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Anyone have a Kubota Sidekick? Finally Got One

Started by 21incher, March 24, 2021, 12:52:16 PM

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Old Greenhorn

21 Not sure if you gave them a call or not, but I just threw it in there. As for plowing, I put a KFI plow on mine and am amazed at what that little thing pushes and is not nearly as powerful as yours. What it can't move is the berms pushed up by road plows. I forgot you have the big snowblower. But don't underestimate those UTV's for doing a quick and neat job on most snow.

 As for the registration/insurance issue. Yes, NYS has these machines in a black hole. This is a result of lobbying by the ATV clubs around the state that don't want these machines on state trails. I don't know why. They have had bills pending to fix this, but they just die on the vine. I went round and round with this a few years back. I needed to get insurance on it to do those music festivals. Well the insurance company wants it to be registered and there is no way to do that. I finally found a company that would insure it with just the year, model, and VIN number. Started out at $50/yr, but kept going up. During COVID i dropped it since there no no fests. Now I need to get it again and begin my search anew.
 Legally, UTV's don't exist in NYS. If you register it in another state and try to take it on a state trail here, that is also illegal.
Tom Lindtveit, Woodsman Forest Products
Oscar 328 Band Mill, Husky 350, 450, 562, & 372 (Clone), Mule 3010, and too many hand tools. :) Retired and trying to make a living to stay that way. NYLT Certified.
OK, maybe I'm the woodcutter now.
I work with wood, There is a rumor I might be a woodworker.

snowstorm

in maine the new rule passed last year. 65" wide up to 2000lbs. the county is the best place in the state to ride. next is downeast. the trouble there is the 60" gates that afm has put up. afm is not well liked down there. some of the other land management co. put money into trails

21incher

I had no idea that you couldn't register them in NY until I had the certificate of origin and went to the State DMV website to get the forms. Only option was put it on my homeowners and keep it on my property.  Hopefully  I can help fight this in the future.  Made a big mistake retiring in NY.
This thing pulls good but I just found out it's not a skidder and no match for a  big ash tree laying  over in the woods 🙄. 
Hudson HFE-21 on a custom trailer, Deere 4100, Kubota BX 2360, Echo CS590 & CS310, home built wood splitter, home built log arch, a logrite cant hook and a bread machine. And a Kubota Sidekick with a Defective Subaru motor.

JD Guy

Quote from: Old Greenhorn on May 13, 2022, 09:51:22 PM
What kind of terrain do you have? Flat or steep?
Sorry for the late response, just saw your post OGH😁
We have mildly rolling, but what anyone in the mountains would call flat!

JD Guy

21 incher:We will use this much as most of y'all do, to get firewood from places the tractors and pickup can't go, fence maintenance, pond maintenance and general duties on our 75 acres. The one thing I do not need to deal with is snow removal😀. Very few know how to drive in the stuff anyway so as a defensive measure it's best to wait a day or so and the snow is gone!

Old Greenhorn

Quote from: JD Guy on May 19, 2022, 01:32:30 PM
Quote from: Old Greenhorn on May 13, 2022, 09:51:22 PM
What kind of terrain do you have? Flat or steep?
Sorry for the late response, just saw your post OGH😁
We have mildly rolling, but what anyone in the mountains would call flat!
Well, for what you ant to do and the terrain you have a Mule should do you just fine. The polaris has a bit more power I think and does better on rough stuff with better clearance. If I ever find one for cheap I would get it. 
 I searched for a long time for mine and finally spyed one that had been sitting in the same spot behind a dealers shop for a couple of years. It was in rough shape. When the dealership closed I stopped in and tossed out an offer of 500 bucks. The engine was in 5 cardboard boxes taken completely apart, every screw. I bought the shop manual and some parts and learned about kawasaki engines. Had it running in about a month working evenings. Now I could sell it for $5-6k. It does everything I ask of it. I just re-upped he insurance for it today which I had let lapse during COVID. I need that for the music fests.
 Good luck in the hunt.
Tom Lindtveit, Woodsman Forest Products
Oscar 328 Band Mill, Husky 350, 450, 562, & 372 (Clone), Mule 3010, and too many hand tools. :) Retired and trying to make a living to stay that way. NYLT Certified.
OK, maybe I'm the woodcutter now.
I work with wood, There is a rumor I might be a woodworker.

21incher

Quote from: JD Guy on May 19, 2022, 01:42:47 PM
21 incher:We will use this much as most of y'all do, to get firewood from places the tractors and pickup can't go, fence maintenance, pond maintenance and general duties on our 75 acres. The one thing I do not need to deal with is snow removal😀. Very few know how to drive in the stuff anyway so as a defensive measure it's best to wait a day or so and the snow is gone!
I am sure you will appreciate whatever one you acquire.  Just becareful if you buy an older machine that could need repairs in the near future. Repair parts can take some time to to get these days (even warranty parts for new machines take extra time)  It's a good write off if you have a farm and many have discounts for farmers available that can help the budget.  Good luck in your  search. Let us know what  you choose. 

