Best atv / utv

[Crusarius]

I have a Qlink frontrunner. Chinese rhino clone. it is the same as the cub cadet side by side as well as the brand sold by runnings. brand new fully loaded it costs in the $7000 range. it has a 500 cc single cylinder. Tops out about 45 mph has hi lo range 2wd or 4wd with locking front diff. and a tilt bed. Comfortably seats 2. 

I bought it for parts cause I wanted to build a side by side of my own. When I got it the only thing holding it together was the mud. It ended up costing me $300 in parts to put it all back together and working again. After I did that I ran it for a little bit, the thing has been so great that it has turned into my log hauler and plow. I run a 5' plow and the thing pushes snow like you wouldn't believe. it still impresses me what I do with it.

Don't discount the so called cheap chinese ones because if you look at each and every one out there whether they are made in the US or not I bet a good majority of the parts are from china.

[Ianab]

I was impressed that Mihindra almost duplicated the 1940's jeep in design and look.

Mahindra got a licence to build original Willys C2-J Jeeps in the 1940s for the Indian market. They have basically been doing so ever since, and their licence agreement is still current. The Roxor is basically a "non road legal" of the current Mahindra Thar (Jeep Variant) that was released in 2010, and sell in India. I'm guessing the legal requirement of getting it US road legal is is just too much? Air bags / traction control / ABS etc. And offroaders don't want that complexity anyway. So just slap an "off road only" sticker on it, and start selling them. 

Just out of interest, they a made in new car assembly plant in Detroit of all places. 

[snowstorm]

I was impressed that Mihindra almost duplicated the 1940's jeep in design and look.

Mahindra got a licence to build original Willys C2-J Jeeps in the 1940s for the Indian market. They have basically been doing so ever since, and their licence agreement is still current. The Roxor is basically a "non road legal" of the current Mahindra Thar (Jeep Variant) that was released in 2010, and sell in India. I'm guessing the legal requirement of getting it US road legal is is just too much? Air bags / traction control / ABS etc. And offroaders don't want that complexity anyway. So just slap an "off road only" sticker on it, and start selling them.

Just out of interest, they a made in new car assembly plant in Detroit of all places.

sort of. now jeep is suing mahindra. because it looks to much like a jeep. read that on hard working trucks.com

[Ianab]

ort of. now jeep is suing mahindra. because it looks to much like a jeep. read that on hard working trucks.com

Possible the original agreement was only for India, or that's what the current owners (Fiat?) claim, or it's "open to interpretation". 

The Thar that they sell in India looks EXACTLY like a Jeep, and the Roxor is based on that. Maybe why they changed the design of the grill?

Mahindra Thar - Wikipedia

I'd say it's more of a "Jeep" than what Fiat are currently selling anyway. :D

[Crusarius]

Jeep has a copyright / patent on the 7 slats in the grill. They have had that as long as I have known.

[snowstorm]

I think that it bears restating how much that fella disdained the John Deere Gator he had previous to the Polaris Ranger. I'm not trying to start a brand war, I couldn't care less about such things. I like quality machines that I can depend on, and his opinion of the Gator was anything but. I know Polaris has had a lot of recalls and some quality issues as of late as well. But the Ranger he had, he was very happy with.

Wanna hear something funny My mom has a gator and a bobcat. they both are made by non other than Polaris Yanmar diesel in the bobcat and a rocket motor of some sort in the gator. But Polaris makes the running gear don't know if the new ones are that way or not but 4 year old one is. I have a Kubota because we work the death out of it. 11000 miles and counting :D :D

bobcat has been owned by doosan since 2007. polaris did has the asv tracked skid steer for a while

[ChadRL]

Bought a 18 crew ranger 900. Love it. Lots of power, tons of attachment options for all types of work and large dump box. And...goes like a bat out of hell

[Chuck White]

No matter what brand or size the biggest thing you can do not leave tracks is to not mount mud grip tires, make slow and wide turns and don't spin your wheels.

My son has a Polaris Ranger and the one thing I really like about it is that it has a selector switch for: 4-wheel drive, 2-wheel drive and 1-wheel drive!
With the 1-wheel drive feature, turning around in someones driveway or on a lawn doesn't tear things up! ;) 

[Crusarius]

I do wish mine had that. the rear axle is spooled. so turning tight anywhere tears up everything.

[petefrom bearswamp]

2012 Polaris 550 sportsman, beat to death and still taking it.
Rides like a dream and I skid firewood with it..
goes almost anywhere but the plastic doesnt hold up when skimming trees etc or tipping over ( I have done both as has my grandson)
Replaced one axle so far which was cheaper and easier than doing just the cv joint.
I was a Honda man before this one, but the ride was brutal.
Next time, if there is a next time will once again look at the Honda which now is available with independent rear suspension.
2012 Kubota rtv900, rugged and not fast enough for me to get into trouble.
I haul my firewood piled to 3' high and no problems there.
sips fuel.
 

[Dave Shepard]

My 2003 Honda Rincon has independent rear suspension. Rides great. We're have a 2012 Kubota RTV1140CPX and a new Gator 825i. The old Kubota will be puttering along years after the Gator has gone to the scrap heap. 

[TKehl]

Hard to go wrong with a Honda (as long as you avoid electric shift).  We bought our first Honda for the farm in 1990.  An 1986 Fourtrax 250 2x4.  Still goes good, but have rebuilt the engine once.  

We've added 2 more since.  Mine is a 1999 300cc 2x4 and dads is a 2012 350cc 4x4.  

