Wife's Giving UTV Green Light -- Which One?!!!

[bigbendmarine]

Ok, I know it's about as loaded a question as asking "which boat?" on a saltwater fishing forum with best answers (and rarely a perfect single answer) depending on LOTS of variables.... so I'll do the best I can to quickly provide what I hope is helpful info.

• Already have a personal truck (2005 Nissan Titan) I use to drive around my 112 acres, but sometimes just want to zip down to my pond 600 yards behind my house without driving the truck. If checking cards at various camera sites, usually walk but if pushed for time sometimes drive truck around property.
• Have approx 20 acres of fields I drive around outside hunting season / with at least 2 or so acres in plots at far end of fields during summer AND winter. Per the attached pic, width of property is only a bit over 500 yards.
  
• Already have a John Deere tractor (5425 cab / 81 hp engine / 65 hp PTO), a 10' PTO driven box cutter, and a disc for the tractor.
  
• Do NOT have any cultipacker / currently drag weighted chain fence as needed. Also do not have any sprayer / use 4 gallon backpack sprayer occasionally but would love to upgrade to more automated pull sprayer be it for use with tractor, UTV, or even truck.
• With as much wooded area as I have and trees surrounding my home site, regularly cutting wood and using truck to haul if keep any for burning or even just to haul to burn piles if burning on site.
• Do occasionally drive on neighboring plantation land to west of my property (my boundaries are marked in red) to access dam on section of pond I own. Ride is about a mile long and all dirt. Maybe drive it a half-dozen times a year or so, though in future hope to blaze access trail down my west border for easier access.
• LOVE to take wildlife pictures as a hobby and also would prefer not to spook deer more than I have to, so from that standpoint thinking quieter ride of battery or hybrid system *might* be a preference (though have seen folks on some forums swear battery driven vehicles spooked their wildlife even more and I have no preset opinion since don't have experience).

Wife is giving clear green light for UTV, so question is with information above what would you recommend and at least for moment with budget not identified as issue. Have to admit despite living in the country almost all my life, never had a 4 wheeler or UTV though have had access to golf carts (and not ruling out heavy duty golf cart as possible best fit either)... and have to admit, part of desire is having something just a bit more fun to ride around in than loading friends / visitors in Nissan Titan just to drive 600 yards or so to pond or if giving tours around lay of land. Know my 8 year old daughter would enjoy rides with me in a more open vehicle as well, so again "fun" is a bit of a factor as well as desires for utility.

VERY curious and open minded to hear what everyone has to say. :)

 

[chummer]

Mule 610. Very nimble for what you describe. I love it and your daughter will love driving it. I also have a Polaris 570(I think), it seats 6 but takes as much room as a truck to turn around.

 

[hesseu]

I love having electric. Just plug it in at night, no gas / oil smell, and so quiet. But, may not fit exactly what you're looking for. We use ours for chores around the house as well specifically purchased for hunting. Get around 8-10 miles a charge depending on terrain.

 

[tooln]

What do you have for dealers in the area? Most brands are good, so unless you plan do do all the service or repair work yourself I'd stick with whatever brand you have dealers for. You also want a dealer who has been around a while and has a good reputation. As an example the dealer I bought my tractor from 2 years ago called the other day. He told me the 2 year warranty was close to expiring and if I have any problems to get it taken care of while it's still covered. I've bought lots of vehicles, cycles & ATV's in my life and never had a dealer do this. He'll get my repeat business for sure.

 

[bigbendmarine]

Can't say I yet know which dealer(s) has the best service rep, but bases pretty are much covered on sales availability... one dealer does Kawasaki, Yamaha, and Honda... another in town handles Polaris. Two local John Deere places that sell Gators. Then you've got Bass Pro with Bad Boy and Arctic Cat, and finally though strictly on the sales side have Tractor Supply with Massimo.

Need to do homework on dealers, though do have a friend who has business ties with the one that handles Kawasaki, Yamaha, and Honda.

 

[bwoods11]

Yamaha Viking is very reliable. Honda makes a very nice 1000 unit. Depends on what you want to spend.

