Mini truck VS UTV

[endmill]

Looking at buying something for the farm. Anybody have a mini-truck?

 

[firebrick43]

I drove them in Okinawa for a year while in the corps. Think Mitsubishi if I recall correctly. They won't have the ride and off road traction that a utv will have due to the suspension. However the bed is more usable and the cabs while noisy are pretty tight. Driving a gator with a roof and windshield down a dusty road was a terrible choking experience for me.

The mini truck and van I drove had 5 speeds on the tree. Weird at first but no issues learning(took 5 min). Sort of wished the had American trucks with 5 on the tree.

I alternative I might suggest. Why not a little Suzuki/GEO tracker, jeep wrangler, short bed ranger, or something similar. Several farmers around here sold their gators and went this route as the is better protection on the road, can go to town if you need parts, size is only marginally bigger, haul more weight although it's about the same cargo area(with the tracker), and a decent used one is a lot cheaper than a utv. Seems only the citidiots are running utv's any more around here.

 

[zogger]

I drove them in Okinawa for a year while in the corps. Think Mitsubishi if I recall correctly. They won't have the ride and off road traction that a utv will have due to the suspension. However the bed is more usable and the cabs while noisy are pretty tight. Driving a gator with a roof and windshield down a dusty road was a terrible choking experience for me.

The mini truck and van I drove had 5 speeds on the tree. Weird at first but no issues learning(took 5 min). Sort of wished the had American trucks with 5 on the tree.

I alternative I might suggest. Why not a little Suzuki/GEO tracker, jeep wrangler, short bed ranger, or something similar. Several farmers around here sold their gators and went this route as the is better protection on the road, can go to town if you need parts, size is only marginally bigger, haul more weight although it's about the same cargo area(with the tracker), and a decent used one is a lot cheaper than a utv. Seems only the citidiots are running utv's any more around here.

I agree. Boss got me a top of the line kawasaki mule and it works great just...it ain't practical for what they cost. I barely use the thing, it sits here. I think I only have five hours on it since last year. I cannot figure out what they are really for except for joy riding off road, and even then they won't go where a real truck or tractor can go. For one fifth of what one costs you can get a good used smallish 4wd truck/suv. Jeep CJ or cherokee or samurai, etc. You'll have more ground clearance, parts are all over, it will tote more, tow more, full cab with windshield wipers, AC, heat, etc, and street legal if ya need it or want it. This one here is the 4 seater, fold the seats up to "full" bed, throw a few saws and some gear in there and..that's it, slap full.

He didn't ask me, just surprised me with it...if he woulda said, "here's 13 grand, what can we spend that on to make your work over here better", man o man I woulda had a different list.

 

[endmill]

I have had a S-10 but is on it's last leg had to weld the A-arm up frame is rusting away. Just kinda eye shopping. the mini-truck look neat for the money compared to a full blown UTV.

 

[gary s]

I have had a Jeep CJ, an old small Bronco and now a Kubota 400 UTV and on my farm the Kubota is more useful. A lot depends on your terrain and what you do, the UTV will go over much softer ground and tighter trails than the others recommended and if you use a trailer with ATV style tires you can haul a bunch of firewood in the trailer with your saws and such in the UTV. Just another opinion.

 

[zogger]

I have had a Jeep CJ, an old small Bronco and now a Kubota 400 UTV and on my farm the Kubota is more useful. A lot depends on your terrain and what you do, the UTV will go over much softer ground and tighter trails than the others recommended and if you use a trailer with ATV style tires you can haul a bunch of firewood in the trailer with your saws and such in the UTV. Just another opinion.

Ya, you really need a trailer or log arch, something like that. the mule here I built a wooden bed liner to expand the size with the tailgate down. I am also going to completely remove the folded up rear seat and make a storage/tool box in that space. Then hopefully a coupla saws and gear in there and tote the wood back in the bed. I don't really have a suitable off road quality heavy duty trailer for it, although a couple of light duty road trailers that would work ok sticking to the dirt roads here.

Just for grins I looked on craigslist the week we got this thing, for the same 13 grand I could have gotten a good shape, nothing needed ready to rock deuce and a half, plus a tracked skidsteer. used of course, but just sayin'.

To me, small like that..if a truck or 4wd suv thing is outta the question, .I would rather just a small 4wd tractor, something that could also have attachments. If you have to use a trailer anyway, gimme the bigger wheels and stouter everything the tractor has.

 

[endmill]

Got a good 4 wheel drive tractor but it is big and heavy so I like something that a little easier on the land to get some of the wood cutting done.

 

[dieselfitter]

The grey one was free. The black one was $1500

 

[gary s]

Got a good 4 wheel drive tractor but it is big and heavy so I like something that a little easier on the land to get some of the wood cutting done.

