ATV versus UTV??

[rmount]

I have both a Polaris 250 Trailboss 4x4 ATV and a JD Gator XUV. The ATV is definitely more nimble and able to squeeze through trail-less bush, unless the trailer is on. But on the trails, or slightly off them like backing along a tree you've dropped and split, the Gator is great. I cut on our own place and across the road on my in-laws. When we got the Gator I thought I might have to widen some trails but over several mile of trails I only had to cut out 4 or 5 trees in spots that were fender scrapers for the ATV.
If I could only have one it would be the Gator. Its main pluses are:
-Built in box, no need to tow a trailer (although I have used it to tow a 4x4x8 trailer full of firewood).
-More comfortable ride, sit back and steer with one hand and a beer in the other
- Safe space for a passenger, important to me.
- Box easily holds 6 or 7 grandkids, also important to me.

 

[Guido Salvage]

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...

You answered your own question. Get a small tractor with a loader and 3 point hitch, I suspect you will find more uses for that then an ATV/UTV. No need to go 70 in the woods to get a load of wood.

 

[jcappe]

My Experience

We use to have a Polaris Ranger we got rid of it and now have a Cub Cadet Volunteer. The Ranger was a little more "plush" but the Cub is more of what I would call a work horse. I still have a Polaris ATP quad that I use as well. The ATV is quicker, more agile and easier to get around in. I use both to pull my log arch depending on where I'm getting wood from. If I'm going to get stuff out of the woods that is already bucked up I use the UTV, if I'm hauling logs with the arch I usually use the ATV because it's just easier to get around in the woods with. If I had to pick one of them to have solely I would pick a UTV. As far as brands both that I've had (Polaris, Cub) they both have their plus and minus factors but the plus out bid the minus on both. Don't have any pics of the cub in use yet but maybe this weekend if I get out to cut. Either way good luck with your purchase.

 

[hoosier daddy]

You answered your own question. Get a small tractor with a loader and 3 point hitch, I suspect you will find more uses for that then an ATV/UTV. No need to go 70 in the woods to get a load of wood.

I have a small tractor-loader and a large tractor-loader...they both work fine in some cases but not all cases...Thanks though.

 

[Cowboy Billy]

I have a 2002 Kodiak 400 and a 2008 Kawasaki mule 3010 diesel. And they both have there place. But the atv is usually just used to ride around in now. Or when its really wet or muddy.

The two things I like best about it are that you can just jump in and don't have to climb on. And I can drive it on the road and don't have to have a helmet on.

We mainly got it because dad was having a hard time getting on and off of the fourwheeler. We got the two bench seat model and can easily seat five adults when we all go out. But we can fold up the back seat and extend the bed giving us a lot more room. It can carry 1100lbs with the back seat folded up.

Its always been a pain to tie the saw down on the atv. With the utv I just through them in the bed and don't have to worry about it as well as carrying a lot of tools. I usually take at least two saws with me and a milk crate with mis stuff with me and its not a problem. It is a lot heavier that a atv and when it get stuck its Stuck! I replaced the stock little batter with a optima and it starts better in cold weather than my car. Its also rated to pull a 1500 lb trailer.

My three biggest complaints of it are. It doesn't have any engine braking going down hill and starts to free wheel after 10 to 15 feet. Maybe I am used to power brakes but they seem wimpy. And there is no locking front diff.

Two person with the bed extended

Four person with the bed short.

If the with is important they do make narrower models that fit in the back of a pickup that are only a few inches wider than a atv.

With that said a compact tractor with FEL is the best way to go to get work done. I have B21 kubota 21hp and get a lot out of it. I feel its a little small and only picks up 930lbs and would not be able to handle that if it didn't have the backhoe on it. A tractor with a 1500lb lift cap and grapple bucket would be about perfect for working and still small and nimble getting around in the woods. I have a 90 hp kubota and endloader it will lift 3900 lbs but I can't move around in the woods with it.

And you will find a lot more uses for it than just moving wood. We got the B21 for about $ 2000 more used than I paid for the mule new.

Billy

 

[flewism]

You answered your own question. Get a small tractor with a loader and 3 point hitch, I suspect you will find more uses for that then an ATV/UTV. No need to go 70 in the woods to get a load of wood.