Other than the rebuild of the 1986 for oil leaks, nothing but brakes, oil changes, and top with gas.  Worn out several sets of tires though.   ;D

[Raider Bill]

Look for  a Geo Tracker or Suzuki Samurai. UTV with heat and a/c.

[snowstorm]

a ranger north star has ac

[coxy]

I have cub cadet its ok should have went with the 700 but got the 500 jd gators are nice a friend has one with 11,000 miles 625i he just got the 825 with the 3 cylinder gas and hates it the rpm are so high it sounds like its going to blow up as far as the beds go I would rather have the hard plastic we haven't been able to brake the bed on my friends yet not really trying but have thrown some heavy things in there wood and metal   the metal beds dents easy and if you go down a public road in the winter the salt rusts them real fast thats just my 10cents worth 

[Iwawoodwork]

I second Raider Bill, we have a  Suzuki samurai 4x4 for 15+ years and only had one repair (trans shift tower bushing) ran on and off road, pulled fire wood trailers, logs, carried fencing materials and seats 4 or wife and I plus 3 dogs, used for deer hunting up to 40 miles from our cabin, about the same width as our Polaris 700efi utv 6x6 and was a lot cheaper back then, $1500.

[Pulphook]

1999 Honda Foreman 500--going on 19 years of abuse hauling, skidding, clearing. Just one minor transmission repair, many oil/filter changes. That's it !
We take 7-8 firewood cords out of the woodlot /year, clear blowdowns. The beast has been rolled, smashed into trees, filled with water in the wetland yet keeps on running.

[reride82]

I will reiterate that find a dealer nearby that is good, and you get along with. I have a 2015 Kymco mxu 700i that has been an awesome machine! It has 2wd, 4wd, and 4wd lock and has pulled, climbed, and maneuvered everything I've wanted it to. But, my biggest selling point was my dealer, he has been a parts supplier and mechanic for me on other machines for several years prior and has always been great at returning calls, quick and great service, warranty work, and plus he's a great guy. So, whatever you get, find someone you like to work with first.

Levi

[Banjo picker]

I have no idea as to whats best, because I have only tried the Kubota 900 rtv.  I have made several repairs to the u joints and changed one cv shaft.  Its now 12 years old and has been worked fairly hard.  
  No problems at all with the 3 cyl. diesel motor or trans.  Banjo
 

 

[Cruiser_79]

We have a contract with the municipality for salt spreading and snow ploughing narrow roads in town and bicycle paths. The wider paths we do with small euro style pickup trucks (L200 or my landcruiser 79) and the narrow paths I do with a Holder C3.42 with a mounted spreader. Good machine and very compact, I can turn around a post stamp. Problem is travel speed, we spread 25 km, and my entire route is 65 km. In a non suspended tractor that means quite some bumping and shaking, and the travel speed of 35 km/h is too slow, especially because next year I live another 10 km more from the municipality yard. 
So I was thinking of a full cab UTV like the kubota RTV900 or 1100, and with a kind of gooseneck trailer. Over here I've never seen it, do you use them in the US or Canada? The load platform won't be enough cause we need at least 800-1000 kg (2000 lbs) of salt. With a gooseneck I could spread the weight on the utv rear axle and the trailer. Would be great if some people have more tips and tricks for carrying more weight.
This is my current setup, the holder with V-plow and spreader. This situation is quite rare over here, we have many years without a single snowflake unfortunately...  :-\

 

 

[SwampDonkey]

Wow, that is a lot of snow for you over there this early before winter. ;D

I thin out the tree and cut firewood where it drops, and I use a Polaris Ranger 570 SxS to forward on a trail network. I've only had it a couple of years now and has been trouble free. I have forwarded 18 cords of firewood, but cut a lot of other wood close to the road, so I just toss on the truck. She's all split before it comes home. No sign of any troubles so far on the SxS. Get a good solid brand and I'm sure it will work like a horse. ;D

I corduroy wet runs on my trails, I have zero rutting. Rutting of the land is one thing I don't tolerate.

[Cruiser_79]

Wow, that is a lot of snow for you over there this early before winter. ;D

Well that's  a picture of february this year  :D Hope we will get a lot of snow and frost coming winter! 
The polaris looks good, but I prefer a diesel engine. Lot cheaper and just easier cause we have diesel in bulk at the farm. Petrol prices are around 2 euro's per litre at the moment, insane  ???

[SwampDonkey]

Diesel over here, unless farm dyed is always more than gasoline. Diesel is $1.50/L here and gasoline is $1.45/L. But I assume it's par for farm diesel here. If you have tractors and such, it makes sense to have the diesel. But, we always had both gas and diesel here at the farm. The 5 trucks were all gas, lots of gas small engines. The tractors, wheat combine and air vac motor on the spud harvester was diesel. 

[Cruiser_79]

Nearby there is a kioti mechron 2210 for sale. 800 hours, year 2015 and 6500 euros. Not too bad, only it doesn't have a closed cab. Few hundred km from here there is a kubota rtv900 with a new engine and 1600 hours for 8500 euros. 
Think I first take a look at the kioti to get a feeling what they're like. 

[Crusarius]

Kubota are hydraulic drive just like a zero turn mower. The hydraulic drive means much slower speeds and more power to move the same thing. the units are pretty heavy. 

Kubota makes a great workhorse but not if you want to get anywhere in a hurry. Do they have Mahindra over there? Mahindra has some very nice machines geared towards work but still fast enough to have fun with. And there are diesel options.