utility vehicle comparison

[Cat287B]

This is the first site that came up using "diesel auxiliary heater" in a google search: http://www.espar.com/html/products/airheaters.html I'm not familiar with this brand, so I can neither endorse nor condemn it.

I looked at that website and it looks like the guy still suffers from "frigid wife syndrome".

 

[buckfever]

I know this is a little extreem but I remember my dad having a off-road vehical that had 3 wheels on each side and counter rotated like a skid-steere to turn. It was all so amphibeous (sp?). I think I remember seeing ones that were 8 wheel drive also. If you could ever go farther off the deep end how about a snow cat with a flat bed. It's got everything you want good heater and can go anywhere.

 

[crewchief888]

maybe you should "step up" a little from a utility type vehicle to something like a toolcat 5600 or 5610.
both have aux hyd and the 5610 has a rear 3pt hitch

:drinkup

 

[woodfirst]

The Ranger is the way to go for your application. Belt failure is not an issue unless you are consistently towing over 1500 lbs in difficult terrain. Have one in a comercial application and it has been bullet proof. It will seat 3 across and is the largest UTV out there. The Kubotas are great on flat ground but get stuck in any mud, have no ground clearance and are slow and clumsy. As someone said earlier the drivetrain is a B series Hydrostatic tractor so they are build rugged but will get stuck very easily with approx 5 inches of ground clearance

 

[ryerse1]

would not buy any thing with a snowmobile clutch that grinds gears when shifting(gator)

 

[firetruck dvr.]

Govnernment agency I work for has 6 rangers and I buy belts by the CASE! They tow nothing but I replace probally 2 a month on average. We have a bid out for 4 new Kubotas and I CANT WAIT TILL THEY SHOW UP!

 

[wnydirtguy]

you could look into the Bobcat toolcarrier or Asv made a track utility machine. Don't have any have experience with either one. The Bobcat has a boom on the front you can put attachments on like forks or a bucket. both have aux hydros. one of the local snowmobile clubs used an ASV to groom the trails. hope this helps u some.

 

[aknome]

Expensive but you're done being stuck and cold.

http://www.landtamer.com/

 

[Scrub Puller]

Yair . . . Randy88. Do you blokes have the little Suzuki Jimny available over there? One of those little jiggers with big tyres and maybe a lift kit will go most anywhere a vehicle could be reasonably expected to go.

I used to cross country in the earlier Siera's into some of the most remote country in Australia and they have never failed me yet.

Cheers.

 

[Randy88]

Thanks for the imput guys, I've never heard of most of the last ones mentioned, but I'll check them out to see what if any will do what I want done. We've not decided on anything yet, I have driven most of them out there though, some have promise, others we've ruled out already.

 

[hougie]

I'd Go with kubota, there quite popular around here. And i believe that offer everything you want from the cab to the auxilery hydraulics. Also kubotas make a very durable product. Have 3 big diesel mowers at work and they run like swiss watches.

 

[Scrub Puller]

Yair . . . this Zuke is worked over a bit but you can see the potential. Street legal with all the goodies.

http://thumbsnap.com/3DJtv00n

Cheers,

 

[Taylortractornu]

I dont think you would like the Kubota. Im a Kubota person but my neighbor has one and its too heavey. He has a large hunting club and more than onece Ive had to got fetch the RTV with my 2wheel drive 30 hp tractor. I have a friend that has a SUbaru mini truck that was imported with 4 wheel drive and a rear locker and a dump. He added atv tires to it an its got a heater. A friend of mine just had me build a grapple fork for his company Tool cat. I cant wait to try it out.

 

[truckboy1]

I think you are looking to use your device in the incorrect way. If you strategy to take something get a tractor. They are not designed well enough to use it for what you recommended.

 

[Randy88]

Anybody know anything about a kawasaki diesel engine in their side by side, I've located a used side by side with a rebuilt diesel engine, the clutch assembly has been rebuilt and has a full cab with heater, once its put together I can demo it. They claim it has sleeves and is rebuildable which they just did, a complete overhaul. Its never been used for much of anything but for a university to do grounds maintenance with and pick up sticks, it never had a plow or anything on it, they claim it'll carry 1000 lbs and still tow another 1400 lbs which sounds somewhat far fetched to me, but way more than I need anyhow, its a mule a 3010 I think, anyone with any experience with them?

