UTV Opinions/Advice Solicited

[Triple C]

yoderjac - Congrats on the purchase! Hear good things about the Honda's. I've been running Polaris at the farm since 2011. For our new place, I just ordered a JD Gator 590M. Delivery is at least 90 days out.

6 weeks have gone by and still no word on expected delivery of the JD. Stopped today at local Yanmar dealer and drove their diesel side-by-side around the lot. Seems to be a lot more machine that the JD. Noodling on canceling my JD order and opting for the Yanmar diesel.

 

[yoderjac]

6 weeks have gone by and still no word on expected delivery of the JD. Stopped today at local Yanmar dealer and drove their diesel side-by-side around the lot. Seems to be a lot more machine that the JD. Noodling on canceling my JD order and opting for the Yanmar diesel.

I didn't really take much of a look at Yanmar. The closest dealership is over an hour away and over the mountain.

 

[b116757]

My JD has a Yanmar Diesel engine

 

[pilotpip]

I'm a year into ownership of my pioneer 700-4, and had 19.8 hours on it. Great time to do fluid changes before getting busy at our property this spring. Worst thing about changing the oil was the amount of time it takes to put just over 3qts in it because of the way the filler is plumbed. Doing the front diff was annoying because there isn't a lot of room to work, and it fills slow. The rear only takes about 4oz of oil, front takes about 24. It's now good to go for the next 100 hours. If I get the rear hot it's easy enough to drain and refill and have enough left in the bottle to drain and fill another time.

I went with the Honda because I wanted a 4 seater for the kids to ride around in without it being a mile and a half long. I also liked the 3 speed and shaft drives. It does a fantastic job pulling a tarter disk/cultipacker that weighs about 725lbs. I like being able to hold 1st gear pulling the plow. It doesn't have a limited slip/turf mode in the rear so you have to watch tight turns if you're worried about things like that. It makes work days a lot better than the old, still reliable Yamaha wolverine 350 I inherited from my father in law. It has solid low end grunt. The only things I've added to it are a winch, hard top, and recently replaced the crappy headlights with LED replacements from amazon. Still kicking around a light bar on the front and something on the back. There are times I wish I had a tractor, but our property is 3 hours away and I don't want to leave anything there, plus the hills are pretty steep and I don't know how I'd like trying to drive one around there. This is a good jack of all trades, master of none compromise.

As for the deer, they're used to the noise. They'll watch me drive by from 30-50 yards away. They don't move until I stop. When hunting, I usually walk to my stand, slipping in while my dad and father in law drive to theirs. It's worked well for me on numerous occasions.

 

[yoderjac]

Well, it is so cool that I just broke down and ordered one!

It looks like I won't be reviewing this tool anytime soon. I ordered a foot of 1" x1/8" square welded tubing and 6" of 3/4" x 1/8" welded tubing from the local metalsupermarket. I was shocked when I picked them up, I was shocked. The 3/4" fit nicely inside the 1" with no need to remove a weld seam. Maybe these smaller sizes are DOM rather than welded with an internal seam, but there was no indication of this when I ordered them.

While I spend money for a tool that I don't need (at least not yet), the good news is that installing the bed winch in the 700 Pioneer Deluxe should be easier than I thought. Hopefully I'll work that project this coming weekend.

Thanks,

Jack

 

[ruskbucks]

6 weeks have gone by and still no word on expected delivery of the JD. Stopped today at local Yanmar dealer and drove their diesel side-by-side around the lot. Seems to be a lot more machine that the JD. Noodling on canceling my JD order and opting for the Yanmar diesel.

We always had JD gators on our farm. They have been good machines. A few years ago we went with the 855 diesel. It has the yanmar engine. We did have all 3 glow plugs go out $ 600 repair. I like the machine only real complaint is it is very loud. Last year I bought a Yamaha Viking. I saw that Yamaha is building the gas sxs for yanmar. It is just badged as a yanmar but is actually a Yamaha built in Georgia. I love mine. Not sure if Yamaha builds the diesel for them also.

 

[paleopoint]

I have had two Polaris Rangers, gas 700cc.
Both were fine and were good workhorses for my needs. Bought both of them as 'pre-owned'.
I sold one (in a nano second) in order to buy the second....which was being sold at a fire-sale price.

