Time for a side by side/UTV

[JMJ Farms]

Can't go wrong with ranger, kubota, or Kawasaki. They'll be as good to you as you are to them. Unless you get a lemon, but I haven't seen any lemons personally and everyone around here except me has one of the three. I still use an old beat up Honda 4wheeler. Had a ranger a few years ago and loved it. Bought it used, kept it two years, sold it for the same thing I paid for it and just never have found another deal.

Mr. Russell has the rig.

Heck yeah. But that's a lot of dough! But it's the trick for fooling with the cows. It could use another 5 mph to help at times but all in all I think it's an awesome machine.

 

[lavacarancher]

I have a Mule 3010 that has been fairly good except have to rebuild the carb every 6 months or so. Guess that's a gas problem more than a Kawasaki problem. If I had to do it over again I would probably go for a used Jeep and a golf cart.

 

[millstreaminn]

I've got a 4010 mule that has a 25 gallon sprayer mounted in the bed. It's got 10' fold out booms for spraying 2-4D and a wand to spray brush and fence rows. A handy machine and pretty heavy duty. Also have a Kubota 400. Smaller machine than the Kawasaki and I keep the fencing tub in the back all summer. It's my go to machine when I just wanna hop on and go check hay, cows etc. Also have a gas golf cart. It gets around pretty good, but I always end up somewhere with it that I shouldn't be. That's when I wished I'd have taken one of the heavier 4X4's. I bought all of them all used from individuals so no sales tax.

 

[Brute 23]

I have a Mule 3010 that has been fairly good except have to rebuild the carb every 6 months or so. Guess that's a gas problem more than a Kawasaki problem. If I had to do it over again I would probably go for a used Jeep and a golf cart.

Rebuild the carbs ever 6 months..... clean or rebuild? What part is failing every 6 mo?

 

[J&D Cattle]

I bought a John Deere Gator 825i a year ago and love it. Handiest thing on the farm. Budget may prevent it but power steering would be a huge bonus especially for somebody older.

 

[pdubdo]

I asked a similar question here last year-that post is somewhere. I ended up with a Kubota 400 and it's perfect. Not over-powered but can go through a creek/up a muddy hill no problem. The mules drive a little faster/more aggressively, so my Kubota is great for my 13 year old--I want him going slower. As far as the off-road golf cart goes, I took my wife to drive both. She felt a lot safer and more stable in the Kubota. So UTV costs more, but that's how I made my choice.

 

[TCRanch]

I bought a John Deere Gator 825i a year ago and love it. Handiest thing on the farm. Budget may prevent it but power steering would be a huge bonus especially for somebody older.

Never had power steering until the one I got last year (Polaris) and won't get another one without it. Define "older"

 

[Bigfoot]

Finally got a minute to read these. A golf cart with a lift, and ATV tires, might be all he needs. If you went that route, a chuck wagon type might be a better option. Once youve spent that much, you might as well move up to the Kubota 400, or the smaller CC ranger. Is my thinking flawed?

 

[millstreaminn]

Lifted golf carts with ATV wheels run about 3K around here. I paid less than 6K for my Kubota used. Is the Kubota twice the machine my golf cart is? Yes.

 

[True Grit Farms]

We have golf carts and they are handy and reasonable priced used. But the front ends wear out rather quickly with all the bumps and holes. A John Deere turf gator is a lot better than a golf cart for close to the same $money, and they can climb a hill.

 

[Bigfoot]

We have golf carts and they are handy and reasonable priced used. But the front ends wear out rather quickly with all the bumps and holes. A John Deere turf gator is a lot better than a golf cart for close to the same $money, and they can climb a hill.

I din't realize they still made those. I'll check it out.

 

[OleScout]

My 80 year old parents bought a Gator TS last week. $8600 OTD with brush guard, receiver hitch on both ends and electric dump. TS is the basic old Gator. Easy for the old folks to get in and out of, simple controls and steers easy. Won't go fast enough to be too unstable, would take extreme angle to rollover.
I've had one for 10 years and can't imagine a farm without one. One cyl engine, not a lot of power but It pulls itself with me and a load of range meal and will drag a feeder box from pasture to pasture.

 

[ChrisB]

My brother bought a new Arctic Cat Prowler(?) last fall and loves it. He was at an implement dealer a couple weeks ago and was waiting and looking at the Exmark(?) UTV's they had on the lot and they were identical to his Cat. He looked into them a bit and found that Arctic Cat makes them for Exmark, and they were $3000 cheaper than what my brother paid. Still a lot of money, but Cats are somewhat popular around here and have a decent reputation.

