Wife's Giving UTV Green Light -- Which One?!!!
- Thread starter bigbendmarine
- Start date
Diesel5610
5 year old buck +
Really hard to recommend something to someone without really knowing the property and real world uses for the unit. There are a lot of really nice UTV's out there now. We have a Kubota RTV-X900 for our property. It is a great UTV for what we need. I really wanted a workhorse for our projects and something we could drive around the property. I wanted a mechanically reliable unit that could haul/tow a good amount and something that had engine braking due to one of the properties we hunt having very steep hills and logging roads. The last and one of the biggest criteria was I didn't want a race horse because I knew my kids (16 and 18 now) would be driving it. Many of the UTV's go 50+ mph. I have no use for that kind of speed in a UTV and didn't want the kids in a machine that was capable of it. I am a big Honda fan and like their Pioneer 1000, but for us the Kubota was a perfect fit.
Camp 2 Dukes
5 year old buck +
I also have the Kubota RTV900. Diesel5610 is correct. I chose the Kubota for the same reason. It is a work horse. The diesel engine is powerful and solid. I love the hydraulic bed. Mine does a lot of firewood hauling. The Ranger was my second choice. I bought the Kubota from a friend who was a Kubota and Polaris dealer. The decision came down to work or play.
B
BJE80
Guest
Kawa Mule. the 4010 or the 610. Both great machines. Very reliable and you can beat them
I have a Honda Pioneer. The shifting has gotten MUCH smoother with use. FWIW... My only gripe is that they came out with the 1000-4 less than 2 mos after I bought a 700-4.
Came here to essentially post this. I too have the Kubota RTV900; looked at a couple other makes, wasn't impressed. I wanted a working vehicle, not a rec vehicle. That's exactly what I got. Having said that, the RTV is not without it's disadvantages, so let's discuss them.
Advantages;
- A true working vehicle. Need to haul plus 1000 lbs? No biggie
- Hydraulic dump bed
- Excellent off road capability on hills etc. I take my RTV places I won't take my 4x4 Kubota tractor
- Fastest speed is 25 mph, with a good tail wind (advantage if you have kids driving it)
- Excellent reliability
- Power steering
- Diesel power
Now the Disadvantages:
- Expensive to buy and expensive replacement parts
- Heavy, may not do well in deep mud (I don't have it so don't know)
- Slow, 25 mph at best; if you have long distances to go every day, it's going to get old quick
- Cramped cab; only has room for three people (I don't know if a two seater is available or not) plus short legroom
- Diesel power (if you don't have diesel on your farm)
And because this thread needs more pics:
bigbendmarine
5 year old buck +
Diesel, tried my best to briefly speaking to property and real world uses in the very first post in the thread. Challenge indeed without writing a book, but with so many great and useful suggestions (and all truly appreciated), probably a good time to chime back in with some follow-up info.
Still undecided at this point -- due to work, haven't had time to visit dealers and look at vehicles in person. I'm in Florida so terrain is mostly flat (though as Florida goes, the hilly Tallahassee area is mountainous ;) )... maybe 100' change across my entire property and that's a single gentle slope that is over 600 yards long from my house down to a pond.
Don't really have any areas prone to getting muddy as our soils drain quickly and bulk of what I drive are field edges I keep single road sized-lanes cut around that I currently drive my truck around. Per the first message, property is small enough (112 acres with 20 of those open fields) that I sometimes would prefer to drive a small open golf-cart or UTV than my Nissan Titan, especially when driving 600 yard gravel road to pond or when taking paper trash to a burn pile I have, hauling limbs to burn pile, cutting limbs for firewood, carting water during dry spells to yearling trees, etc.
NO desire to drive over 25, and with an 8 year old daughter especially not tempted to have a fast vehicle that will tempt her down the road. Any forum members looking for a big laugh, I'm willing to poke fun at myself and share this gem captured a few years back and truly filmed on Father's Day. Takes about a minute and a half to get to the punch line but... well... sometimes the truth hurts, but is still the truth.