Yep, That would be the best general work machine for around the property including firewood gathering/processing in my opinion also.
I've thought about a UTV myself, as we have three ATV's all utility, 4x4, one Foreman 450 and a pair of TRX 300's. I've considered replacing the ATV's with a UTV with a box for medium duty stuff, and tooling around the neighborhood.
The 4x4 compact tractor with loader is what I use for gathering processing firewood in the local vicinity.
If I was buying my first machine for general property work including firewood, it would be the tractor/loader.
Price wise looking at the heavy duty UTV's new, you are over 2/3 of the way there on a top of the line compact.

 

[nickblaze466]

I have a little bit of each of these around my place.

like everyone says, four wheelers are far more nimble and agile than a UTV. You're pretty much stuck using a log arch or a small trailer to get wood out though, so all in all I don't think there is much gain here. if you go this route, I would not even consider looking at anything under 500cc.

I have a couple UTV's, used gators and polar rangers - all that stuff...they are nice but I can't get over how much money they want for one of those things new. I have 3 used cushman trucksters and i could not ask for anything better - well, 4x4 would be nice, but other than that...

i have a couple compact tractors, a john deere, a ford 6000 and a farmall cub. the ford and the jd both have loaders on 'em. they work great for hauling wood and/or pulling moderately heavy loads. they are slow and relatively uncomfortable to ride on.

if i was going to have just one item, i'd probably go with the tractor. if price is a major issue, take a peek at a cushman. generally those are a little cheaper, and i love 'em.

 

[lon]

I also like my Rhino 700 very much. I use it all the time hauling items around the place or doing well and irrigation jobs. As previously stated, the 4x4 system works great. I purchased a 3000# winch that I can place on the front or the rear. I have a 4x4 tractor with a front end loader that I also find very helpful. If I had to choose between the two, I would keep the tractor. There are many good deals today on both of these items. Like anything, take your time and look for one that has been taken care of and seen regular servicing. Good luck.

 

[IndyIan]

I have a small tractor-loader and a large tractor-loader...they both work fine in some cases but not all cases...Thanks though.

So does your land need a 4wd vehicle to get to your firewood? Due to hills or wetspots?
I use my old 2001 300 kingquad atv (has front dif lock, and 15 forward gears) for my firewood and my next step would be to go to a 4wd compact tractor. IMHO a UTV isn't enough of an upgrade as a firewood tool for the price of them.

If money is an issue you can probably find my quad for $1500-2000 in great shape because they are a slow trail machine, but with gears and 3 ranges it works pretty hard. Get a bush buggy trailer and you can haul small loads from all sorts of tight spots.

 

[Iska3]

We cut a lot of our wood 30 miles from home so we decided to purchase a 4 wheeler. After looking around we went with the Polaris Sportsman. I started out looking at the 500’s and ended up with 800. The 800 has the power of a small jeep 4WD and narrow enough to get in to most places. We have 80a of woods so taking out the wood with an old trailer to the splitter with a tractor and then reloading it in to the second trailer to take home started to look like extra work. After we got the 800 we pulled the splitter out to the cutting area, split the wood and load it in to the good trailer to take home. The 800 has enough power to pull a 5x8 trailer load of cut green oak with the splitter connected behind it. We can also snake our way through the woods without making a lot of extra wide trails.

The good part about the 800 is if we want, we can load the wheeler in to the trailer and take it home or if I cut down a tree that is off the path, I either connect a tow rope to the trunk and pull it out in the open or I can use the winch on it.

We happen to be close to the trails so we do get in a little fun time. I see the people on the UTV’s and their wheels are much wider so they end up ridding in the rocks while the average ATV goes down the paths.

I also have several deer feeders so the ATV is handy to go down the trails and fill the feeders and if we have a few days of rain, I can get in to the woods with the ATV when the tractor or the larger UTV can’t.

I have a 5 ft county plow on the 800 so plowing my road is a snap and I have very little in the way of piles. I also pull a 4 ft dish when I do my gardens

The bad part is, we found the ATV to be so handy that we picked up a second one for the wife and now she pulls the splitter and I pull the trailer. Cutting wood for us got to be an enjoyable day in the woods.

