Gator? Teryx? Polaris?

[The Keymaster]

I am looking for input from people with REAL WORLD experience with 4 wheel side by side ATV's. My wife and I recently purchased 50 wooded acres in Northern Michigan, and we intend to but an ATV for the property. I would like to hear thoughts, pluses, minuses, and other information from those that own or operate these vehicles on a regular basis. Unless you have first hand experience please do not bother. If you are a dealer, I would love to hear what you have to day about what you sell.

 

[hornadylnl]

Here's my gator.

It's an 855D which is the diesel XUV model. It has 4 wheel independent suspension, 4 wheel drive and a rear differential lock. It is NOT a speed demon by any stretch of the imagination. What it does do is haul 1000 pounds in the bed. I haven't kept up with the newer offerings of other brands but at the time Deere had the best options for the price for what I wanted to do with it. Bed weight capacity, fuel off of my transfer tank, etc.

It largely depends on what you want to do with it. Is it for all work, all play, or a mixture of both. What do you want for accessories? If you want a cab, the Ranger XP900 seems to have the best cab system out there. Most other model cabs seem to be more of an after thought. The Ranger XP900 cab is supposed to go on and off in minutes. I have a roof and windshield from an aftermarket company on my gator. I may one day complete the rest of the cab. To get a complete poly cab from any manufacturer, you're probablly looking at $3000 on up. If you're going to be in northern Michigan, I'd recommend at the least, a windshield and roof.

I just put my Boss V Plow on a few months ago so I haven't got to try it out yet. It's definitely expensive but can be had for way under the retail price. I got a plow, mount, 3 plow shoes, a gallon of oil and the smarthitch kit shipped to my door for $3250. The plow alone is $3800 retail. From all my research, the Boss is the way to go if you want a full power plow.

If you want a workhorse for 50 acres of woods, you might consider getting a compact tractor instead of an XUV. I have both and if I had to choose between the tractor and the XUV, I'd take the tractor. The tractor is much more versatile. But to anyone who has owned an XUV, you just don't realize how handy they are until you have one.

Give me a better idea of what you want to do with it and I can give you some better advice. For any info you'd like on gators, here's a good forum to check out.
http://www.johndeeregatorforum.com/forum/forum.php

 

[giovani]

Gator diesel + 1000
We owned a gator with a gas engine for 2 years, we had several fail to start problems , we had it back to the dealer several times.
As this is used for our business on a daily basis it was not acceptable.
Traded it in on a diesel about 5 years ago and have had no trouble, we do take it inside the building on nights with the temp below 10 deg , but otherwise it sets outside.
It hauls loads that will make a half ton pickup squat.
It makes at least 20 1 mile round trips every day by employees who beat the h... Out of it.
I realy doubt you will treat yours as poorly as we do , and as i said we have very little trouble.

 

[hornadylnl]

Something else to consider is dealer networks. How far re the dealers from where you'll keep it at? For $250, I got a 2 year extended warranty (3 years total). It includes pick up and drop off if it needs warranty work. I think the warranty cost has gone up though.

 

[The Keymaster]

I have a compact tractor also. It's the John Deere 2210 with a 210 front end loader, and a 62C mower. That will be my snow mover, and mower. The ATV will be for a combination of work and play...maintaining the fence line, patrolling the property, and for taking my shooting gear out to the range area. I may do some trail riding, but that is not the primary purpose, and will not be a regular thing.

 

[IndyDave1776]

It has been several years since I worked for a company which sold these machines, but I recall there was a lot of difference in quality and design of the drive lines, or at least there was then. For example, some machines had a simple chain over a sprocket on the back axle like ATVs of years past and others had proper automotive-style driveshafts and geared rear ends. My advice is that you pay close attention to the mechanical details, the quality of construction, and for details that are conspicuously absent in the presentation you are given. Also, when shopping, don't forget that dealers of construction equipment are often selling machines of this type and may have a better handle on configuring a machine for useful work than and ATV dealer. Kubota and Bobcat come to mind in this thought with an emphasis on the fact that the Bobcat is available equipped to use Bobcat attachments on a loader assembly. I am not sure where your search will take you, but I would encourage you to look around. You may find your right fit in what seems to be an unlikely place.

 

[hornadylnl]

I have a diesel tractor, generator, and gator. I bought a diesel transfer tank so I can fill off of it instead of messing with gas cans. Having a diesel tractor, I'd recommend a diesel gator and a transfer tank if you don't have 1 already.

The diesel gator is rated at 10 hours per 5 gallon tank of fuel vs 4 hours on the gas version of the same gator. Any gasser with performance specs is going to gulp the gas. Top speed of my gator is 33 mph and it's not going to get there in a half second. That said, it does what I need it to do. I've not had it stuck but I've not been mudding in it. If it won't get me where I need to go, I don't need to get there.

I didn't get the dump kit when I bought my gator because I couldn't see spending $800 on it. The gas shock that comes with it is great. If you load the bed right, it's almost effortless to dump. Usually, you have to push the bed down to get it to unlatch. It came up to fast on me one day and the end came off the shock. I had a bunch of work planned for that weekend so I called the dealer to see if they had the dump kit in stock. They did so I bought it and I don't regret it. My wife had trouble with the manual dump. Now I can cut wood while we load it and then she drives to the pile and hits the switch.

