ATV's

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I have a 1998 Kodiak that has spent most of its 5000 miles pulling a 150 gallon sprayer with a 40 foot boom. Tough little machine. We'll worth the money if you find a decent one.
I've had 4 of these now, I have a 98 350 with 5000 miles in nice shape.. 2 of my parts units died from transmission failures, one would pop out of every gear except 4th, the other only has 2 gears, 4th and 5th I think, first one sounds like a snap ring came off, other sounds like a bent shift rod or something. Both the engines run great.. Carbs are a little finnicky, especially if they've been abandoned for 10 years and you gotta try and clean all the goop out of them. They're good workhorses though.. Most I ever paid for one was $1000, got one for $500 and two for $100 each
 
I've had 4 of these now, I have a 98 350 with 5000 miles in nice shape.. 2 of my parts units died from transmission failures, one would pop out of every gear except 4th, the other only has 2 gears, 4th and 5th I think, first one sounds like a snap ring came off, other sounds like a bent shift rod or something. Both the engines run great.. Carbs are a little finnicky, especially if they've been abandoned for 10 years and you gotta try and clean all the goop out of them. They're good workhorses though.. Most I ever paid for one was $1000, got one for $500 and two for $100 each
How come you won't tell us what happened with the dog?
 
I've had 4 of these now, I have a 98 350 with 5000 miles in nice shape.. 2 of my parts units died from transmission failures, one would pop out of every gear except 4th, the other only has 2 gears, 4th and 5th I think, first one sounds like a snap ring came off, other sounds like a bent shift rod or something. Both the engines run great.. Carbs are a little finnicky, especially if they've been abandoned for 10 years and you gotta try and clean all the goop out of them. They're good workhorses though.. Most I ever paid for one was $1000, got one for $500 and two for $100 each
New carbs are about $50 online, or were a couple years ago when I bought a new one.
 
We've had two polaris rangers, both bought used. A 2011 and a 2018. We retired the 2011 with 14,000 miles when the second engine went out. Bad air box design like someone said. It has too much else wrong with it to keep throwing money at it. It's been replaced with a cheep project Kawasaki mule that was bought only running on one cylinder. Still chasing that problem.

The 2018 Polaris ranger was bought with 2k miles on it. has 12,000 now. It's had 2 sets of wheel bearings, 2 sets of front A-arm bushings, new rack and pinion and tie rods, 2 fuel pumps and two belts. The steering parts were part wear and part the rubber went bad on the rack a pinon letting dirt eat it up. Not very happy about the fuel pumps going out, although I was able to limp it home about 5 mph both times. The belts were from driving too fast for two long. Seems the bearings always go out in the spring when there is lots of water crossings happening.

All in all it's been an ok machine. I wish the bearings were better, that's a job I don't enjoy. But it does have a pretty hard life.

Take away is the bearing don't like much stuff in the bed or water crossings.
All expenses included(parts, gas, interest, depreciation), it's costing a little less than a $1 per mile. Not sure a pickup could cover those same miles for the same price. And I know I would have stuck the pickup alot in those same miles.
 
I heard mixed reviews about the aftermarket ones
Ya if you buy oem it's good but the cheap ones are jetted wrong some times.

I bought a rancher and prairie this past year that needed carb work. I just bought oem rebuild kits.

I'm working on another guy with a prairie that says... it never runs right... says Kawies are junk.😏
 
I have a kubota X900 and a much older rtv 1140. I love them but really don't have anything much to comment on if they are better or worse since I have never owned the others.
The 1140 seemed to be the best machine for me when I bought it in 2008. I was satisfied and bought the x900 two years ago. The old machine is used for much of the farm work while the newer machine is for light work, cow checking and beer drinking.
They are very reliable machines. The 1140 has had the front ev joints replaced and one part of the muffler pipe. I am not sure how many miles it has but a decent guess would be 9000. The x-900 has 3000 so far and has been trouble free. When miles are divided by hours, my average speed is only 5MPH thus the guess on the old one.
Skid plates were mentioned above and they both have steel ones. The x-900 is a two part plate where you have to remove the smaller part to change the oil. Not a biggee, 6 bolts.
The plates do have a lot of holes in them for drainage and cooling I guess and these do allow a lot of dirt and grass to accumulate. They are both fairly easy to work on and the owners manual is very good telling you what to do.

They are slow machines which really doesn't matter to me. I ain't in no hurry. I think the newer one is governed down so it doesn't have to have the cheesy doors they put on some machines. Top speed is about 25 MPH
The motors are durable Kubota diesels and are bullet proof and seem like they will far outlast the rest of the machines. No oil leaks on either.
They are not recreation vehicles, more like small trucks for farm work. I notice that the rental companies have fleets of them for their industrial and construction customers.
The big solar farm near me rented 8 of them while the farm was being built.
 
We've got a Ranger and I ran a limb through the floorboard this past winter, will definitely get your attention! I've got some old scraps of diamond plate laying around that I plan to make skid plates out of, one of these days.....
One time when I was active duty army I had a broken-ended limb come in through the small window on a deuce and a half and pop me right above the eye as we were cruising. That got my attention, fully. In fact, I could hardly focus on anything else other than laughing.
 
I heard mixed reviews about the aftermarket ones
Ya if you buy oem it's good but the cheap ones are jetted wrong some times.

I bought a rancher and prairie this past year that needed carb work. I just nought oem rebuild kits.

I'm working on another guy with a prairie that says... it never runs right... says Kawies are junk.😏
 
Which ATV can carry the most beer?
That's a good question Shaz. Back in 2008 when I bought the Kubota RTV 1140, the choices were not very good. Mules were available but only in gasoline and to get a hydraulic tilt bed , you had to use aftermarket parts. One thing I liked about the 1140 was the back seats would fold up and make a huge bed. Its still way bigger than most and very handy when carrying a welder, torch and other stuff needed to build fence or to bring home a dead deer. And yes it will hold a very large ice chest for your beverages. The 1140 was a new model about that time and had some issues like the radiator being in a bad spot and the emergencey brake handle right where you scooted onto the seat. These have been cleaned up with the newer models.
 
That's a good question Shaz. Back in 2008 when I bought the Kubota RTV 1140, the choices were not very good. Mules were available but only in gasoline and to get a hydraulic tilt bed , you had to use aftermarket parts. One thing I liked about the 1140 was the back seats would fold up and make a huge bed. Its still way bigger than most and very handy when carrying a welder, torch and other stuff needed to build fence or to bring home a dead deer. And yes it will hold a very large ice chest for your beverages. The 1140 was a new model about that time and had some issues like the radiator being in a bad spot and the emergencey brake handle right where you scooted onto the seat. These have been cleaned up with the newer models.
The Mule had diesels and the trans bed way before that.

Those RTV1140s were dogs with the hydrostatic trans. They still are.

Put one in sand and they will break your heart.
 
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Your right of course. I guess I should have said they were not available at least where I was at according to the dealer. As far as performance in sand, I have no clue. I don't live on the beach.
 

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