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Diesel5610
5 year old buck +
I wasn't knocking the info in your original post, just my way of saying you will know after you do the research which is the best for for you. Lots of good info here to chew on with your decision. The Kubota is well suited for Creepers like us! Cute video.
I have the gas version of the kubota, absolutely love it. Definitely not as fast or as wide/stable as a ranger but it suits my needs just fine. I can put 500lbs of water or firewood in the back just fine. So I think you guys are right to say that it mostly depends on your needs. Our trails are hard to drive 10mph on (bumpy with rocks) so speed is not an issue. I have a friend with a ranger and that thing is a beast, I would buy one in a heartbeat, but I got my kubota like new with 40 hours for 6k so it was a deal I couldn't pass on and I don't regret.
bigbendmarine
5 year old buck +
As a follow-up on the post finally sealed a deal yesterday on a low-hours 2012 Mule 4010, and didn't settle on the choice lightly.
With my complete willingness to keep driving my 2005 Nissan Titan truck into the ground, my wife really didn't want me to put any limit on the UTV price so I went to dealerships and drove lots of models. Thing I struggled with the most was lots of units either felt a bit too small for me to cart buddies visiting around my place whereas units more focused on sitting more than 4 or 5 folks felt TOO big and I could tell I would be sacrificing nimble turning and handling.
Found a pretty darn clean 2012 Mule 4010 for sale and the minute I took it for a spin it felt like it hit the right sweet spot size-wise. Clean, but not SO clean that I feel I need to baby it and worry about scratching it throwing firewood in the back. And really loved the savings that buying it used offered (in addition to significant savings that went with going with the smaller 4010 versus the Pro-FX series).
To MoBuckChaser's recent post about having the best wife in the world, will say this about mine... while she would NOT take kindly to going out into the snow FOR anything (she HATES the cold), she's uttered 4 phrases that made me feel crazy blessed... 1) "We really need a bigger TV", 2) "We need more guns", 3) "You really need a UTV", and most important of all and the first one she actually said, 4) "I do!"
And she does a better job staying in shape than this Marine does... pic taken when she was half way between 40 and 50. She wasn't too happy about me taking this picture without warning, but... well... again think it speaks to me being blessed FAR more than deserved! :)
With my complete willingness to keep driving my 2005 Nissan Titan truck into the ground, my wife really didn't want me to put any limit on the UTV price so I went to dealerships and drove lots of models. Thing I struggled with the most was lots of units either felt a bit too small for me to cart buddies visiting around my place whereas units more focused on sitting more than 4 or 5 folks felt TOO big and I could tell I would be sacrificing nimble turning and handling.
Found a pretty darn clean 2012 Mule 4010 for sale and the minute I took it for a spin it felt like it hit the right sweet spot size-wise. Clean, but not SO clean that I feel I need to baby it and worry about scratching it throwing firewood in the back. And really loved the savings that buying it used offered (in addition to significant savings that went with going with the smaller 4010 versus the Pro-FX series).
To MoBuckChaser's recent post about having the best wife in the world, will say this about mine... while she would NOT take kindly to going out into the snow FOR anything (she HATES the cold), she's uttered 4 phrases that made me feel crazy blessed... 1) "We really need a bigger TV", 2) "We need more guns", 3) "You really need a UTV", and most important of all and the first one she actually said, 4) "I do!"
And she does a better job staying in shape than this Marine does... pic taken when she was half way between 40 and 50. She wasn't too happy about me taking this picture without warning, but... well... again think it speaks to me being blessed FAR more than deserved! :)
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Big Snow Man
5 year old buck +
His wife or the UTV ??!:)
kl9
5 year old buck +
As a follow-up on the post finally sealed a deal yesterday on a low-hours 2012 Mule 4010, and didn't settle on the choice lightly.