 

[hornadylnl]

It has been several years since I worked for a company which sold these machines, but I recall there was a lot of difference in quality and design of the drive lines, or at least there was then. For example, some machines had a simple chain over a sprocket on the back axle like ATVs of years past and others had proper automotive-style driveshafts and geared rear ends. My advice is that you pay close attention to the mechanical details, the quality of construction, and for details that are conspicuously absent in the presentation you are given. Also, when shopping, don't forget that dealers of construction equipment are often selling machines of this type and may have a better handle on configuring a machine for useful work than and ATV dealer. Kubota and Bobcat come to mind in this thought with an emphasis on the fact that the Bobcat is available equipped to use Bobcat attachments on a loader assembly. I am not sure where your search will take you, but I would encourage you to look around. You may find your right fit in what seems to be an unlikely place.

The Deeres use a belt and clutch like a snowmobile. I've pulled some decent sized logs with it but I don't want to push the drive train too much. Most XUVs I've seen aren't rated for much in towing capacity.

 

[hornadylnl]

Here's a log I pulled. I'm sure I could go a good bit bigger but that's what the tractor is for.

[/IMG]

 

[ghitch75]

i have a 2007 620I XUV it had 89 hours on it when i bought it in 2008 used.......it has 503 hours on it now.....only part i have replaced was i rear wheel bearing at around 200 hours.....i have a trailer 4'x8' with 2' sides...i can load it with firewood that's about a rick and a half and the bed full.....i have never had any trouble comin' out of some steep bottoms......i have a 4k winch on it and never have used it to pull it out and i have tried to get it stuck......i was goin' to trade it for a 825I but i don't like the plastic bed so i'll stick with my 620I.....there great machines!!!

 

[hornadylnl]

i have a 2007 620I XUV it had 89 hours on it when i bought it in 2008 used.......it has 503 hours on it now.....only part i have replaced was i rear wheel bearing at around 200 hours.....i have a trailer 4'x8' with 2' sides...i can load it with firewood that's about a rick and a half and the bed full.....i have never had any trouble comin' out of some steep bottoms......i have a 4k winch on it and never have used it to pull it out and i have tried to get it stuck......i was goin' to trade it for a 825I but i don't like the plastic bed so i'll stick with my 620I.....there great machines!!!
]

I've got the plastic bed and the tail gate is sweet. Just like a regular truck tail gait. The plastic is very rugged and I'd hate to see the abuse it would take to tear it up.

These things will work hard and take a beating but it would do everyone well to remember they're not built and intended to be used like bulldozers.

 

[ghitch75]

I've got the plastic bed and the tail gate is sweet. Just like a regular truck tail gait. The plastic is very rugged and I'd hate to see the abuse it would take to tear it up.

These things will work hard and take a beating but it would do everyone well to remember they're not built and intended to be used like bulldozers.

i was just afraid when it was cold and froze i would throw in a piece of wood and would blow a hole in it...

 

[fullauto 45]

I have a 2011 Ranger XP 800. Love it. Best ride on any of the side by sides. I've added a couple things to it. Roof, overhead speaker system for the IPOD or radio, 42" LED light bar. Will carry 1000# in the bed and haul 2000# with the hitch. I have had it loaded with firewood to where the front came off the ground.

 

[hornadylnl]

i was just afraid when it was cold and froze i would throw in a piece of wood and would blow a hole in it...

The bed floor is steel, the sides are molded plastic. I haven't looked that closely but I think there's some steel reinforcement in the sides.

 

[Indyhd]

We have 3 Gators we use for getting around on jobsites, and after all the trouble we had with wheel bearings I doubt we would buy Gators again. The maintenance costs on ours was terrible once they hit 4 years old. We actually gave one to one of the employees just to keep from sinking more money into it.

 

[Aggar]

I've got an 06 ranger 500 carb model. I put a cab, winch and plow on it. That thing runs and goes. Even carbed it starts good. Just pull the choke and itll start. I bang it thru the woods. Couldn't see spending over 10k for something I'm gonna scratch and make look real ugly. Bought mine used and have decided I'm keeping it till it poops out. Would love to have a newer one but I got a deal on this. And the ranger has a bench seat.

 

[boonedock]

POLARIS...only way to go with a side by side..had a regular cab 700 xp..now have a crew cab 800 xp....Alot less noise...more HP More MPH and Tourqe than Deere...yes I had a gator also...Polaris hands down...Google is to see the comparisons...Polaris wins in every thing and the ride is so much better..

 

[jbell_64]

I have experience with the mule, gator, and polaris. Of these three the polaris was by far the heaviest duty and best hill climber. If you are just tooling around a pasture it doesn't really matter though....

 

[sdh]

I have a Polaris ranger 700xp. It has almost 9,000 miles on it. I haven't had any trouble with it. It eats tires, but i use it every day going from one farm to the other on paved and gravel roads. I have pulled a large empty hay wagon with it. It hauls about 500 pounds of feed in it every day for livestock. I would buy another one if this one dies.

 

[The Keymaster]

I appreciate the input...please keep it coming! For those of you that bought new units, I would be interested in how the price negotiations went. Are these like automobile where you can negotiate a deal?