I sold the first in 2016...after 7yrs of use.....listed it on FB Marketplace. Had many queries but before any of them could come and kick the tires, a 'looker' bought it.
I had cleaned it up and put it out along the highway in front of my barns. That's a spot I think I could sell anything at.
Anyway, a looker soon stopped, we dickered a little bit....I was in a strong position......and he gave me a deposit and was back the next morning with a trailer.

That second one I sold this past July after I had decided I wanted to go with the Polaris Ranger EV.....their electric.
As you know the market in 2021 was tight for everything......with a 7 month wait for new gas Polaris Rangers. With no dickering at the dealer. Three Polaris dealers told me almost the exact same thing: "Here's the price. If you want it, leave a $500 deposit. We'll call you when it comes in."

I was told by the dealer in April that it would be October or November before my new Ranger EV came in.....but he surprised me in July and had one ready for delivery.

So shortly after that call and firm ETA on delivery I cleaned up my old gas Ranger 700 and put it out front of the barns and on FB Marketplace.
It sold within 48hours. No dickering. I had paid $7,500 for it in 2016, used it hard for 5 years.......and old it for $8,000. As I said.....it was a strong market.

OK, now that new electric.
So far, I am tickled with it.
I don't need 'range' with it.....it stays only on the farm.
It is whisper quiet. The charge lasts as long as I have needed it. It seems to re-charge prompt enough for my schedule.
It does discharge a little more rapidly in cold weather (in the teens and 20's this past winter)......or when loaded with big firewood 'rounds' from the back 40.
But I have never discharged it lower than 40% even after a long day of using it.

It handled the 8" of snow we had in January and February just fine.

Did I say it was quiet?

 

[yoderjac]

I looked long and hard with plenty of lust at that new ranger ev. I just could not justify the price. Please keep us updated on how things go with it!

 

[paleopoint]

K

 

[Triple C]

Bought a new Yanmar diesel about 3 weeks ago for our home place. We all know the reputation of the Yanmar diesel engines. Have no idea how the rest of the machine will hold up over the long term. I wanted diesel as I've had a Polaris Ranger diesel since 2013 with 0 issues and son has a fuel tank on the back of his truck and he lives a mile down the road. Things I like about it:

Yanmar diesel engine.
Huge steel cargo box. Full size pallet will slide in. Really heavy duty latches n hardware.
1000 lb payload.
2000 lb towing.
Auto glass in front and back with front wipers, hardtop cover and for reasons I don't understand - turn signals.
Mirrors on each side, rearview mirror n turn signals.
Power steering. (First UTV I've owned with PS. Love it)
LED head lights with hi/low beam.
Ample storage bins.
Steel skid plates.
On the fly 4WD & locking rear.

What I don't like so far:
Turning radius sux. Nothing close the the TR of my Ranger. Would not be good on tight trails.
Adjustable bucket seats. Nice for drivers of different heights but limits seating space to only 2 n bucket seats are not that big. I would much prefer the 3 person bench seat but it's not an option.
Cockpit seems poorly designed. Cup holders are forward of passenger seat.
Gear shifting can be a bit clunky.

So far, I'd classify this unit as a true farm/construction unit. Nothing fancy. Only 2 passengers even though the cab interior could easily handle a 3 person bench seat.

And I'll add that I gave up on waiting on the Gator. Diesel ran me $3K more than the gasser but after the years of non-issues with my Ranger diesel I decided to spend the extra $ for the Yanmar diesel.

 

[yoderjac]

Well, I hope to work on the bed winch project for the Pioneer 700 this weekend. This was inspired by the SB Woods bed winch. Here is a video of an install on a Pioneer 1000:

I considered buying one from them, but I got a welder last winter and I thought this might be a good opportunity for a tiny DIY welding project for me. So, I bought the Winch from Harbor Freight with a coupon. Here is what I got:

Plug-in for tethered control and in-line fuse

Tethered control

Remote

This all came as part of the winch package.

I then bought these connectors so I can unplug the winch when I'm not using it: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B014FEV6EU/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o03_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I also bought the same light used with their version (bottom of this page): https://www.sbwoodandweld.com/shop

I had planned to build my own bracket. Rather than using their approach, I decided to make a telescoping square tubing bracket from mild steel I bought a piece of 12" x1" x 1/8" tubing and a piece of 14"x3/4"x1/8" square tubing as raw materials. I also picked up some scrap while I was at MetalSupermarket.

I'll try to take some pictures of that this weekend.

