New Gator "XUV" series

[RedHawkRidge]

According to my dealer, who attended the new products field day recently:

What follows is taken from a small binder supplied to dealers who attended the field day (no customer literature is available yet).

"New" Features and Benefits (quote marks are those of JDeere -- leads to some question of whether this summary blurs what are real changes from 06 to 07).

[/U]1. Gas and diesel engines are same displacement (617 and 854) as 06 models, but claim to "have 20% more horsepower for incredible power thru any terrain."
2. EFI for all gas engines
3. "...electronic governor and throttle body for added power under load..."
4. 30mph top speed, 17 in low range. Per salesman, actual top end is 35mph.
5. 45% increased acceleration to top speed compared to HPC equivalent.
6. "Advanced clutching with a tighter belt will provide superior low speed creepability with smoother engagement and efficient engine braking to assist descending downhills."
7. Independent rear suspension...
8. 100% increased suspension travel over the HPX
9. 75% increased ground clearance (11 in) over the HPX
10. Larger styled wheels (12") and tires for greater ground clearance..."
11. Standard full clutch enclosure on all gas models (no mention of availability on diesel models).
12. Change in activation of lock-up rear wheel diffential: from lever (HPX) to dash-mounted electronic switch (my interpretation of JD's market-ese).
13. "Improved steering with 10% further reduced steering effort (I interpret this to say that JD couldn't go to power steering without a big cost increase, so they played with the geometry of the front end again, and maybe the bigger wheels, and maybe another bump in tire pressure will satisfy those customer who want the power steering.)
14. No mention of this next point, but my salesman said the gearbox was refined to improve the shiftability, instead of having to wrestle and pound the gear shift into low or rear, which is what I have to do with my 06.

Still no apparent availability of the Trail Gator with diesel, included clutch enclosure. However, a Limited Edition is being made available that is called the XUV 850D Diesel 4x4, which has the black and olive colors. Orders are being taken for a summer production run. No mention whether it will be decked out with the other features standard on the Trail model.

A few new accessories/attachments, but not what I'm looking for;
- Rear view mirror
- Rear bumper to protect the bed
- More instrumentation (speedo, tach, temp, etc)
- rails for the bed

My guy had some interesting stories about the field day, where JD had all the major side x side competitive models on site, and demonstrated the Gator's superiority. Plus JD let the guests run both JD and competition and draw their own conclusions about performance, etc.

Hope the above answers some questions.
Jim

 

[TOMMYHPX4X4]

they should have kept that solid rear axle . it was stronger!!everything else is nice.i seen to many of them other utvs squating to the ground when you load them down my hpx with the solid rear axle never done that.i'm gonna check them out maybe i might be able to mount some kinda air shock into it.lol. load it down and raise it up.

 

[Dargo]

they should have kept that solid rear axle.

I'm definitely guilty of being "old school" and having a preference for the tried and true solid rear axle. But, it seems that most everyone is going to independent. JD probably figured that they would have it used against them for axle travel or something and decided to join the rest. On a positive note, it seems that most of the independent rear axle UTV's have been holding up fairly well compared to how I thought they would. Maybe the JD version will be bullet proof.

 

[Skipholiday]

The rear diff is the biggest problem of the current hpx's.

It catches on everything I try to crawl across. I'm all for the independent suspension.

Maybe they could keep the traditional hpx for people that need more load capacity and less concern for ground clearance.

 

[TOMMYHPX4X4]

if i would have a independent rear suspention i would have to go and buy me some automotive shocks for the hpx but like dargo said deere would probably make them bullet proof.the way i have mine tricked with everything i would put some air shocks with a mini compressor.i almost got stuck yesterday but doing a little shilfting of the gears back and forth and the weight of the hpx finally won .lol. my horn works great!!! my son said he heard me and i was over 2 miles away.

 

[MessickFarmEqu]

I had heard this was comming, but I was expecting that they where going to try and come out with somthing to compete with the RTV. I am surprised they did not at least do power steering.

 

[TOMMYHPX4X4]

I had heard this was comming, but I was expecting that they where going to try and come out with somthing to compete with the RTV. I am surprised they did not at least do power steering.

i would hope they would try and stay away from the rtv direction it's way to heavy for any real mud riding the hpx is a great machine. power steering would be ok but the more weight you add the less places you can go.the rtv is nice but it's mainly just for work it would never make it in the swamp.they need to compete with the other utvs meaning faster ones the hpx already hangs with the rtv atleast to me it does it might not have the easy steering as the rtv but it can haul some nice size loads.i guess they are trying to give us both with the xuv .i hope so if it looks good enough i'm selling mine and getting one.

 

[gamble77]

I agree...how does this not compete against the RTV?

 

[Dargo]

I'm a little disappointed that they didn't address not only power steering but, more importantly, the powertrain. I have a tremendous amount more money in JD stuff than Kubota, but I see it as a major disadvantage for the Gator to still use the 50 year old belt drive technology. The RTV set the bar considerably higher with their powertrain and I would have expected JD to have responded sooner. I'll be at my local JD dealership again tomorrow. I'll have to ask them if he knows of any plans to upgrade the powertrain as well as if there are any plans to offer a factory cab model with A/C. JD used to be proactive rather than reactive. Hopefully they get there again. After all, they are the ones who basically invented the side by side market with the original Gator. I think it's time for them to lead again rather than follow.

