ATV versus UTV??

[hoosier daddy]

I know several of you use ATV's to collect firewood. I also know that there are several using a "Ranger" or similar UTV. I have convinced the wife that this "tool" is almost necessary to the harvest of firewood and since we have yet to light the LP furnace this year she's receptive...I don't really want to start a debate over the differences but if you can give me an idea of what you really like about ____ (insert your rig)___ and what you'd change if you could get a do over it would help me out. Right now I am thinking 500 or 800 Ranger but can see where an ATV could get through fence rows-woods a little easier. Most (80%) of what I cut is on my property or within 1 mile of the house. Very seldom get to fall anything a 20" bar can't make a single pass through and prefer to buck it and split it right there. will average 10 -12 cords a year...not a professional or making money...just heat.

Thanks in advance for the advice and life lessons.

HD

 

[TMFARM 2009]

personally i like the kubota brand utv my neighbor runs... with it , and a small trailer behind, it could haul a lot of wood at a time... i have heard the polaris is good also but have no experience with it.i have had atv's they wont haul as much, but dont cost as much either.... its all in what you want to best suit your needs... another good consideration is the bob cat tool cat. check it out before you buy.

 

[Guido Salvage]

Is there a reason an old $1000 4x4 truck or a small tractor with a loader would not work? For the money, I would want something more versatile than a ATV/UTV.

 

[komatsuvarna]

I have a 07 Ranger xp. Its about like everything else, it has pluses and minuses. All the UTVs take more room than a atv. I have a cab on my ranger and it does play a role in where you can go in the woods. That limb that you used to duck and go on under on the atv, cant do it anymore in the utv. They dont turn as sharp as an atv, but they still cut pretty deep.

IMO, the pluses of an utv out weight the negitive side. I can fit my family of 4 in the ranger....safely. Dont have to pull a trailer....which really helps in the woods. Has plenty of power if you did want to pull a trailer. Its more of a small truck than a atv i guess.

Not to start a war, but I had a kubota and didnt like it after I rode in a ranger. Leaf spring suspension rides WAY worse than a log truck. 22 mph top speed. In 4x4 only one front wheel pulls, and its the one with less weight and usually not touching the ground...because of the stiff springs. But, they have power dump!!

 

[Greenthorn]

I have had my Kawasaki Teryx about 3 years now, and it has been the greatest firewood machine for me. The biggest advantage is it's pulling logs, manual states 1200 tow limit. I have pulled logs up ravines and valleys on my land that would have just gone to fodder, I know I have pulled a 6,000 pound tractor up and over hills. I have pulled vehicles out of ditches and mud bogs in my area. So, it has got some real power it's a 840cc Big Block I installed myself. It will go 70 mph! The weight of the machine is close to 1,800 lbs, that has it's advantages and disadvantages. No, I can't get through a lot of 4 wheeler trails. I have spent over 2 years widening all my trails! It's been fun, oh yeah....I will never own a ATV again.

 

[wesgillock]

I love my Yamaha Rhino. Little (lot) expencive but I use for hunting also as can't walk woods and hills like I use to. Rhino has 3000lb winch I use to pull out logs I can't get to to cut up. |Super 4wd with high and low range and wheel lock where all four wheels pull like a tank. |Neeve been stuck where winch and saw couldn't get me out. The winch will hang it in a tree if you want. |Pull spliter behind and load as I split.

 

[TMFARM 2009]

i have also been looking at the miniature trucks.the ones from japan and china. they have fold down sides on some...but a good old toyota would do same work.probably cheaper too.

 

[svon89]

I like an atv because most of the places I can ride are narrow trails.
That said, I have no experience with utvs. But have often thought about the cost of a nice utv and compared it to a small kubota tractor with loader. That is another topic though.

 

[msvold]

I've got a Polaris Sportsman 700 ATV that I purchased in 06, at the time believing I would use it for 50/50 work-play, 4 years later it gets used 99/1 work-play. Make no mistake, I'm very happy with the ATV, however if doing again, I would have gone the UTV route. As you mention it is a tool not a toy. At times I pull the splitter, and other times I pull a trailer without brakes. Going down some of the hills especially in fall and spring when ground is wet, pulling a trailer loaded with firewood can be tricky, think we all understand laws of physics- 1000 lb trailer pushing down hill a 700lb ATV.
The good is the ATV is very nimble and quick and I can often make numerous light load runs quicker than I can make same runs with a heavy load on a compact tractor.
Hope I gave you a little of what you were looking for. I'm 47 years old, but the kid in me wanted to get a toy, the reality is I needed a tool. If I were to do it again, i would go the UTV route. If I had the cash, I would go with a diesel Bobcat ToolCat with a hydraulic dump bed.

 

[bundysgn]

i've had 2 polaris sportsman 4 wheeler that were great wood haulers. you can use them like a skidder if you like. but i have found something way better. it is a polaris ranger. it is a 2010 xp le 800. you can haul a lot more wood with it if you stack it to the top of the roll cage.it has seating for 3 plus alot of storage space. it has true 4 wheel drive,high and low range in the tranny. it is a little pricey but it will do way more than atv will. i use mine on the farm almost everyday.

