UTV?

[wbrent]

Probably been discussed many times but here we go again. Anyone done the research or had personal experience using a UTV in a woodlot. Note. I am not wanting to use it to haul logs per se. I have a tractor for that. Mainly just to lug stuff back and forth to and from the woodlot. Occasionally hooking up a small trailer of short logs. Seems like a hundred to chose from. What to avoid. Size wise I'm looking for something on the smaller size. 700cc or less. What have you all liked and disliked?  Thanks. 

[BargeMonkey]

 I had an Artic Cat 650XT until last fall, going to replace it with a Teryx 800.  Extremely handy for moving tools, saws, couple pails of oil, towed a decent sized wood wagon with it. All depends how much "Utility / Sport" you want, how big you wanna go. The off brand Chinese machines, odd makes / models I would stay right away from unless you can buy it right. Kawasaki, either the Teryx or Mule, Mules are about bulletproof with maintenance. The Yamaha Rhino isn't a bad machine. Whatever you find, Google the model / year and you can find out the good and bad on parts. 

[Dakota]

I have a Honda Pioneer.  They come in 500, 700 and 1,000 cc models. Tough, durable and dependable.

[mudfarmer]

We picked up a Kubota rtv900 diesel for about scrap price a few years ago. Not that much time and not much money and it has done a lot of work but still in relatively rough shape. Use it to pull cage totes of water and sap in the bed and on trailers, small trailer or bed loads of firewood/logs, haul tools and supplies around and a lot of other tasks. To Barge's point it is 100% utility 0% sport. Top speed around 20mph and it is very heavy. Not that great off road but fine on tractor trails. Manual dump bed is good for mulch, sawdust etc. We would not want to be without it now and had no idea how useful it would be. Good luck!

[sawguy21]

Don't try to save money with the Chinese clones, you WILL pay later. Talk to the dealers and see how comfortable you are with them regarding after sales support, that is more important than brand.

[upnut]

I have a Kubota RTV500 paired with a Sur-Trac 4X8 utility dump trailer. The Kubota bed carries saws, gas and oil, saw tool box, and assorted tools and chains etc. The trailer hauls anything you throw in it and is road worthy as well. Can't recommend either on soft ground, both will sink and rut things up. The trailer does not stockpile loads very well, but is still a labor saver in many ways. The Kubota is NOT a comfy trail machine, more like a two seater garden tractor. Still gets used almost every day.....



 



 

Scott B.

[thecfarm]

That looks like a nice rig to sneak in and out of the woods.

[Crusarius]

I happen to have a hisun 500. I disagree with the chinese stuff thoughts. Unfortunately, I have done some pretty surprising research to find my chinese yamaha rhino clone shares the exact same parts that most of the other mfr's do. It actually is the exact same thing as the cub cadet UTV.

I bought it for very reasonable, the only thing holding it together was 3" of mud. the entire front end was destroyed from 4 teenage boys that had no care for the poor thing. the wheel bearing had let go and the wheel rubbed on the knuckle till it wore thought to the point it broke.

My plan was to buy it for the drivetrain and build something else. I ended up buying $300 worth of parts to put it back together and I have never looked back. I absolutely love the machine. it has its quirks from being sunk in the swamp many times and flat out abused but it still runs good and is a lot more powerful than I ever expected.

I bought a 5' plow for it and have always been impressed with the amount of snow that thing will push going up and down my driveway which is 1/4 mile long with a 115' elevation gain. It tops out at about 40 mph on a good day with a tail wind but it has been a solid machine and I don't think I would ever want to be without it.

My only thing I would change is to not have a live  rear axle. I cannot drive through the grass and turn with the overly aggressive tires I put on it. at least not without leaving marks.

So in conclusion, as much as I hate the chinese, some things they do are good. and my Hisun is one of them.

[Ed]

I have a 2008 Ranger 6x6, somewhere in the 15000 mile range now. Used, not abused. Can't imagine how many cord of wood its hauled.
Its not been a trouble free machine, Polaris engineering leaves a lot to be desired. Vibration, undersize wiring and using atv componets are the big problems.
I won't buy another Polaris product. Next machine will probably be a Yamaha.

Ed

[Riwaka]

Kubota RTV probably if there is easy terrain etc. Heard of a US$5K service / fix cost recently on one UTV from one of the other big brands.

Avatar UTVs are used in NZ by some logging contractors as site transport and silvi for tree seedling planters and ladder pruning/ chainsaw thinning etc.

Made by the YTO subsidiary of the Sinomach company(chinese machinery etc conglomerate - small tractors to 30 tonne excavators).
Avatar UTVs use components from the Chinese automotive parts bin. galvanised subframe. Small diesel pickup rear diff, a few different engine types - one option a 3 cylinder diesel, car brakes, car front drive axles, cvt or manual/ foot clutch 5 speed. 50 mph top speed.
(website is a few years out of date, a few more recent entries on fb)
points of difference

[SwampDonkey]

I have a 2020 Ranger 570, I don't pull anything, just carry firewood in the bed. There's no way I'd want a trailer on my roly poly trails, nothing is dozed, just natural ground. I port about 10 cord of split firewood every year out of the woodlot to the pick up truck. The woodlot is 4 miles from the house. I can walk over the natural dips and mounds of the woods when placing the trails in the better locations. Used it the last 3 years and have hauled about 30 cords out. I corduroy wet places. No troubles. It will do what I need for years to come. There is a point when old age ends firewood cut'n even though the machine will still get there. :D

[Nebraska]

I have an old Hisun Big Muddy and can't complain,  it's been better than I expected. I bought a Honda Pioneer on the recommendation of my parts guy/motorcycle mechanic. He's an independent shop and that was the brand he thought was the most trouble free. It gets to live in the garage. The Chino is out in the shed.

