ATV versus UTV??

[Sandhill Crane]

I use an ATV, trailer and log arch, and am very happy with it and surprised by the load it can pull. That being said, I agree with those who suggest a small tractor and bucket. A tractor/loader with a fork attachment would be a real multipurpose, all season machine, and built for the task. Good luck, it will be interesting to hear what you choose.

 

[indiansprings]

We started out in 1985 by buying a Honda 4 wheeler with front and rear racks for the farm, a 250cc was big back then, we bought a JD gator, 2 wheel drive when they first come out, hated it no ground clearance back then, bought and additional Honda four wheeler a 500cc rubicon, hated the automatic, traded it for a Polaris 500 4x4 four wheeler, it has been great. We purchased our first Kawasaki Mule in about 2000, a 3100 4x4, it was a great improvement for overall utility on the farm, hauling saws, wood, feed etc, bought the four passenger trans mule as an addition to the original when they first come out, hated it, loaded with four people it was gutless, sold it after having it three weeks, bought a little 660 mule, it will load right in the back of a standard pickup.

If I buy another one, it would be the Polaris Ranger, they will flat outperform the Mule, the mule is so slow, max speed is around 25-28mph, it takes forever to get anywhere.
The little Japanese mini truck are really catching on around here, just a hair bigger than the normal UTV, cheaper, cab, heat, air, and here you can licsense the little buggers and drive them on the road, they have four wheel drive and some come with dump beds.

The big factor for me anymore is the cost. I can shop around and buy a good solid S-10 or Ranger 4x4 pickup with a little age on it cheaper than I can buy a Kubota, or new Ranger, Mule etc and have a hell of a lot more versatility.
For pure work they would be hard to beat.

But if you want to tool thru the woods and place where a truck won't go, the utv is the way to go, with a 4 wheeler you almost have to pull a trailer to have any capacity for hauling equipment to the woods. If you have to travel to your wood cutting spot you have to trailer a UTV.

You really need to sit down and decide what you want and expect the vehicle to do, before you purchase. By the way most of the mini truck are bringing 4 to 4500 for a 4x4 model around here, add a grand for a dump bed.

 

[polardoo]

While I dont cut wood for a living, I cant see myself taking a skidsteer camping. I do own a fourwheeler also and I suppose if I were going after a large quantity of wood it would be nice to take both. Only one would be the Ranger hands down.

 

[angelo c]

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

that thing is cool as **** man ! Can you get one with a small 3 cyl cat/kubota engine ? Man how cool would that be. I may need to find my way up your way !!!

 

[Ambull]

that thing is cool as **** man ! Can you get one with a small 3 cyl cat/kubota engine ? Man how cool would that be. I may need to find my way up your way !!!

Hey man, as soon as some of the snow melts, bring that big Kita of yours up to PA and we'll do a little cutting. Hit me up anytime.

 

[angelo c]

Hey man, as soon as some of the snow melts, bring that big Kita of yours up to PA and we'll do a little cutting. Hit me up anytime.

Yea Man !!

Now that the Eagles are done it's safe for me to go back to PA. I'm planning to start looking for some land between you and John. Getting the itch to go "country".

 

[zogger]

neither

I wouldn't bother. For what they want for those things you can get a decent used tractor, that is useful for firewood and numerous other practical chores, growing a whopper garden, running a PTO generator, a sprayer, log splitter whatnot. that is what is cool about a tractor, you are buying a multi tool powerhead with wheels that is self propelled and has a zillion attachments possible. Heck, I wish I had all the attachements for my baby wheelhorse for that matter. someday...

I live/work on a big farm that employs several farm families, plus guys who drive here to work every day. Some of them have atvs, etc..but everyone defaults to a real tractor to do work with. I see them more used for just joyriding to the mailbox more than anything else.

I have access to just all sorts of equipment..do my firewood with a tractor and a cargo box on the back. I built the thing so I could use the hayfork to just slip into it, pick it up a little, tip it forward, done, down the road..or trail.

I don't have a big winch, but just using chains I have skidded out big logs to an open area to cut them up. Used the same deal when pulling down snagged trees as well, chain them up at the butt and grannyiest gear pull them down and out. If the log is light enough, I can slip out of the box right then, go around, pick up the log with the forks in the middle and start sawing at my best most practical height off the ground. Can't beat it with two sticks.

You just can't do that stuff with an atv or utv.

As an alternative, what one of the other posters mentioned, get a used four wheel drive truck, make it not road legal then, as in don't bother insurance/tags all that stuff, just keep it off road, beef it up a little, cut the fenders off maybe, and put real ag style/tractor tires on it, maybe chains. A rig like this is called a "trucktor" any number of home brewed variations out there, some I have seen are really spiffy, too.

A decent used 4wd truck can be had for less than what they want for a little sport buggy. You won't be driving it all that far, so fuel costs won't be much of an issue, and wear and tear won't be that bad if you refrain from overloading it, and you'll always have a cab to ride in that is more or less weatherproof and has a real heater and stuff and a place to stash your tools behind the seat if you get a kingcab/crewcab. Parts are more available too. I mean, heckfire, they want as much for a new two cylinder motor for one of those things as a v-8 crate engine! What's up with that?