 

[TMFARM 2009]

ok just spend $15000.00 on a bob cat tool cat with loader and pallet forks...lol it would be the cool thing to have.you can even get a glass sided cab for it to stay warm.... if price wasn't an option i would just buy a feller buncher...lol

 

[stihl_in_texas]

My old man bought a 2wd Gator three or four years back. It was probably the cheapest out of the bunch with no kind of extras. It had a straight rear axle and that made it ride rougher than my one ton pick up. He recently sold it to a neighbor and bought the 4x4 680 with a "hydraulic" dump bed. I'll say it's a 1000% improvement. Four wheel independent suspension makes it ride like a dream. Not as fast as the Rhino but it's fast enough especially for him. If I had my choice between that and my old Yamaha atv, I'd have to go with the Gator. More versatile, easier and safer to take passengers, and a beverage holder to keep from spilling your beer.
One more thing that's been mentioned about a UTV being too wide for ATV trails. Some friends went to Colorado this past year elk hunting and took their Rangers with them. They were told by the game warden they weren't legal to use on the ATV trails because of their width.

Steve

 

[nba123]

Sir my opinion is the kabota is the best quality but rides ruff as hell and is heavy the ranger is inbetween fun and work the rino is more play than work, and for what you will spend on these, and if you are serious about getting wood u should look at a used skid steer I could collect more wood with my skid steer and root grapple than 3 of those other things with hard working men running them. Granted u cant go 30 mph but were talking about wood collecting. I have fun running it. I didnt read all the post so I might have missed the part where u wanted to go trail rideing.

 

[dave_dj1]

I have a Teryx and have had 4 wheelers all of my life, I will NEVER go back to a 4 wheeler....period!! I have been places with my Teryx that I wouldn't even think of going on a 4 wheeler. You won't be sorry with a utv, work and play, I hauled 3 loads on the back with tailgate down the other day, as much as I could pile in and no problems.
I have had more people tell me how I can't go because of the size..BULL, after I go they are simply amazed.
If you have a use for a utv, get one, you won't regret it. I'm not especialy brand specific, the last four 4 wheelers I had were Polaris' , I just prefer bucket seats and found the RZR to be too small for me, I'm 6-2, 250 ish...lol
good luck and enjoy whatever you get.

 

[loadthestove]

I have a cub cadet big country that i purchased new in 04.I honestly dont know how I ever lived without it.It has a little bigger bed than most but top speed is only 28-30 mph.I added a hydraulic bed dump and winch.I hope I never have to do without it.
As mentioned most UTVS are much larger than an AtV but I;m usually working around our own place so making trails WIDER has never been a problem.
As for brand,I'll not go there,IMO they are all good.dependability and longevity just depends on how you treat it and how its serviced

 

[bluestem]

I have used the Kubota UTV, and both the Polaris Sportsman 6x6, and the Polaris Ranger 6x6. If you are traveling through any wet ground at all you will, I repeat you will get the Kubota stuck, it weighs about as much as my little car. The Ranger 6x6 is what I plan on getting in a few years when our useless gator dies, it as a large bed for lots of wood and turns almost as well as the 4x4. If you decide on an ATV I would definitely look at the Sportsman Bigboss 6x6, it has a little bed on the back and turns pretty well. We drive through alot of wet, mucky ground at work and these machines are hard to get stuck.

 

[cedarman]

I use my polaris atv for dragging 24"+ logs out the woods to be bucked and split.

Its nice for getting in narrow trails and has plenty of power.

the utv would be nice for carrying splits in the back bed, chainsaws, etc. but they just seem to bulky for me to manuver in and out of the woods. plus theyre sloooooooooooow compared to an atv.

my next rig is going to be a used compact tractor w/ a bucket, pto, and 3 point hitch.

 

[hoosier daddy]

Thanks for the input so far...

Just to clearify...I don't plan on trail riding...don't even know where to do that. It will be used as a tool...sure hope I can find the time to "play" with it and then we will see...

 

[Racerboy832]

I have the Polaris 500 Sportsman 6X6. It's basically an ATV with extra drive axle and a dump bed. I use the living sheet out of it. I've moved alot of dirt with it. Tons of loads of wood. It fits in the back of my Toyota pickup with the rear wheels barely on the tailgate. I plow it to, foot of snow is no problem. I Personally do not like polaris's but I picked it up as a trade in at a dealer I work with. It was the best money spent. The are called the Polaris Big Boss also. I would love a Rhino but they are too wide for a Bridge I made and it would be like having to deal with another car. I can park the 6X6 under the deck.

 

[atvdave]

A lot depends on how densely your wood growth is. If you have open fields to access your downed trees then a old beat up puck up will do just fine, If the woods are a bit open (but too small for a pick-up) with a lot of room to get turned around then a ATV with a trailer will do fine also. However if your woods are thick with small narrow trails and hard to get turned around in then I would think a UTV would fit you better.

I have thick woods and tried to use a tractor a few times buy pulling out the tree to my barn to cut up. This was a big pain as the chain, and log would get hung up on just about everything trying to get it out of the woods. I just started to cut up the trunk on-site and haul the pre-cut timber to my splitter area with my UTV. Made things a lot easer, faster, and less of a pain on my back.

Just my $.02

Good luck
Dave