 

[Rangerider1]

I don't know if you have found the vehicle you want yet, so I will go ahead and recommend Kubota. I have a range land weed spraying business here in Montana, and am in some very rough country. I owned a 900 with hard cab and heater for 6 years, and had 1500 hours on it. I consistently had over 1000lbs on it (100 gallon tank and 200 plus pounds of other equipment). after 6 years i traded it in on the 1100 just because the cab was starting to go to pieces. the cab on the 900 is made by Curtis cabs, which makes cabs for almost all the utv manufacturers. Mostly the doors were cracking. It was kind of a bad design and I think they have a new design now. I have only had the 1100 since this spring, but I love it. The factory cab is tight, the heater and air conditioner both work great. Can you get stuck? you bet ya. but it has to be pretty boggy or deep snow and mud. most of the time I don't even leave much of a rut due to the wide tires. As for the Kawasaki 3010, I had one and it couldn't take the pounding. wheel bearing went out, it also had a transmission problem. I never even got to spray with it, this all happened just running it around my grandparents ranch. As for getting the kubota to coast, I guess I would say that takes away from what it is designed to do. You should rarely have to use the brakes with a Kubota, as all you speed adjustments are done with the accelerator. it might take a couple of days to get used to but otherwise it works great. Also, my granddad has a 900 with almost 4000 hours. had to have axle u-joints redone i think twice, at about $300 a time, mostly labor. The replacement u-joint is able to be greased, which if you are in a lot of mud and water might be a good thing. His got used in the corrals in 5 or 6 inches of manure at times and almost never got stuck as there is a solid base under it. But most of the time it rode on top, even with six or eight hundred pounds of hay in the back. In all, I don't know that there is a utv out there with a better cab than the 1100, and the 900 has as good of a cab as any of the rest of them. It has a hydraulic dump bed, and it has hydraulic fittings for other tools. However, if you are really going to utilize the hydraulics, you should get one equipped with a hydraulic oil cooler. It does only have a bench seat and only has a max speed of 25 mph. One last thing, just my experience, but a dealer who deals with construction or ag a lot has much better and quicker service than a dealer who mostly deals with sports type enthusiasts. Maybe it is just the ones I've dealt with though. I lost a whole summer of spraying with the Kawasaki because I took it to two different dealerships and the first dinked around for a month and totally ruined the transmission after putting it together and taking it apart twice. The second did a better job but it still took two weeks. The one time I had trouble with my 900, I got it back in 3 days from the Kubota dealership. Just a different service mindset. Hopefully this helps, if you are still looking.

 

[Rangerider1]

One other thing about the heater on the kubota, it works pretty well, but on the 900s it doesn't defrost very well. in the right conditions it will have trouble getting rid of condensation on the insides of the windows. Not sure what temps you are working in, but we had the most trouble in wet snowy 28 to 40 degree weather with the defrost thing. just annoying to have to be wiping the insides of the windows all the time.

 

[Phill]

Might want to check to see if the AC comes on with the defrost. I am not surr but i know my last few cars had that option. and it worked great on getting the condinsation out of the air.

 

[Randy88]

Thanks rangerider, no we haven't bought one yet, the kawasaki is still there, I never demo'd it, we had a bad fall and so many unexpected expenses I ran out of my funds set aside for this project, we did demo the kubota and it was by far the roughest riding unit out there, it actually shocked us as to just how much we were jarred around in it, to the point of what we do and how we operate it over chisel plowed ground, I'm not sure we could handle being tossed around like a rock in a tin can all day long, otherwise it was a nice well built unit.

I think the kubota was the best built utv we looked at, the polaris was the roomiest and best ride, also the fastest, not that we do much speed or thats a big plus, most of the time its sitting idling anyhow, the gator is the most sure footed, fairly good ride but cramped for us to sit in and carry anything in the cab and the kawaski, we never ran it anywhere but the dealership. I'm not sure how anyone could sit in the kubota running over chisel plowed frozen ground and or over frozen ruts in the field and have any part of their body not bruised and banged up beyond recognition, it was our only single complaint, even the dealer made comment it was the only downfall of the machine and largest complaint, if your on solid smooth ground I'd say its by far the best machine out there, if your on rougher ground, I"m not sure about one. I have had several kubota engines over the years in machines and think they are pretty bullet proof units, all the rest of the makers, I"m not so sure of, I"ve had several kawasaki gas engines and they were all junk in my opinion, we never could keep them running ever, but I'd never tried a diesel engine of thier make before.

We have even looked at a few of the willies jeeps as of lately, the older military version with the four banger in them, haven't done anything about it yet, just looking and wondering.

 

[Rangerider1]

Ya, can't say I have ever spent the whole day running over that kind of ground. The ground I go over usually doesn't have the bumps all spaced out perfectly like farmed ground would. I also usually have at least a couple hundred pounds in the back, which makes a difference. which did you demo? I know the 900 was definitely rougher than the 1100. Cheaper to buy though, which I know is always a consideration. I do think the Kawasaki diesel is a very good engine, but they have about the same suspension as the Kubota, unless they changed it since my 3010. Well, I hope business picks up for you and keep looking for the right fit. One persons treasure is anothers junk and vice versa.