Just a thought. For what one of those atvs or utvs cost new (not counting the cheaper chicom ones out there now) you could get a good used truck and go nuts modifying it, have some fun and build a unique to you personal woods work machine. Just think "never to be used onroad again" and it REALLY opens up the modding potential. Bwa, if it was a diesel then you could use offroad farm diesel in it and not worry about getting caught...

with all that said, there is ONE sorta ATV thing I have wanted a long time, if I ever see one well used and ultra cheap I will get one. Saw a guy demoing one at a dealers before, shazzam, best little point A to B little machine I ever saw, any terrain, anywhere, anytime. Plus it has attachments and you can haul with it, a trailer, or skid smaller stuff or.. and do some real work, and it can be street legal as well! Check this thing out:

ROKON

If I get one ever I will try to make it a single cylinder diesel, that's about all the mods necessary for it over "stock" I think. If they ever have a factory diesel option..that is one of the few things I would go in hock for and make monthly payments for.

 

[JDCOMPACTMAN]

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

That rig is INSANE! Pretty cool!

 

[TreePointer]

:agree2: Definitely cool.

Put some wings and legs on it and it will look like like a giant grasshopper. Possible Insecticon?

 

[Hedgerow]

Since you already have a loader tractor, you've got most of your bases covered there. I have a 4x4 arctic cat atv and love it, but don't use it much for wood. I find myself taking the the old 626 dual rear axle Gator out instead. It can't be overloaded, and it doesn't rut up fields. I can fit a rick of wood in it, pull a 4X8 trailer behind it, and take my son with me. (That's the most important part) "Gotta make room for the help" That being said, IT'S SLOOOWWWWW..... Annoyingly slow..... So if ya need to move over 20 miles per hour, get a ranger... Just wish they had a larger bed on em'..:bang:

 

[Coach B]

We have a Kawaski Mule that we have found very useful. We've got alot of steep/thick areas that you just can't easily get a truck into. The mule will get right in there most of the time. Obviously, you have to be careful with a load of wood combined with steep ground and turns. But we have found we are getting to alot of wood that used to go to waste.

 

[lly_duramax]

My dad has a Kubota RTV and it has its place. It is not built like a Rhino or a Ranger. It is more heavy duty like a cross between a tractor and an UTV. When we go out and cut I take the RTV with the splitter behind it and the saws on the back. Dad has a Kubota 4x4 tractor and a 12' Bri Mar dump trailer that he takes. The RTV works good on flat ground and small hills but is underpowered and too top heavy for the steep mountains we live in. That being said I have an 81 Toyota 4x4 Pickup that goes better and will go more places than the RTV. The Rangers and the Rhinos dont even have what I would call a bed on them for hauling so you are stuck with a trailer. I would recomend to get a small pickup like my Toyota. You can haul twice the wood and go about anywhere in them.

 

[chumwithrum]

You could always fab up a grapple for the Rhino. lol

 

[uglydukwling]

I believe that anything worth doing is worth overdoing, so I chose a different solution. I use a Cat 955H tracked loader. Admittedly, it would be a PITA if I had to transport it (It's slow and it tends to attract too much attention if I drive it on paved roads) but since I just use it on my own farm, it has a lot of advantages.

It cost me $5000, which puts it in the same price range as a good used UTV, and it came with a cab and a 30 000 lb winch. I hate to think what it would cost new, but there doesn't seem to be much demand for them when they get this old, even if they're still in decent shape.

The cross-country ability is amazing. I've never been able to get it stuck on level ground, even in mud up to the tops of the tracks. The odd time I've had it stuck nose-down in a hole, I've been able to jack it out with the bucket. So far. I've never needed to use the winch to get it out. I'm not sure how steep a slope it will climb. I've always run out of nerve before it gave up.

It's far more manoeverable than a truck. It will spin in its own length, like a skidsteer. It's just a little bigger. It takes less space than making a u-turn with my atv. Since I'm on my own land, I don't worry about narrow trails. Whatever trail I drive down automatically becomes wide enough.

It has a 2 cu yd bucket that will handle more weight than I can possibly load into it. The bucket lifts high enough to dump into a truck, over a fence, or on top of a pile. It will tow just about anything I can get a cable on. Literally a stump-puller.

All the firewood handling capabilities were a bonus that I discovered after I bought it for the more usual tracked-loader jobs of moving dirt, gravel, and rock piles, building and grading lanes, etc. In ten seconds, it will pick up more dirt than I could load into a utv in two hours by hand.

 

[scag52]

Can we get a pic ?

Also the rhino grapple loks cool. Any pics of you using it ?

thanks

 

[deerehunter]

Ranger

View attachment 169515
Just bought a 2011 400 HO Ranger and love it so far. If the pic works here it is with a load of split wood. Good bang for your buck in my opinion.

 

[mbergeon]

I use my Honda Foreman to carry saws and tools:

And usually use my utv to haul wood:

This is a Lesco, it is similar to the JD Gator, just a little bigger with an 18 hp honda and front and rear suspension. It is identical to the cub cadet big country.

If I'm cutting away from home we use the truck.

 

[johnnylabguy]

View attachment 169515
Just bought a 2011 400 HO Ranger and love it so far. If the pic works here it is with a load of split wood. Good bang for your buck in my opinion.

Nice ride deerehunter! If you don't mind what does a unit of that size cost out the door? I'd like to go this route eventually as my woods is about 3.5 miles from my house and I'm always debating whether to take the truck for hauling out/splitting or the quad for felling and skidding logs out to the lane. A UTV,while not as good as a tractor, will get me to the woods quickly and more comfortably with a passenger(usually one of my kids) and gear. And I can also take small loads home with the bed and and a trailer. Someday...

 

[dirtyj]

John Deere 620i - it is very versatile for my needs and rides great...

 

[Hedgerow]

That there's a good dog... I think he likes the deere...