 

[Rafter S]

I've seen several people recommend Kawasaki. We have 2 of them at work (maybe 6-8 years old?) and they've always been hard to start when the engine is cold. Apparently they aren't all like that, but those 2 are.

 

[Brute 23]

We have golf carts and they are handy and reasonable priced used. But the front ends wear out rather quickly with all the bumps and holes. A John Deere turf gator is a lot better than a golf cart for close to the same $money, and they can climb a hill.

We have a golf cart at the ranch and it's fine for the yard or back and forth to the barn. It's a rough sob in the pasture and will wear you out.

I agree on those old gators. They are reasonably priced, very durable and capable machine. My buddies dad had one with the tandem rear axles that we use to hunt out of. It was flat out abused. We called it the tank.

X2 on the power steering. I'm not buying another one with out it.

 

[dun]

I have a Mule 3010 that has been fairly good except have to rebuild the carb every 6 months or so. Guess that's a gas problem more than a Kawasaki problem. If I had to do it over again I would probably go for a used Jeep and a golf cart.

We've got a 3010 that I use for pulling trailers and mounting my boom sprayer on. Also have it set up with a calf hutch for hauling calves in from the field when needed. The idle adjustment on it was set for the EPA emissions crap. The head mech at Kawasaki told me how to fix that and haven;t had any issues with it since.
Also have a 610, just got a new one to replace the old one. That's the one that I hop on most if I just have to go somewhere that doesn;t require heavy loads, etc., only one the wife likes to drive

 

[lavacarancher]

I have a Mule 3010 that has been fairly good except have to rebuild the carb every 6 months or so. Guess that's a gas problem more than a Kawasaki problem. If I had to do it over again I would probably go for a used Jeep and a golf cart.

Rebuild the carbs ever 6 months..... clean or rebuild? What part is failing every 6 mo?

I suppose I would call it a rebuild. I remove the carb, tear it down, soak it in carb cleaner and put it all back together. It works until the idle (low speed) circuit gets clogged up with aluminum oxide and dirt then repeat. My fuel supplier either can't or won't supply me with ethanol free fuel so I'm kinda stuck. I have had to replace the carb twice due to internal corrosion, at least that's what the dealer told me. Since I started doing my own work on it I have not had to replace it but I am seeing corrosion starting to eat at it.

 

[M-5]

I have a Mule 3010 that has been fairly good except have to rebuild the carb every 6 months or so. Guess that's a gas problem more than a Kawasaki problem. If I had to do it over again I would probably go for a used Jeep and a golf cart.

Rebuild the carbs ever 6 months..... clean or rebuild? What part is failing every 6 mo?

I suppose I would call it a rebuild. I remove the carb, tear it down, soak it in carb cleaner and put it all back together. It works until the idle (low speed) circuit gets clogged up with aluminum oxide and dirt then repeat. My fuel supplier either can't or won't supply me with ethanol free fuel so I'm kinda stuck. I have had to replace the carb twice due to internal corrosion, at least that's what the dealer told me. Since I started doing my own work on it I have not had to replace it but I am seeing corrosion starting to eat at it.

Iirc a high quality marine filter system helps combat the problem with e fuel

 

[Brute 23]

I have a Mule 3010 that has been fairly good except have to rebuild the carb every 6 months or so. Guess that's a gas problem more than a Kawasaki problem. If I had to do it over again I would probably go for a used Jeep and a golf cart.

Rebuild the carbs ever 6 months..... clean or rebuild? What part is failing every 6 mo?

I suppose I would call it a rebuild. I remove the carb, tear it down, soak it in carb cleaner and put it all back together. It works until the idle (low speed) circuit gets clogged up with aluminum oxide and dirt then repeat. My fuel supplier either can't or won't supply me with ethanol free fuel so I'm kinda stuck. I have had to replace the carb twice due to internal corrosion, at least that's what the dealer told me. Since I started doing my own work on it I have not had to replace it but I am seeing corrosion starting to eat at it.

I believe they sell ethanol free gas at the yoakum airport. They have a website with all the places that sell ethanol free fuel.

 

[lavacarancher]

Thanks for the tip, Brute. I buy gas and diesel in bulk and have it delivered to my tanks. Using e-free gas would help a lot - I think. M-5, I've got a marine filter, brand new , never installed. I have wanted to install it either on the mule or the mower, or both. Maybe that would help. I have a filters on both gas and diesel storage tanks.