Pick up a good used ATV and you’ll find all sorts of use for it. But it you never plan to leave the property, get yourself a little tractor and you'll be better off.

 

[some zilch]

i am not sure you can really compare a UTV/ranger/teryx/sportsman (atv-like machine) to something like an RTV or toolcat. the rtv/toolcat are work machines, not play toys. they are bulky, heavy, much slower, much more expensive, and built much heavier and entirely differently. you are not going to go mud-bogging and jump a toolcat over jumps. i know from working at a bobcat dealer for years, that toolcats have 3 and 4 cylinder diesel engines, and weight almost 6000lbs before adding any attachments, or an enclosed cab. they are not really geared towards homeowners gathering firewood, but much more for large industrial parks, school campuses and municipalities. even basic ones cost more than buying any new half ton pickup truck, and i prepped several that were "loaded" and cost over $60k.

 

[fields_mj]

I would think a lot of it depends on what you are willing to spend. I have an older yamaha big bear ATV. I use it a lot, but a 6 wheeled UTV would have been nicer. But for the $2K I gave for the ATV it's the best I could do. I like that the UTV has a box, and most of them can pull a pretty decent trailer. I like the ones with two rear axles as they seem to be a heavier duty work machine. However, before I'd spend $10K plus on a new machine for firewood, I'd take a long hard look at a used skid steer.

Just my 2 bits,
Mark

 

[Cascade Failure]

As much as my 07 Suzuki KingQuad 450 has impressed me it can't lift a damn thing. I should have bought a small tractor.

 

[Ambull]

I have a mini truck. The bed can hold almost 1/2 cord of wood.

 

[GeeVee]

You didn't ask, but I'll offer my suggestion.

Get an ASV RC 30.

I have bucket, forks and Grapple.

The machine is so versatile, I couldn't imagine not having it. I'd bet you can get one these days for 10 k with a mere 400 hours on it, easy.

I will try and upload a link to my webshots albums, you can check it out. I have carried 3 - 28 inch red oak logs eight feet long in the grapple through 2 foot deep plastic mud at my ranch. Un-stoppable. Low ground pressure too, if you are driving over your "lawn" a bunch.

I feel dollar for dollar, a used (or new) RC-30 will deliver more work per dollar over the long haul when you factor purchase price, maintenance and repairs, between it and a ATV/UTV.

 

[rmount]

I have a mini truck. The bed can hold almost 1/2 cord of wood.

That is one cute bush truck. I can't see any badging but I assume it is Japanese?

 

[Ambull]

That is one cute bush truck. I can't see any badging but I assume it is Japanese?

1999 Suzuki Carry. 660cc 3 cylinder EFI, about 45 HP, goes about 60 mph. 5 speed manual, hi lo shift on the fly 4WD. Cab heat, killer stereo w/ cd. Windshield Wiper and washer. Disk brakes. Driver's side airbag.

I paid $4500 for it, and I put about $2000 more into it with the stereo, lift kit, and ATV tires and alloy rims, and the Camo Kit. It will pretty much go anywhere.

 

[zipper1081]

OK here is my 2 cents. I have a 450 honda 4x4 foreman it works good for getting into the woods to cutup the wood and pull out a little bit of wood. I have 2 neighbors one has a Kubota UTV & one has a polaris ranger that I can use any time I want to. The kobota is a pulling machine the ride is not that great but it will pull down a house. It has pulled my fullsize truck out of being stuck acouple of times with a full load of wood. The ranger is a good ride it will haull some wood I have not pulled a trailer with it. For a an all around work truck. I would take the Kobota hands down.

 

[DocDryden]

Bobcat 2100

I use a 2001 Bobcat 2100 made be Club Car.
The Bobcat 2100 is the same as the Club Car Pioneer 1200
I got the trailer from HF

 

[bowtechmadman]

I have a 2up Arctic Cat TRV 650 and couldn't be more impressed. Little longer wheelbase than normal ATV about 8". I pull a 4x6 trailer w/ 3' side loaded down with wood wherever I want. Nice that it has a small box to carry saw's/supplies or for play I can pull off the box and put on 2nd seat for toting passengers.