paid less and some have paid more. I got mine back in June of this year.

Good Luck and do what I did. Be firm and hold your ground, at least as much as you can while on your knees begging

 

[darkday]

You're going to love it. Are you getting a gas or diesel model ? At least with john deere the diesel gators start fine in the winter because there is a glow plug that heats the fuel enough to get it going. Runs rough for a little bit but once it gets warmed up it's just like normal. As for the winch have you considered a come-along ? They're cheap (paid 30 for mine) and work just fine. I think mine is rated at 2 tons and pulled my HPX without any trouble, they have 4 ton versions as well. It does take some time to pull in all that cable if you have to pull it a long way to get out of the mud but it's cheap and isn't a lot of work. I've only used mine the one time but carry it when I'm traveling in rather risky areas where I don't know the terrain and could find myself hung up on something or stuck in the mud.

 

[Tractors4u]

And I'm getting mixed reports on the usefulness of a winch since the RTV weighs in at near the rated capacity of most ATV winches. Some say they really work. Others say they only work when the RTV is empty and not hung up too badly on rocks or stumps.


TIA, Pete

You said it, "ATV Winch", you will need more than an ATV winch. I haven't seen my Ranger in 4 months so I can't remember exactly what I have on it, but it is either a 4000 or 5000lb Warn that Polaris sell for the Ranger. I am thinking it is 4000lb. My Ranger weighs around 1200lbs so I was thinking that a 2000lb winch would be great, everyone on the Polaris forum recommended getting the OEM kit that was double what an ATV winch will pull. I have gotten mine hung up in some pretty deep muddy ruts and it pulled it out without hesitation.

 

[Boondox]

Dealer A (from whom I bought my L4630) has a price of $11,300 for a new RTV900: worksite model with ATV tires, or $11,000 for a demo with 30 hours on it. Dealer B (from whom I bought several large implements including a logging winch and backhoe) has the same configuration new, plus a metal roof for $11,300. So essentially, the prices are equivalent.

But Dealer B will let me rent a camo rec version for the entire weekend for $135. If I decide to buy, the price of the rental is deducted from the cost of the new unit. If I discover the RTV doesn't meet my needs or can't handle my terrain, I learn a valuable lesson for minimal cost.

And best of all, I can have the wife give it a spin on our property, maybe even help her muck the sheep barn with it so she sees how much easier it is than one wheelbarrow at a time.

 

[Partsman2]

I went for the gusto on mine. I bought the turf model with auxillary hydraulics, metal roof, windshield, bed liner, snow blade, cab heater, and a few more I can't think of right now. I won't say what I paid total but I got the turf model for about what you all are quoting for the worksite. I went with the ATV tires too.

Don't buy the factory winch. You can get a bigger one for less money and install yourself. I also did my own front and rear lighting for a lot less and better lights.

My wife loves it. In fact I never get to use it.

 

[Egon]

Pete, you are definetly getting spoiled ; er, too many toys. I'm envious.

On winches I'd go for the largest that is reasonable and also think of the batter to supply the winch.

I kinda gather that over the years you have chosen the more easily accessible wood and now you must go farther afield to get to it. Have you considered some new trails or a very small tractor like a Kubota B7100. It can come with a bucket to aid in pen cleanup.

Hope the workshop heater has a good stock of wood and the cot is set up!

 

[Boondox]

Egon, old friend, how are you!?

You're partially correct. I still harvest standing trees for firewood along the existing logging roads, but there is much more in the form of blowdowns that is currently going to waste because I have no way of reaching them short of using the ATV...and that takes forever to bring a tree out two rounds at a time. The New Englander in me abhors waste, and I visit those fallen maples on my walks thru the woods, watching them decay with a sense of loss.

The larger tractor sees plenty of use, and the power in that bucket is an essential tool for me. But it doesn't meet all my needs. Sort of like a cross-over bicycle...it does everything I need but at a cost.

Pete

 

[Deerlope]

Pete, You will want at least a 3000lb winch but if it were me I would go 4000lb. The work site model comes with a brush guard. I put the plastic canopy on mine but the rain still got in when driving to the mail box so I had to get the windshield also.I don't have a block heater because it is in a heated garage. The RTV is a real work horse. I make maple syrup and it hauls all the sap via 2 55gal plastic barrels in the back. I haul my fire wood logs out full lenght with my L3830 then cut and haul to the shed with the RTV. Your wife will wonder how she ever lived without it.

 

[Boondox]

Thanks, Fred. I figured a windshield would eventually be needed since so much of our rain seems to come at us horizontally! And a 4k winch sounds like a great idea.

I brought a rental unit home today for a weekend trial. First impression was it was nowhere near as nimble as my ATV, but that's no real surprise. Second impression, after taking it through a patch of mud, is those ATV tires suck! The rears loaded right up with muck and if not for my forward speed and the fact I was in 4WD I would have been stuck in my first five minutes of operation. I actually had to run it up and down our dirt road to clean out the tires!

Darkness was falling by then, and I still had to give the dogs their playtime, so it's parked on the porch overnight. Tomorrow I'll do some fall chores, like cleaning up leaves and fallen branches, then maybe a load of firewood

 

[Egon]

Morning Pete:

Alls fine up here. I am also hauling out some windblown trees. The neighbour has also told me to help myself to a bunch he has.

Now this may sound silly but seeing as you have animals have you considered a horse or ox. Our neigbour had some custom logging done several years ago by a fellow who used horses.

Has the little car been worn out yet by drifting around some of those nice windy roads.

By the way may you have inclinations towards being a "Tool Junkie" ?

Ahh - go buy it Pete. Forget the justification. Make life fun!

 

[Boondox]

Tool junkie, huh? You figured me out!

We considered a horse but decided against it for a couple of reasons. First, we just don't have the infrastructure to support one thru the bitter winters. No barn or shelter of any type. No space remaining for hay storage since Tamara's sheep hobby took over my garage. Secondly, I've always been a bit intimidated by horses and am not sure I could learn to handle one. But internal combustion I can handle!

The Mini is doing just fine. We put some hot tires on it and it handles mountain curves without protest, though at times the lateral forces are uncomfortable for me. I took it to an abandoned airport with a Mini club (closed course) and managed 127mph. The wife took it away from me after that.

Anyway, back to the RTV. It's MUCH heavier than my ATV, and with basically the same tire footprint that weight is giving it some trouble in soft sections. I can foresee getting stuck much more often with that beast and having to winch myself out. So still not entirely sold on the idea...that's why we have a rental for the weekend.

Take care, Pete

 

[Deerlope]

If you have to run a lot of mud the Bota may not be your answer, they are too heavy almost 2K. Now the Polaris 4x4 or 6x6 has true 4/6 wheel drive but the are a constant maint problem.The polaris will wear out sitting in the garage. If I were you I would try them all on your land. There is also a set of tracks for each wheel on the Bota but they will cost you another 4300 bucks. As a matter of fact they are avilable for all the side by sides. I work my RTV right to death but I stay away from mud, unless its got a bottom.