 

[WTNUT]

I have been a big Polaris fan for years when it comes to UTVs and a big Honda fan when it comes to ATV's. I am assuming you don't want to trade Fort Knox for a CanAm UTV (very very nice we have one for customers, but would never spend my own money on one). I would give serious consideration to the new Honda UTV - no belts like on the Polaris and Honda engines are fantastic.


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[Boll Weevil]

Although I've only had it 2 months, couldn't be more please with my Polaris EV. Quiet, odorless, powerful, plenty of payload, 4wd, extremely versatile. So far, I'm feeling really good about the purchase.

 

[MRBB]

sorry to say this, but what it sounds like your going to do, I think a basic ATV would be all you would ever need and be about a bunch less $$$ than the costs of a UTV
I'm a Honda ATV guy for work use, a Rubican or a Foreman and your good for yrs of hard work, from plowing snow to hauling wood out, and a BIG perk to me, is,a ATV can get into a LOT of places a UTV cannot
as in deer recovery's
500 cc's is about all anyone really needs in an atv too, larger can do more, but also more costs involved IMO
you already have a tractor which is the best tool to have !
you could maybe get two atv's for the price of a higher end UTV

ALL the top end UTV":S are GOOD today, not a junkier in the bunch, I like the Honda pioneer 1000 due to the drive train,, and some sport still there
the Kubota's with its 3/4 ton chassis, sounds good for a work machine too
not as plush a ride, but should be HD of a machine as they have out there

 

[Big Snow Man]

For what you want a Kawasaki Mule would be all you need.

 

[Seabee]

My new Mule pro has been the best utility vehicle I have owed! By the way, which saltwater fishing forum do you frequent?

 

[buckdeer1]

I did the polaris 570 full size,whatever brand and model you chose i would drive them all you can but i liuke mine.One thing is to watch for is when they have their year end sales,also I did several searches online over a period of a couple weeks and found coupons for extension of my warranty,250.00 off accessories and a discount off purchase price.

 

[Jordan Selsor]

Check this place for rock bottom prices. http://www.abernathycycles.com

It give you an idea of where your price needs to be. Guys in my area drive across the state to get bikes, quads an utv's here. They are seriously usually 2K less than local dealers on UTV's. More expensive the utv more price gap they have with local dealers. They well email you a quote

Good luck
I have my eye on polaris ranger 570efi. Smooth ride. Plenty of power
Mules are work horses but more rigid and not as fast

*edit
Just checked their site an they have polaris ranger 500 for 7400

 

[Bill]

I have a Polaris 800. It did give me trouble with a short on the fuel injector wiring harness but other than that it's be dependable.

If and when it goes I'm going to look into a Japanese mini truck. Much cheaper, has heat maybe A/C and their quieter.

 

[MoBuckChaser]

A $3,000 electric golf cart for touring around in stealth mode, and a $5,000 4 wheeler for getting some work done. That's how I roll!

But I got my cart for $1,500 and the wheeler for $2,800. The deals are out there!

 

[LuckyIL]

I have 4 polaris utvs in use at my place. have had plenty of issues and my dealer is always busy fixing them. I wouldn't buy polaris again but I've gotten plenty of life out of them and go places most wouldn't

 

[Ben-WPA]

My Yamaha Viking has been a solid machine. Nothing fancy but room for three adults in the front.

 

[SIL hunter]

I'll second MObuck, look on your local craigslist, atv's can be had very reasonable and I have a gas golf cart that we run all over our property on, get the conversion kit to put a flip rear seat and you can put 4 people on no problem. Should be able to get both of these for 1/2 of a new utv.

 

[nwmn]

I gotta be a Homer and say arctic, since it's my hometown business. However I would recommend polaris. I do agree, we talked ourselves out of an Rov and stuck with the atv on a sportsman 850. Our 2001 arctic 500 is still givin er too after years of abuse and hard work. I like the idea of being able to drive a truck around the property. I wish we could do that on ours, too wet so we use our 4 wheelers.

Or, you can invest in a shit truck. Buy yourself a Ford bronco and take the top off, makes for a pretty sick machine, plus it's much cheaper! Disclosure: my daily driver is a 94 bronco :)

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[nwmn]

Good luck in your search. The polaris generals look stupid cool if budget isn't an issue.

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