Hudson HFE-21 on a custom trailer, Deere 4100, Kubota BX 2360, Echo CS590 & CS310, home built wood splitter, home built log arch, a logrite cant hook and a bread machine. And a Kubota Sidekick with a Defective Subaru motor.

JD Guy

Old Greenhorn and 21 incher, Thanks for the recommendations and for sure when I pick up a machine I will let you know 21: Liked the videos, I don't think we have anywhere on our place that we could drive that fast😁

samandothers

Quote from: 21incher on May 14, 2022, 12:28:11 PM
This thing pulls good but I just found out it's not a skidder and no match for a  big ash tree laying  over in the woods 🙄.
This sounded bad, as in gears were lost. :o
I was afraid I was going to read a follow up post that new parts were needed for repair and could not be had! 

21incher

Quote from: samandothers on May 20, 2022, 09:23:22 PM
Quote from: 21incher on May 14, 2022, 12:28:11 PM
This thing pulls good but I just found out it's not a skidder and no match for a  big ash tree laying  over in the woods 🙄.
This sounded bad, as in gears were lost. :o
I was afraid I was going to read a follow up post that new parts were needed for repair and could not be had!
No, nothing breaks, it just doesn't pull like a tractor. It weighs about  1800 pounds and the low gear with a centrifugal clutch buries the wheels easily with a heavy dead load behind it. With my tractor  I can put it in low gear and it chugs along very slowly with high torque that doesn't  spin the wheels as easily causing it to loose traction. If it starts loosing  traction the wheels remain at the same slow speed and still pull hard. With this you can try to pull slowly but if the load doesn't  start moving you have to press on the gas pedal more and it's  a very fine line between moving the load and the tires spinning. When the tires loose traction they spin faster digging deeper holes. It's a fine line that a centrifugal clutch doesn't control as well as hydraulic  or gear drive. With  a load that is lighter then the Sidekick it's  not bad but hook on to a 2500 pound ash log on soft ground and it's  not moving. I put the 5k pound winch on it now that hopefully will help drag some of the bigger stuff out. It's  going  to be firewood so I also can cut it smaller. Just playing now because  I don't  have enough  strength  back yet to pick the blocks up if I cut them. I have to modify my log arch to work with  this that should  be a really  good combination. 

Hudson HFE-21 on a custom trailer, Deere 4100, Kubota BX 2360, Echo CS590 & CS310, home built wood splitter, home built log arch, a logrite cant hook and a bread machine. And a Kubota Sidekick with a Defective Subaru motor.

SwampDonkey

You need a log arch. A SxS or ATV hasn't the weight behind it nor the wheel diameter to skid wood. You're not going to skid wood out to a field from any distance to conveniently buck it up. She's bucked where she falls. The more convenience you desire, the more money. $$ ;) By the time a guy rigs up a pulley system for each tree he falls, he could have bucked 3 trees, loaded and hauled them out and been 3 x ahead. Assuming the pulley system goes smoothly. 
"No amount of belief makes something a fact." James Randi

1 Thessalonians 5:21

2020 Polaris Ranger 570 to forward firewood, Husqvarna 555 XT Pro, Stihl FS560 clearing saw and continuously thinning my ground, on the side. Grow them trees. (((o)))

gspren

Yes get your arch behind the Kubota. My Kubota UTV is the 400 which was about the smallest one they made and the arch made it possible to get some big stuff out. My arch will only handle about 22" trees so when I had a 26" oak blow over I bucked it in place and used the arch to get the 18" long pieces out one at a time, slow but got it done.
Stihl 041, 044 & 261, Kubota 400 RTV, Kubota BX 2670, Ferris Zero turn

Greenie

We had a 2005 or 2007 Polaris Ranger - fuel injected. Horrible experience. If I could have bolted on a carburetor it may have been more reliable but as it was it was hard starting, prone to breakdowns and backfires. Eventually we got the fuel injected issues resolved after 10 years than we started replacing clutches and starters very frequently. It was not a machine I would trust to get me where I wanted to go.
Maybe the newer Rangers are better, but that one left a scar.
We replaced the Ranger in 2018 with a Kubota RTV X900 - much slower but more reliable. 

SwampDonkey

I know several folks with Ranger 570's, never heard anything negative about them. Only stickler about any of the vehicle type is they sell them all with crap tires. It's a money game. Fine for awhile if you're just using it in a big yard lot or farm fields, once you get into 'poke the tires' type trails, good luck. I use mine quite a bit for yard work here. Most any project I start, I want the Ranger involved. :D This spring projects: hauling off flu brick from the barn, making fence posts, hauling manure and topsoil, picking up downed tree sticks. And as usual, hauling the water pump and water tank with creek water for the gardens. And gathering all the firewood, 10 cords worth. A bike trail is a lot cheaper than a road and keeps the trash off my land, literally and figuratively. :D
"No amount of belief makes something a fact." James Randi

1 Thessalonians 5:21

2020 Polaris Ranger 570 to forward firewood, Husqvarna 555 XT Pro, Stihl FS560 clearing saw and continuously thinning my ground, on the side. Grow them trees. (((o)))

Mooseherder

I visited a Polaris dealer yesterday about a side by side.   Looks like Maine passed a similar law for width and weight.  The machine we've been wanting is now over weight.    :(

2021-2022 ATV laws online!

