SO READY to spring on a UTV - Trying to decide gas or diesel, HELP!!

   / SO READY to spring on a UTV - Trying to decide gas or diesel, HELP!! #41  
I hear ya! I heard they are a bit more sluggish for sure.

This is going to be mostly a workhorse for my property, which does have some hills. Hauling wood out of the bottom will be a chore. I also liked the single fuel option for tractor and utv, but that is not a deal breaker.

No really cold weather here, but a few days a year.

There are tons of Yam Rhinos out there but I need a bench seat for wife and kid/dog,so they are out.

Guy that has the Kioti also has a reasonably priced Kubota 900 with a hydraulic dump bed. Might have to go look at both.

What else?
I had a Rhino, sold it to my Son. Designed for fun, not work.

There are a gazillion Polaris machines around here. The Rangers are a decent work machine with very limited load capacity. But very road worthy.

Friend of mine has a Can-Am Defender HD10 (I think). He had Polaris Rangers before and praises the Can-Am.

I have a Kubota RTV900. Extreme workhorse. Tough as a boot. 25mph top speed. Never leaves my farm so speed doesn't bother me.

I don't know of a heavy duty work UTV that also provides good road manners.
 
   / SO READY to spring on a UTV - Trying to decide gas or diesel, HELP!!
  • Thread Starter
#42  
Will be back on the hunt Thursday after I get back from Christmas at my folks. Got a couple nice ones around, hope they're still there Thursday!
 
   / SO READY to spring on a UTV - Trying to decide gas or diesel, HELP!! #43  
If you get farm diesel delivered but not gas you will wish you bought the diesel.

If I win the lottery I will get a diesel UTV...
 
   / SO READY to spring on a UTV - Trying to decide gas or diesel, HELP!! #44  
I don't really understand all the fuel concerns (gas/diesel) . Your feeding a little motorcycle engine that's under 900Cc's.
Easy to feed with 5 gallon gas cans.
Even my 3cyl. Gator gets about 65 miles on 5 gallons although it'll carry 12 iirc.
Good luck with your search, and if you're anything like me I never thought I'd use it (utv) as much or often as I do! It's pretty much daily. This may be due to our other utv is a diesel. That said it's now over 20 years old and as rugged and simple as a RR spike, a Kawasaki mule.
Note; I wouldn't have a Gator if the previous owner wouldn't have taken my Harley on a partial trade but Mrs. Rusty wanted a glass cab, heat and tracks for the winter. I will say that JD's "R" trim level is pretty nice!
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   / SO READY to spring on a UTV - Trying to decide gas or diesel, HELP!! #45  
I'd call the BRP defender a good machine and used onre hard for years. It tops out about 45.
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   / SO READY to spring on a UTV - Trying to decide gas or diesel, HELP!! #46  
I have two UTVs - a 2010 Cub Cadet Volunteer (500ish hours) gas and a year old Kioti two row K9 diesel. From my experience when they hit about ten years old you start hitting ten year old vehicle problems - CV boots splitting, leaking hoses, belts need to be replaced, plastic body parts crack, etc.. Plus the newer ones are much more refined and easier to live with daily. The older Cub is hotter in the summer and generally louder than the diesel, plus modern hydraulic power steering is really nice on my bad shoulder. Plus the diesel gets about 25mpg on the ranch which means I fill it up down the road about every four months. With the coming recession there are going to be a lot of newish UTVs coming on the market as people shed their toys so take your time and find a deal on a newer used UTV that, either gas or diesel, will be easier to live with and pay for.
 
   / SO READY to spring on a UTV - Trying to decide gas or diesel, HELP!!
  • Thread Starter
#47  
Well I finally got one!!

After HOURS on FB marketplace I decided to go with an 2006 Polaris Ranger 500 EFI 4x4 with 550 hours.

Saved a bit of money because it is that awful purple color due to a bad batch of camo on the 06's. Otherwise it is good shape mechanically and cosmetically for a 17 year old machine. All the bushing are tight, steering and suspension are good, doesn't leak a drop of any fluid, starts right up, idles great, no alarming sounds, CV boots are good, good tires.

Has some nice goodies on it; factory Polaris flip up window, plastic top (that I think looks kinda goofy and it barely fits in garage) stereo, winch, LED light.

These engines in the 500s were used from 96 until 2013 and they are supposed to be good engines, there are parts for them everywhere, any Polaris mechanic has them dialed, TONS of aftermarket goodies, PILES of info about them on the interwebs.

Planned upgrades: Already got new 6.5" speakers in it (the old ones were trashed), Bigger LED's up front (move the smaller one to the back as a work light), street legal kit (ordered),soft back windscreen (ordered), better cup holders, linear actuator for bed dump,

I might make a plywood top for it. A cool one though, not just a sheet of plywood on top. It will have turn downs on the side, angled on front and back, painted with bed liner. Probably a stereo enclosure to get the stereo off the dash, gun rack, etc.

Friends and I took it to the property today and LOADED it down with firewood and it pulled my second steepest hill with 3 adults in it no problemo. So far I am VERY PLEASED!

Here are some pics. I cleaned it up after these pictures but it is already a mess.
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