[firefighter ontheside]

I have about a 2010 Kawasaki Mule 4010 4x4.  I use it for a little fun, but it is definitely more of a utility vehicle than a sport vehicle.  Top speed I believe is 23mph.  It has I believe about a 600cc water cooled motor.  I use it to carry lumber from the mill either in the 4' bed to stack or I tow a small trailer around.  I paid $4200 for it 4 years ago used.  Now the same machine is almost twice the money to buy.  Mine has a roof and I bought a cheap plastic windshield and zippered door cab enclosure for $40.  It has been great.  I intended to buy a real windshield for it this winter, but winter never arrived so I didn't bother.  I love having the thing.  I also use it to take out the trash.  Tom @Old Greenhorn uses a Mule extensively.

[Otis1]

I've got a 2015 Honda Pioneer 500. It's not gonna win any races, top speed is probably 35-40 and kinda scary at that speed. It is built to the same width as a 4 wheeler. The biggest benefit is that it fits through tight woods with or without a trail. Mine came with no accessories other than a winch. Built a bed and roof out of treated wood/ plywood. This machine will take a beating. Whichever UTV you decide on, get better tires right away. 

[stanwelch]

Another Honda pioneer here. Mine is a model 1000-5 which has 2 fold down rear seats which is handy trail riding with friends and grandkids. Most times have cargo box with liner set up to haul chainsaws, tools etc to sawmill or woods. 2018 purchase and drIven over 3000 miles. Very comfortable ride and 60-65 mph top speed when needed. Would definitely buy another. 

[bigblockyeti]

I started shopping for a Ranger crew in 2019 and had a pretty good idea of what I wanted as far as options and how it would work for me on my property after test driving a couple.  In 2020 one of the dealers called me as he had a couple zero option Ranger 1000 crew models for $12,800 each.  I should have jumped on it but ultimately decided it was more than I needed at the time and I had some investments competing with my discretionary spending money.  I think it would have been fun but I'm not sure how much work I would have gotten done with it.  I'm sure I could have sold it there after for more than I paid, especially since it wouldn't have been used much but it wouldn't have been for nearly the gains I ended up pursuing instead.

[RetiredTech]

  We have the Kubota RTV500 here. No wood lot yet, but its been a workhorse. Small enough to get through the woods without too much trouble. It's kinda on the light side. I once got stuck coming up a steep hill in the rain. It didn't dig in, just spun all the tires on top of the ground. Had to walk home that day. A couple days later I walked back and drove it out. I've used it to pull an 8' trailer loaded with firewood, drug trees up out of the woods with it. Nothing sporty about it. Only moves about 25mph top speed. It's over 10 years old now, but it's been rock solid dependable. I would buy it again. 

[Crusarius]

Kubota uses terrible tires. a good set of tires that thing would be unstoppable

[RetiredTech]

  Your probably right. The tires are all original and in pretty bad shape. I don't venture out in the rain much with it. I'm hoping they'll last a few more years.

[SwampDonkey]

If it is any consolation, Polaris uses crap ones to. I had good ones put on before I brought it home. It's the same with them all, even on pickup trucks, you pay big money and they send it to you with crap tires. I mean, overall, what are they saving? $400? And they'll only give you $50 a tire on exchange. To buy the same tire they want $125. The good ones are at least $225. You loose all the way around, except you got a better tire out of it, but had to pay $300 considering they low ball the original tire price. They know every way to skin a cat. :D

[wbrent]

Thanks all. Pressure is on now. Just sold my four wheeler so I'm wheel less. Hopefully not a long wait finding something somewhat local. 

[Walnut Beast]

You get what you pay for. If you think a Chinese special is as good as a name brand dream on. That's like saying my harbor freight is as good as my Timberking. 

[bigblockyeti]

You could use a bicycle and a small trailer if just carting stuff back and forth is the objective, lower maintenance and cost too.  You didn't mention the size of your woodlot or how far back and forth you'd be looking at traveling, a few hundred yards?  A couple miles?  I know exercise isn't particularly popular with everyone here but quite a bit can be hauled behind a bicycle with the right trailer and conditioning.

[711ac]

Beyond the way to numerous choices one fact seems to be universal. Once you have one of these, you'll wonder how you ever got by without one. 👍

[Tom K]

We have a Kawasaki Mule 600 that I've been real happy with. Picked it up used a couple years ago and it came with a front winch and upgrades rims & tires. Some parts of our woods always stay wet and I've only had to use the winch once to get out. When the going gets tough throw in the dif lock and it will claw through some stuff.

The bed isn't very big but you can get a decent amount of wood in if the tail gate is down and you stack it high. It's not fast or a powerhouse, but real reliable. I've pulled wagons and trailers around and it does ok. Ours gets used hard and has been reliable.