I also have a 55HP 4X4 JD2355 with FEL but much of my woods just aren't open enough to maneuver it. My Kubota 400 RTV is there smallest, lightest UTV and I have a small ATV trailer from Country Manufacturing to haul wood. I need less than a 5ft trail and it wasn't as expensive as the "fast" UTVs but it works for me.

 

[ponyexpress976]

My gator 6x4 won't set any speed records but it will go where a lot of others will get stuck. I added extensions to the sides of the bed just so I could haul more material. I use it regularly on mulch jobs. Beats pushing a wheel barrow and it doesn't tear up a lawn even when fully loaded. Picked it up used for $3200 and so far it's been worth every dime.

 

[Sawyer Rob]

My Kubota 400 RTV is there smallest, lightest UTV and I have a small ATV trailer from Country Manufacturing to haul wood. I need less than a 5ft trail and it wasn't as expensive as the "fast" UTVs but it works for me.

I have a Kubota RTV500, and it's been GREAT! It just saves me so much time and makes my day so much easier! Now I'd hate to be without it, but I guess it really all depends on exactly what you need something like that for?

IF I could only have one of anything, it would be my MFWD tractor!

SR

 

[lefturnfreek]

We use full size 4x4 trucks and lock the rear diff, limited slip the front, mild lift and chains all the way around till the ground is dry. We have quads but use them for fun, you can never have too much of a truck around my farm.

 

[steved]

Even those mini-trucks in a 4wd version are pretty helpless offroad...they are too "stiff", lacking any flex; they are pretty heavy for what they are; and they use small tires that would be difficult to get a decent tire for.

I had a Gator 6x4 that worked well, I've used almost all of the UTVs at one point or another. For offroad hauling, its hard to beat a UTV.

Another thing to consider is how easy the deal is to transport to the next site...

 

[endmill]

Thanks guys for the good info. Would like to here from somebody who owns a MINI

 

[GeeVee]

....psst. ASV RC-30.

 

[cantoo]

I think you have your answer, no one has a mini. There are a couple of them around here but the price to buy them is too high for anything other than a novelty.

 

[endmill]

GEEVEE ASV RC-30 looks like fun but don't think the grandkids could ride.

 

[steved]

While I didn't own one, I have been around them extensively on the sites I worked before...they are useless off road, period. They are meant for an industrial setting where they travel existing site roads. Again, they are useless off road.

 

[Streblerm]

My dad has had a 4wd "cushman" mini truck for about 7 years. It is a mitsubishi but not a gray market version. It was imported by cushman for off road use in the US. It has a 1000# payload. It has a flat bed with fold down bedsides and tailgate. It has bald 12" street tires on it and we have never gotten it stuck. As a matter of fact it is the tow vehicle of choice for things that get stuck in the yard as it is fairly low impact compared to a tractor or larger 4wd vehicle.

We have never done any real off roading with it but I don't see how it could be any worse than any small 4wd truck or tracker/samurai. It mostly just stays in the yard hauling mulch, dirt, and firewood. I think that with some ATV tires it would pretty much be unstoppable.

It is a 4cylinder with a three speed (5spd with 4/5 gate blocked) manual transmission and manual transfer case. It is nice to have creature comforts like heat, sealed cab, windshield wipers, and a real charging system. On the flip side the cab is pretty small and parts, while not impossible, are difficult to get. There is some solenoid malfunctioning on his carburetor and it basically runs like it is partially choked all the time. It loads up if you idle it too long. I know we were looking at replacing the carburetor with a non computer controlled one. I guess ignition problems are common with them but there are several write ups online about using the old GM 4 pin ignition modules.

Personally, I think it is a lot more vehicle than you get with a UTV for 25-30% of the price.

 

[firebrick43]

Okinawa is a tropical climate(down pour every morning during half the year) and very rugged/mountainous terrain. While I never picked a line totally off road because it's a jungle and it takes a machete but took several single tracks in steep terrain (think fire roads in the west) and they never had a problem. Yea I wouldn't attempt Moab, the rubicon, nor the badlands rock crawling but I have been in some pretty remote forest in the west (hiked kings canyon Yosemite, and glacier parks and the bob marshal wilderness) and even have paddled half the boundary waters and I can't why with careful fore thought why the mini trucks couldn't go many places.

It's a farm as well. Hell, I check fields and fences on my Harley sportster most of the time and it does ok if I keep the speed low. From my experience you will be fine in a 4x4 mini truck on 99% of the farms in the USA.

I have seen many times while in the usmc, someone having the best 4x4, 6x6, even 8x8 or tracked equipment stuck because they didn't think where they were going because they depended on the vehicle to get them through it where a thinking man in a 2 wheel drive makes it through with a little forethought or just going around.