With my first dry fit attempt, I did not like how much the winch itself protruded into the bed of the UTV. My 700 is a little different than the pioneer 1000. I found that by orienting the winch 90 degrees, it fit much better with my bed. This does mean that instead of shearing across the bolts, the force will be directly against the threads. Also , with 3/4" square tubing less 1/4" for the wall thickness leaves only 1/2" of metal. That is not much margin if I use 5/16" bolts, so I'm considering using grade 8 1/4" -28 fine thread bolts for attaching the winch to the 3/4" tubing directly. The winch should be operating well below its capacity simply lifting deer into the bed so I don't think this should be an issue.

I'll update as things progress.

Thanks,

Jack

 

[yoderjac]

I got a little time to work on the project today. Here is the raw metal:

I then welded the 3/4" inner tube to the plate:

The picture above shows how the plate welded to the inner tube will slide into the outer tube which will be bolted to the bed frame.

I then drilled holes in the inner tube where the winch will bolt to it in the picture above.

More work and an update are planned for tomorrow. So far, so good.

 

[yoderjac]

I got started on the bed winch project again this morning. I worked on the part of the bracket that attaches to the bed:

After building the bracket, I dry fit it to the bed frame. I just used wing-nuts to temporarily hold it in position:

I put a bolt through the inner tube which approximates where the winch would bolt on and dry fit it as well:

That seeded to work out, so I decided to loosely bolt the winch into place. The 1/4 -28 bolts have locking nuts, so I did not tighten the nuts at all:

So that is roughly what it will look like when done.

Next, I drilled the plate and mounted the box for the control and the light and then dry mounted it again:

Again, the bolts that mount the winch are not tightened and that is why it is at a slight angel. The box hanging down is the fuse that will eventually be mounted under the seat with the battery.

I then disassembled everything and panted the brackets and left them to dry. Tomorrow, when the paint is dry, I'll do the final mounting and finish all the mechanical part of the installation. I hope to start the electrical part of the installation.

Thanks,

Jack

 

[pilotpip]

That's pretty slick.

 

[yoderjac]

That's pretty slick.

Thanks!

The paint was dry by this morning so I got back to work on it. I first permanently installed the outer bracket on the bed using 5/16 bolts and locking nuts. I used fender washers on the inside and trimmed the top two so they did not stick above the bed.

Next I permanently attached the winch, light, and remote connector unit to the inner bracket. When I put the brackets together, I noticed the winch body was slightly touching the roll bar portion the goes behind the seat. Adding a couple washers took care of that. Since I did not want to use 5/16 bolts to attach the winch to the inner bracket bar, I used 1/4" -28 fine thread bolts. Unlike the SB Woods design where there is a shear force against the bolts, with my approach, the force is against the threading. So, I used two locking nuts on each bolt. I figure the more thread contact the better, but this winch won't be lifting nearly as much weight as it was designed to support.

Here is a picture with everything permanently attached and the inner bracket inserted:

The final step was to drill a couple holes in the inserted inner bracket with a hand drill for the lock pin. I had drilled the outer tube on the drill press before permanent installation. I drilled through those holes on each side and then ran the drill bit the entire way through a couple times. They were lined up perfectly. I then inserted the lock pin. You can see it in the next picture:

That completes the mechanical part of the installation. I'm hoping to find some time next week to work on the electrical part.

Thanks,

Jack

 

[Foggy47]

^ It'd be Kinda neat to see generally mounted winch have some pulleys that would allow it fo pull from the front or back. I have a winch on the front of my Pioneer 700.....but have needed to winch from the rear. I do have a large come-along for that purpose.....and sometimes take it along on a remote trail ride.

What I think would really be cool is a winch that could be carried in the front on a receiver type bracket.....but be removable for placement into the rear receiver too.....with electrical connections available in both locations. (or that central winch with pulleys......and hope nobody pokes an eye out...grin).

I've sure enjoyed my Pioneer 700 over the years. I bought one when they first came out.....maybe 2014? Only wish for power steering on it. I put led lights front and rear.....and they are bright enough out the rear to gut a deer like daylight.

 

[yoderjac]

^ It'd be Kinda neat to see generally mounted winch have some pulleys that would allow it fo pull from the front or back. I have a winch on the front of my Pioneer 700.....but have needed to winch from the rear. I do have a large come-along for that purpose.....and sometimes take it along on a remote trail ride.