Old Greenhorn

I just read the highlights on that law. It seems punitive for some reason. I wonder what the reasoning is? In NYS we can't register them but we can insure them and use them on private land, just not state ATV trails. This was a result of the ATV clubs not wanting sxs on their trails. Both states have stupid laws, IMO.
 My '07 Mule weighs around 1,300 pounds, but I would have to measure the width.
Tom Lindtveit, Woodsman Forest Products
Oscar 328 Band Mill, Husky 350, 450, 562, & 372 (Clone), Mule 3010, and too many hand tools. :) Retired and trying to make a living to stay that way. NYLT Certified.
OK, maybe I'm the woodcutter now.
I work with wood, There is a rumor I might be a woodworker.

21incher

Its scary  how these laws can limit taxpayers from using a trail system they paid for. What's  to stop them from doing this on state roads next.  Want trucks off your roads pass a law nothing  over 4k pounds or 72 inches can use them. Mine is about  1800 pounds dry so that eliminates my chance of registering it. I have been told insurance only covers you on land you own and not at public events or friends property.  
Hudson HFE-21 on a custom trailer, Deere 4100, Kubota BX 2360, Echo CS590 & CS310, home built wood splitter, home built log arch, a logrite cant hook and a bread machine. And a Kubota Sidekick with a Defective Subaru motor.

Mooseherder

The dealer said he can legally build and add options on a machine that weighs under the weight and gave an example of a base side by side that weighs 1950 lbs stock because that is what the title will say.  ::)
The machine will weigh 220 lbs more when done but it will be legal.  Machines bought before are grandfathered in.

He also said this came about when Mahindra started selling machines that looked like Jeeps and landowners said why are their Jeeps on my property!?
I think Jeep successfully stopped Mahindra and the production on them?  Then you have an aftermarket crowd that'll build Bigfoot to be bigger than the neighbors' if they can't buy it that way.  

SwampDonkey

"No amount of belief makes something a fact." James Randi

1 Thessalonians 5:21

2020 Polaris Ranger 570 to forward firewood, Husqvarna 555 XT Pro, Stihl FS560 clearing saw and continuously thinning my ground, on the side. Grow them trees. (((o)))

snowstorm

Quote from: Mooseherder on June 09, 2022, 07:26:33 AM
I visited a Polaris dealer yesterday about a side by side.   Looks like Maine passed a similar law for width and weight.  The machine we've been wanting is now over weight.    :(

2021-2022 ATV laws online!
ranger crew northstar??whitch dealer? i bought 2 from the guys in mapleton. no one will fuss about the weigh. there is a narrow bridge outside of pi that you will not be able to cross

nativewolf

Quote from: Old Greenhorn on June 09, 2022, 08:49:01 AM
I just read the highlights on that law. It seems punitive for some reason. I wonder what the reasoning is? In NYS we can't register them but we can insure them and use them on private land, just not state ATV trails. This was a result of the ATV clubs not wanting sxs on their trails. Both states have stupid laws, IMO.
My '07 Mule weighs around 1,300 pounds, but I would have to measure the width.
Democracy is a funny thing, usually when you see a club like that lobbying a govt regulator that want to relax some rule or to tighten rules for other types of users.  More common would be to see off road bicycle users not wanting ATV of any sort on the trails.  If an ATV club got a rule imposed that's democracy at work and if enough users find it problematic they can organize and have the rule rescinded but the reason the rule is there is that your neighbors asked for it and the elected officials responded to citizens requests for the rule change- it's a good thing to see democracy working.  I am curious as to why the ATV clubs against the SxS?  When they discussed the rule change did anyone object?
Are there a lot of these ATV trails up there in NY or Maine?  There are a few here in VA but I don't think there are any restrictive rules, just that you can't use them on roads.   
Liking Walnut

Mooseherder

Snowstorm,  yes to the Northstar at that dealer.  Great people to deal with.  I guess time will tell but the way it sounded they won't even be able to order it without getting special exemption stating the owner will only use it on their own property or neighbors property with written permission.  There was a machine there waiting to be picked up and will serve as a test to see if the new owner will be able to register normally.  We will see.  

Nativewolf,  There are thousands of miles of trails and even more for snowmobiling.   I think it's getting harder to get volunteers to fix and maintain the trails.  The generation that built them in the northern part of the state I know are in their 70's.  I had to chuckle about the democracy reference. 

SwampDonkey

Me to on democracy, it's a handful of people. Government officials usually call them 'the fringe minority' when they don't agree with them. :D
"No amount of belief makes something a fact." James Randi

1 Thessalonians 5:21

2020 Polaris Ranger 570 to forward firewood, Husqvarna 555 XT Pro, Stihl FS560 clearing saw and continuously thinning my ground, on the side. Grow them trees. (((o)))

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