With my complete willingness to keep driving my 2005 Nissan Titan truck into the ground, my wife really didn't want me to put any limit on the UTV price so I went to dealerships and drove lots of models. Thing I struggled with the most was lots of units either felt a bit too small for me to cart buddies visiting around my place whereas units more focused on sitting more than 4 or 5 folks felt TOO big and I could tell I would be sacrificing nimble turning and handling.
Found a pretty darn clean 2012 Mule 4010 for sale and the minute I took it for a spin it felt like it hit the right sweet spot size-wise. Clean, but not SO clean that I feel I need to baby it and worry about scratching it throwing firewood in the back. And really loved the savings that buying it used offered (in addition to significant savings that went with going with the smaller 4010 versus the Pro-FX series).
To MoBuckChaser's recent post about having the best wife in the world, will say this about mine... while she would NOT take kindly to going out into the snow FOR anything (she HATES the cold), she's uttered 4 phrases that made me feel crazy blessed... 1) "We really need a bigger TV", 2) "We need more guns", 3) "You really need a UTV", and most important of all and the first one she actually said, 4) "I do!"
And she does a better job staying in shape than this Marine does... pic taken when she was half way between 40 and 50. She wasn't too happy about me taking this picture without warning, but... well... again think it speaks to me being blessed FAR more than deserved! :)
You're a lucky man
Jordan Selsor
5 year old buck +
Congrats on the Mule and BRAVO on your woman! ;)
bigbendmarine
5 year old buck +
Guess since she really pushed me into getting the UTV, I can't sing her praises too much!
Pictures I shared in fun don't really do her true beauty justice so I'll share one more that does a better job.
And will add while it'll take a doomsday prepper situation to have her out dragging my deer, she's a strong one nonetheless both physically and mentally. She was adopted at birth into a family of hard workers but extremely meager means. Crazy driven, she graduated top of her high school class, and within the top percentage of her college class, and even medical school class. To date she's run over 50 full length marathons and placed in her age group for most of them. Runs her own solo medical practice and this year after having... uhmmm, how do I phrase this... common major "lady surgery", not a single time did she hit the morphine pump after waking, was doing chartwork on her computer within 2 hours, pestered her surgeon into letting her go home the very same day versus the protocol 24 hours, was determinedly walking for exercise the next day, and jogging on her treadmill within 3 weeks against her surgeon's recommendation to recover for at least 6 weeks (docs DO make the worst patients).
HECK of a woman and far, far, FAR my better half (ran many of the marathons with her and let me tell y'all few things are more humbling than having someone yell at you that your wife is kicking your @$$. ;) ).
And though this reply really probably should go into the "Who are you?" thread, kind of bringing things full circle we adopted the little gal sitting in the UTV eight years ago.
Truly blessed beyond measure.
Pictures I shared in fun don't really do her true beauty justice so I'll share one more that does a better job.
And will add while it'll take a doomsday prepper situation to have her out dragging my deer, she's a strong one nonetheless both physically and mentally. She was adopted at birth into a family of hard workers but extremely meager means. Crazy driven, she graduated top of her high school class, and within the top percentage of her college class, and even medical school class. To date she's run over 50 full length marathons and placed in her age group for most of them. Runs her own solo medical practice and this year after having... uhmmm, how do I phrase this... common major "lady surgery", not a single time did she hit the morphine pump after waking, was doing chartwork on her computer within 2 hours, pestered her surgeon into letting her go home the very same day versus the protocol 24 hours, was determinedly walking for exercise the next day, and jogging on her treadmill within 3 weeks against her surgeon's recommendation to recover for at least 6 weeks (docs DO make the worst patients).
HECK of a woman and far, far, FAR my better half (ran many of the marathons with her and let me tell y'all few things are more humbling than having someone yell at you that your wife is kicking your @$$. ;) ).
And though this reply really probably should go into the "Who are you?" thread, kind of bringing things full circle we adopted the little gal sitting in the UTV eight years ago.
Truly blessed beyond measure.
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Big Snow Man
5 year old buck +
Your wife has a great hobby in running my wife's hobby is yelling at me for spending to much money on the "woods". o_O
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