What I think would really be cool is a winch that could be carried in the front on a receiver type bracket.....but be removable for placement into the rear receiver too.....with electrical connections available in both locations. (or that central winch with pulleys......and hope nobody pokes an eye out...grin).

I've sure enjoyed my Pioneer 700 over the years. I bought one when they first came out.....maybe 2014? Only wish for power steering on it. I put led lights front and rear.....and they are bright enough out the rear to gut a deer like daylight.

I don't really do any trail riding. I did get a front mount winch with my Pioneer. I've found lots of uses besides recovery for the winch on my ATV. The real purpose of the bed winch is to save my back when loading deer. I first looked into a Great Day loader like I have on my ATV that uses the front winch. There are supply issues with those right now, but the real issue for me was that extending the length of the pioneer would not let me keep it in our current ATV shed. When I saw the SB Woods bed loader for deer, it looked like the ticket for me. I figured I'd homebrew one for welding practice.

I've seen vehicles with a simple trailer hitch receiver front and rear with power run to each end and a receiver mount winch. You could probably rig a UTV that way. By the way, I got the deluxe primarily for the power steering and I do love it.

Thanks,

Jack

 

[yoderjac]

I got back to work on the bed winch project today. The first thing I did was to figure out just how to run the wires. It was close, but it looks like they will reach the battery without any extension.

The battery is in the rear compartment under the seat on the passenger side. I drilled one hole through the plastic frame just above the battery. I then connected the ground wire to the battery. I won't be able to feed the hot wire through until I cut the wires for the quick connect because of the fuse box on the hot wire. Using the cold wire to establish length, I cut both wires and began installing the quick connects.

I did screw up one of the quick connects trying to crimp it. So, I could only do one side. I'll need to order another one before I can complete it. The small gauge wires going into the connector are from the light. So I had to stop there for now.

The only other thing I did was to install an end cap in the bracket. This will keep water out when the winch in not installed so I don't get rust inside the bracket. It probably wouldn't hurt much but eventually, it could make the inner tub stick in there. That end cap will only be used when the winch is in storage.

Thanks,

Jack

 

[yoderjac]

Well, it is finally done!

I started by finding a location for the circuit breaker between the seat and back rest to ensure the wires were long enough.

I decided it was such a tight fit, I could just use velcro to hold it in place.

Next I added the connectors to the other end of the wire before hooking up the hot wire.

I threaded the cable ties behind some components and used cable ties to connect it to the bar above the seat. I then hooked up the hot wire to the batter and mated the connectors. My first test was to turn the light on. That worked fine. Next I paired the bluetooth remote with the winch and tried to extend the cable. I heard the winch just begin to turn then it went dead. The light would not come back on either. I thought maybe I popped the circuit breaker. I waited a bit for it to reset. I tested it with the volt meter and got a low voltage. I when back and opened the circuit breaker case and tested before and after the breaker and was good with over 12 volts. I tested at the connector again and got 12 volts. So, I plugged it back in and tried again. The light went on but I had the same symptoms when I tried the winch. Eventually I figured out I had a bad connection. There was usually enough of a connection for the small draw of the LED light to work, but not enough for the winch. I pulled the connector and rewired the terminals. This time everything worked perfectly!

Here is a picture of the finished product hooked up:

My next project will be to mount a tool box in the bed. Outside the season, I'll carry tools in it. During hunting season, I'll use it to carry extra hunting stuff that I want to have in the field (blood trailing supplies and such). I want to be able to tilt the bed and winch in a deer without removing the tool box.

Thanks,

Jack

 

[yoderjac]

Just an update on the bed winch. I've used it on 2 deer now. The first on worked perfectly. The second one winched in, but when I got back, I found the cable was caught between the end of the spool and the bracket wrapped around several times. I could not free it. I ended up having to watch a video to figure out how to tear the winch apart to untangle the cable. I decided that the issue was using the winch without a fairlead. So, I scratched my head to come up with a way to mount one. The best I could figure was to weld a couple bolts directly on the frame of the winch. The first bolt went well. I ground off the side of the hex head and some threading and welded it to the side of the frame. For the second bolt, I had to weld the hex head to non-flat front of the winch. It broke off twice. It looked to me like the weld was not penetrating the winch but it as penetrating the hex head of the bolt. I ended up turning up the welder and the third time was a charm. Because the surface was not flat, there is a slight angle to it, but I think it will be functional.

Here is the welding job:

Here is the finished product with the fairlead attached:

Thanks,

Jack