 

[TOMMYHPX4X4]

the powertrian is pretty reliable as long as you have the belt enclosure . i found that when i had the open belt i did burn up my first belt quick because it got wet and i spun it but after i put the enclosure i havent had any problems with slippage or belt damage. now as for the cab a/c that's real easy to take care of i have i 1400 watt power inverter that i run ac tools with and i'm getting a bigger one i want to get a 2000 watt one and change out my alternator to a 200 amp. but they make them very small a/c units that are like 5000 btu's or a little less and the inverter would run them easily and they are only 10''x10''x12'' they are very small about the size of a small igloo ice chest . the wife says if i keep adding stuff to my hpx i should just go sell it and buy me a small truck cause my first idea was to put a window unit in the back of the rops.lol

 

[Dargo]

change out my alternator to a 200 amp.

Holy cow man! I've never even seen a 200 amp alternator. With my luck, if I installed one that size, some wire would ground on the frame and fry me as drive along.

I got popped a good one last night by a capacitor in my barn furnace. I had to change out the gas valve since my valve went bad. I had the power to the unit shut off and was reaching inside to unplug the three wires on the valve and managed to make contact with the back of my left hand on the end of the capacitor. Yeooww! Whacked me a good one, and then I smacked my hand a good one on the bottom of the burners. That electricity is mean stuff if it gets out of the wire!

 

[scesnick]

I'll still stick with my Rhino. If you want power steering, Yamaha is rumored to be putting the electric steering assist on the Rhnio in 07'. It is on the Grizzley for 06' asnd they say it works great. Even in Diff. lock on the blacktop.
even without power steering i can steer my rhino one handed in pretty much any terrain. Unless the front diff lock is on, then I need two Incredible Hulk arms to turn the wheel...

 

[Dargo]

I'll still stick with my Rhino.

As a former motocross racer, I understand. BTW, why is it that injuries I sustained over 25 years ago racing motocross are now coming back to haunt me???

 

[TOMMYHPX4X4]

Holy cow man! I've never even seen a 200 amp alternator. With my luck, if I installed one that size, some wire would ground on the frame and fry me as drive along.

I got popped a good one last night by a capacitor in my barn furnace. I had to change out the gas valve since my valve went bad. I had the power to the unit shut off and was reaching inside to unplug the three wires on the valve and managed to make contact with the back of my left hand on the end of the capacitor. Yeooww! Whacked me a good one, and then I smacked my hand a good one on the bottom of the burners. That electricity is mean stuff if it gets out of the wire!

yep i like elctrical power the moer the better. the first rule of thumb is when you work on somethign eletrical is disconnect it then turn it on. or kill the breaker and then give the capacitors time to discharge if not they will chage you up.lol kinda like the old tv's with the tubesalot of people don't know this but you could acualy take a few of them tubes out of some of them tv's after they were turned off and hook wires to them and fire things up. they were the best energy storers around. but getting back to the alternator yep i wanna go with a 200 amp right now i'm right at around 100 amps and everything is working great i have cd player/6 running lights/4 55 watt driving lights/1 flood light for backing up or working in the rear of the hpx/my two head lights 37 watts/ the dome light.power inverter/and the fire truck radio and siren(super loud). plus the extra battery to charge to and it does great the lights never dim at all. but the only thing is my fuse is too small for the siren so i have to run a seperate wire for that radio but i have had everything on all at the same time and no problems. but i only ran it like that for maybe 30 minutes the real test is gonna be in febuary for the parade when it runs for 6 hours straight. now all the stuff won't be running so it should be ok and i'll be havin it in low gear pulling a trailer and that will bring up the rpms and spin the alternator faster so i should pump out plenty of juice for the eguipment.right now when i am at just right above idol speed it reads 14.8 volts constant and it stays there even when i am at cruising speed it might go to 14.9 every so often but it mainly stays at 14.8. right now i have a toyota tercel alternator in it.lol i want to go to a mean green one .me and a buddy are working on one to mount in his rhino problem is he works on a supply boat 28/14 right now it's the 28.lol but soon as we have the set up goin i'll post some pictures of that one.i have all the parts and material we just waiting on the rhino to come into the operating room.

 

[scesnick]

As a former motocross racer, I understand. BTW, why is it that injuries I sustained over 25 years ago racing motocross are now coming back to haunt me???

I think you answered your own question ( 25 years ago ) I know all about that.. I still have good lap times but the recovery times are way, way longer now...

25 years ago would have probably put you on the air cooled, oil slobbering obnoxiously loud 2 strokes.. Gotta love the 2 strokes.. I had a four stroke Yz 426 for 2 years. I went back to the 2 stroke. it just works alot better in the woods...

 

[TOMMYHPX4X4]

the last bike i had was a 1980 rm 400 man she was nice . i really don't care for them 4stroke bikes. they just don't sound right! the 2 throkers wrere alot easier to fix when you blew something too. if you blow the piston 30 minutes tops and you were back ridin . now the 4 strokes i think you have to mess with the timin chain and stoff like that to change the piston if i'm not mistakin unless they changed the setup .back in the day e would have a piston with the rings already on it that way all you had to do was take off the jug and push the pin out and pop in the new piston then slide the jug back on. i never raced but me and a buddy used to run the local state troopers every weekend we ran the bikes hard enough to where i would carry gasket material in my pocket for my watercooled rm because when you would run it down the highway at full thottle for to long it would burn the gasket almost every weekend. but we always came prepared with pocket knife and gasket material and we always ended up at dawsons pond(good water supply).