stuey Posted April 3, 2017 Report Share Posted April 3, 2017 Thoughts on these or similar. Won't do any heavy work, just a site vehicle for carrying rubbish, tools etc. Cheers Stu Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Delwint Posted April 3, 2017 Report Share Posted April 3, 2017 I've been looking at similar utility vehicles after reading Rimfire4969's recent post. There's quite a few to choose from with varying build quality apparently. I want one for driving down the lane to the farm and across the fields to where I shoot. Thought about a jimny/defender but decided they were too heavy for the very boggy fields. I'll be interested to see people's thoughts if they own one to help me make my mind up too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
figgy Posted April 4, 2017 Report Share Posted April 4, 2017 (edited) How big a site are on ? Is it off-road as the ones for golf courses and caravan parks seem ok, not put under as much abuse. Quad will go places a mule won't , and are a lot lighter and easier to store. Depending how much you want to carry front and rear racks can me made to suit. Any more and there are various trailers. If land is too boggy for a jimmy I wouldn't put a mule over it either. I think they have limited application and are expensive for what you get, farmers covering lots of ground with a few bails or bags of feed great they are out of the weather and can stick a couple of sheep in back if need too. Trouble is when you want one you will find a way of justifying one. I know s few who have them and all have complained about build qaulity and stuff rusting breaking bending etc. Kerb weight of 967.5 pounds a Honda TrX 420 4x4 selectable Qaud is 586 pounds, Edited April 4, 2017 by figgy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rimfire4969 Posted April 4, 2017 Report Share Posted April 4, 2017 I have had mine for about 2 weeks and I have tried to get it stuck, yesterday out with a farmer friend he was on his 700cc quad I was in the gator and it went everywhere the quad did that includes some really bad stuff I would not of gone through with my Defender. Selectable 4 wheel drive and diff locks big tyres with tractor tread and no weighing much means it will go places a 4 x 4 can't, end of. I part exchange a quad for mine and it is just more practical. This farmer is that convinced he is doing the same thing. As for built quality that is the reason I went John Deere, the engine is bomb proof and they are well put together. I have heard of problems with some other makes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
timps Posted April 4, 2017 Report Share Posted April 4, 2017 On my dad's farm we had a Polaris quad but it wasn’t getting used much and swapped it for the mid size Polaris ranger ( 2 seater lighter one not the bigger heavier 3 seat one) about 5 years back, wish we had done it a lot sooner, we would never go back to a quad now.The farm is on the west Pennines moor so the ground does get boggy, the ranger has decent clearance and electronically locks all four wheels and as yet has never got stuck. It doesn’t seem to tear up the ground significantly more than the quad it replaced (unloaded).I used to use the small tractor for some jobs the quad could not handle now the small tractor doesn't get used and I just use the ranger. Only issue we have had over the years of ownership is a starter solenoid go intermittently wonky, it was about £30 and took me 5 mins work to fix. No idea what the other makes are like to own but if I was given exactly what I paid for it I would buy another one so I guess I must be happy with it and my dad’s mate has just bought one because of using ours. I know the ranger seems to have a fairly high top speed compared to a lot of the other makes if you need to do a bit of road work. Others might have different view on the ranger but mine is based on 5 years ownership and use on a farm. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wymberley Posted April 4, 2017 Report Share Posted April 4, 2017 I have access to the John Deere that Rimfire has and is the better option than the Kawasaki that it replaced. The only exception to that is if need be the latter has the flat top frame which, given the model with a top, you can shoot off whereas the former is not quite so good in this respect. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
timps Posted April 4, 2017 Report Share Posted April 4, 2017 The one thing I have noticed about the Mule you have listed is the bed capacity. It is rated at 400 lb bed payload capacity whereas the mid-size Polaris Ranger has 1000 lb bed payload capacity. The whole point of these things over quads is to ditch the trailer and use the bed, I am not too sure I would be as happy with mine if it couldn’t hold as much as it currently does and with that Mule only being 2 wheel drive does impose other limits on it as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rimfire4969 Posted April 4, 2017 Report Share Posted April 4, 2017 (edited) The one thing I have noticed about the Mule you have listed is the bed capacity. It is rated at 400 lb bed payload capacity whereas the mid-size Polaris Ranger has 1000 lb bed payload capacity. The whole point of these things over quads is to ditch the trailer and use the bed, I am not too sure I would be as happy with mine if it couldn’t hold as much as it currently does and with that Mule only being 2 wheel drive does impose other limits on it as well. John Deere Gator 855D has a payload of 1000lbs and 1400lbs payload capacity no idea what the second figure means. With a tipping back makes unloading very easy. I will not go back to a quad. Edited April 4, 2017 by rimfire4969 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
timps Posted April 4, 2017 Report Share Posted April 4, 2017 John Deere Gator 855D has a payload of 1000lbs and 1400lbs payload capacity no idea what the second figure means. With a tipping back makes unloading very easy. I will not go back to a quad. 1000 lbs is what you can put in the cargo box, 1400 lbs is the weight of all occupants plus what's in the cargo box load. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rimfire4969 Posted April 4, 2017 Report Share Posted April 4, 2017 1000 lbs is what you can put in the cargo box, 1400 lbs is the weight of all occupants plus what's in the cargo box load. Thanks for that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gustaff Posted April 5, 2017 Report Share Posted April 5, 2017 we look after a polaris ranger 900d for local shoot which does alot of road and rough work tends to eat wheel bearings and joints but they keep it clean by jet wash which maybe washes grease out of joints and maybe staff a bit shy with grease gun between service times otherwise good to work on genuine polaris parts a bit pricey but good bit of kit in my view Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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