I am in the market for a four seat side by side. I am overwhelmed by the options and brands.
Honda
Yamaha
Polaris
artic cat
Can am
I am looking for more of a farm type use but I would still like to be able to drive 40-50 mph as well.
Any guidance on best brand to look at?
I have a 2010 Polaris Ranger 800XP. It's 13 years old and has 22k miles and over 2000 hours on it. It doesn't cruise around the neighborhood. It works almost daily on the family farm. It also frequently did duty as the rallycross setup vehicle. It has been extremely durable and dependable. It rides extremely well and is much faster than it needs to be. It will haul 1000 pounds and tow 1500. It is basically the farm truck and gets used as a dump truck, work bench, general farm transportation, and tow vehicle for utility trailers and boats. It just works and keeps on working.
It hauls 10s of thousands of pounds of moss and debris every year.
We are in the market for another to keep on the property in the mountains. The odds are high that it will also be a Polaris.
We rented a Polaris Razr side by side in Southwest Utah this May ... it was amazing! The rental place previously had Yamaha side by sides, but switched a few years back to Polaris due to ongoing maintenance cost issues. Business owner said it cut his expenses by half, for what that is worth.
Na miata with a paco lift kit and a bench seat in the back.
I've had a handful that were all used at my work (read farm). By far the best were the John Deere Gators, diesel. I think 855d was the model number but can't remember. We beat the E36 M3 out of those things and they never missed a beat and never needed anything beyond basic maintenance.
Thanks for the info.
I just picked up one last week after thinking about a UTV for the past couple years. I don't know about best, but it was always going to be a Yamaha (because Yamaha Parallel Twin and their overall design philosophy...), so no struggle in my decision making. Found a 2021 Wolverine X4 850 for a great deal, was a rental with 5300 miles that had CVT transmission already refreshed/serviced before selling and already Arizona road legal and registered for both on & offroad. Like the balance it strikes between sport and utility...though would have preferred if there was a sequential manual transmission version like the YXZ1000R two seater.
Already took it down the back dirt/sand road @ 55mph (electronically speed limited) and through some sandy trails. It's 600lb bed & 2000lb towing capacity will help out around the property as well... currently looking into a dump carts for ATVs/UTVs. Just today ordered front custom seats & wheel and tire upgrade for it as not a fan of the falling forward feeling stock seating position or front & rear dedicated/non rotatable wheel & tire sizes. Nothing different than what I'd do with any other vehicle... wheels/tires & seats are main thing for handling & comfort. Weller Racing exhaust tip/spark arrestor + ECU reflash only other immediate change have planned... then just keeping it maintained and fabbing custom stuff for bed storage/things want to be able to transport.
What I'd do, but I'm probably not normal.
ddavidv said:What I'd do, but I'm probably not normal.
The want is strong.
In reply to ddavidv :
I'm super tempted by those but I already have a Samurai that is pretty close to the same size and is street legal.
My issue with those is getting in and out if you are working around a property. Frequently you have to get in and out of it several hundred times a day. We use the Polaris for clean-up after storms. Drive 10 feet, pick up lots of moss, drive 10 feet, and do it again. The yard and the head of the drive is about 10 acres. That's a lot of stop and get out. The Polaris is super easy to get in and out of. It's built like a golf cart with no doors and no sills, you just slide out.
The Polaris also has a dump bed. After you load it with debris you can back it up to the burn pile and dump it.
We also use it a good bit for spraying. The open cab makes that much easier.
I use a Polaris Ranger 1000XP for work. Very capable machine off road. I've had it doing 60 on pavement.
It's brand new, so I can't tell you much about maintenance.
Im not a big fan of the clunky shifter, but I guess that's typical.
Its speed limited to 15 mph if you don't put on your seatbelt, unlimited if you do. That's a pretty good feature.
We have an older 6x6 Polaris Ranger, like the last of the carbed version. It's bulletproof, but stubborn AF to get warmed up. Known issue with the carbed versions. They never quite got the idle tune right. EPA regs + parts infrastructure = oh well, it's good enough. But as far as getting work done, good lord it will do farm work brilliantly.
We also have a Benche 4x4 that only gets used for hunting, so a dozen times a year at best. Do not recommend. Deafeningly loud, already on our third starter, the shifter doesn't line up with the indicators, and too stiffly sprung. It was cheap. Just warning you that if they come across your radar, think twice. It does the work fine, when it starts... and when you have earplugs.
Never had a Yamaha side by side, but I've had a few Yahama ATVs that were bulletproof, ergonomic, and really well built.
Boiled down, the guys at camp always have a wide variety of ATVs, side by sides, and other toys. My favorite go-to is Bob's Polaris. What a machine.
So now, from out of the blue, if you really want the right answer.... Kubota. The others are toy manufacturers who reached up to make a utility side by side. The Kubota is a hardcore tractor company who made a brick with a bed.
In reply to Curtis73 (Forum Supporter) :
We have an older Kubota diesel on the farm as well that belongs to my uncle. A brick with wheels and a bed is a good way to put it. It is a beast. I think it tips the scales at 2200 pounds. It is probably more indestructible than the Polaris except for one thing. Rust. The steel bed and rear frame are rusting from a lifetime of chemicals, salty kids, salty cast nets, and boating equipment. It's also slow. The one we have uses a hydrostatic drive and tops out at 25 or so. It pulls as well as their tractors but it's not fast.
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