# What side by side to buy



## Bigcountry2231

New or used. Looking at side by sides. Not sure if I want a crew cab. Trying to decide on brand polaris ranger, mule, rhino, intimidator. Multi use home, pasture and hunting.


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## sboudreaux

Out of the ones you listed I'd buy the Mule. We have a 10 year old Kubota and its been a great unit but they have gotten really pricey. If you don't plan on hauling around people all the time I would not get the crew cab just for the maneuverability. I do like the way Kawasaki crews can fold the back seat and increase the bed size. Kubota does this as well but again they are expensive! If you can find a good clean used one I'd go for it but with most of the popular brands tend to hold their value so the savings might not be enough. Good luck.


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## txjustin

I have a Ranger and love it. The Mule will ride very rough compared to the Ranger. Not sure about the other two.


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## H2

Just bought a JD Gator 825i , you would do well to consider it as well.


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## sotexhookset

Yamaha Viking 700. True three seater side x. Wide stance and it'll go over 50 and get there really quick. It's got some serious nuts for a 700. Not that you need to but its nice and rides nice at that speed if you have a long (like miles) smooth stretch to go somewhere. I've been in plenty of Rangers and owned a Kubota for the field crews at work and there's no comparison. Give one a test run. As said above, if you don't need to haul more than one or two people around, you don't need or would want the crew cab.

In pic you can see the wider stance compared to the others. It's the only pic I have if it from the front but my 12 yo niece us sitting in the middle seat to give you an idea of the separate seats as well. She's a kind of a tall girl for her age at 5'5".


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## Wiredhernandez

They are all pretty good. Price, intended use, preference... they rest is opionions and azwholes.


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## BATWING

If your use is for mostly farm duties or staying on smooth hard pack roads and light offroad, the lawn mower engine base UTVs will be fine. Otherwise the Ranger is worth the money.


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## Bigcountry2231

Will be used a lot in pasture doing fence work, feeding. But will be used for hunting in the hill country in rocks


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## sboudreaux

You probably can't go wrong based on all of the brands you mentioned based on what your intended use. JD does make a heck of a unit for the price. Unless your worried about speed I personally would look hard at the mule or base line gator. Just my 2 cents.


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## tc hardhead

Ranger all the way best ride in the work/hunt UTV world. I drive my ranger crew through 4.5 miles one way of very rocky terrain and the kids will fall asleep on our way to the blind.


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## surfsideperson

Take a look at the honda pioneer- I have the honda pioneer 4. -and I love it great for all uses


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## Game-Over

Bigcountry2231 said:


> Will be used a lot in pasture doing fence work, feeding. But will be used for hunting in the hill country in rocks


So offroad use mainly? Look at suspension travel, especially considering that you will be in the hill country. I have a couple of Ranger crews and looked at/demo'ed the Kubotas/Mules trying to find a better alternative to the Polaris before we bought the last one.....IMO there isn't one....and you pay for it at the dealer and the subsequent trips back to the shop. But it truly is the "hardest working, smoothest riding"....at least for my particular applications.


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## DEXTER

surfsideperson said:


> Take a look at the honda pioneer- I have the honda pioneer 4. -and I love it great for all uses


X2 I have had our Pioneer for a year now. Use around the house, on the farm changing water and hunting in very rough country. Very good and reliable ride. Rest of family all have Rangers (4) and they are going with Pioneers on their next purchase.


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## Game-Over

Can a pallet fit in the Honda's bed? In my applications I need the bed space, going so far as to have built a custom bed for one ranger that is considerably larger than stock. Fencing, feed, ice chest, dog, etc takes up quite a bit of space.

Another thing to look at is power steering, it makes a big difference.


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## jclc43837

the new mule is great smothe ride and decent on speed but its a work horse with a huge bed on the crew and then fold it back and you can haul friends and little ones around


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## H2

Game-Over said:


> Can a pallet fit in the Honda's bed? In my applications I need the bed space, going so far as to have built a custom bed for one ranger that is considerably larger than stock. Fencing, feed, ice chest, dog, etc takes up quite a bit of space.
> 
> Another thing to look at is power steering, it makes a big difference.


A pallet will fit in the Gator's bed the main reason I went with the Deere.


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## SaltNStickers

I have sold Kubota's for many years and the new RTV-X has many great improvements over the earlier models. The major one is independent suspension was added in late 2013. Also keep in mind that the Kubota has hydraulic power steering and a hydrostatic transmission (no belts or chains). They all have their pros/cons, take a look at all that you can before you buy to find what fits you the best.


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## bigfishtx

SaltNStickers said:


> I have sold Kubota's for many years and the new RTV-X has many great improvements over the earlier models. The major one is independent suspension was added in late 2013. Also keep in mind that the Kubota has hydraulic power steering and a hydrostatic transmission (no belts or chains). They all have their pros/cons, take a look at all that you can before you buy to find what fits you the best.


Had one for 8 years on the ranch, was a tough unit, really well built.

It had design issues and hope they were addressed:

Really rough ride
Front seat small
Radiator location horrible, clogs up with dirt in dusty roads
Air intake in bad location, air intake clogs completely up in dusty road
And, underpowered.

Sounds like they worked on the ride, hope they addressed the other issues.


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## grayson

bigfishtx said:


> Had one for 8 years on the ranch, was a tough unit, really well built.
> 
> It had design issues and hope they were addressed:
> 
> Really rough ride
> Front seat small
> Radiator location horrible, clogs up with dirt in dusty roads
> Air intake in bad location, air intake clogs completely up in dusty road
> And, underpowered.
> 
> Sounds like they worked on the ride, hope they addressed the other issues.


I bought the 1100 with the full cab last year. I now have 250 hours on it and I love it. The ride is very good - I have also owned 3 Polaris Rangers and the Kubota is not to that level yet but much much improved and plenty smooth.
Front seat and cab have good room - I can ride three people in the cab.
The air intake has been fixed - they now have a raised intake that sits at the top of the cab.
The power is much improved - mine will run 20-23 mph and pulls me through pretty much anything I have encountered so far.

For me the cab is miles ahead of any other RTV cab out there and I have had a few. The Kubota cab is dust proof (this is huge where we hunt), has a strong AC/heater/defroster. I also use the hydrolic bed alot and love it. I am sold on these units


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## PEACE OUT

Just saw this post...I test drove all of them and have no loyalty to any brand...heck I've gone from Ford to Dodge after test driving and you'd think I've committed adultery from the reactions of several of my buds...anywho, I have to say that my Ranger is hands-down the best "toy" I own. I truly cannot describe how much I love that thing based on its performance, durability, lack of returns to the dealer, etc. I got my Dodge 2500 (with Cummins = heavy) buried to the axles in East TX gumbo pulling a dual axle trailer that had the Ranger and 2000 pounds of protein (didn't hit the button to turn the Traction Control off...doh!)...long story short, my little Ranger and its winch pulled that sucka out! Since then it has pulled out a Chevy 1500 out WITHOUT the help of the winch (just in 4wd mode in the same gumbo the truck was stuck in) and it is also used for pulling a 350-pound disc that gets an additional 300 pounds of weight added to the disc. Other than that, it just gets me to & from the camp & stands...and when you hit a "hole" at over 50mph, you don't even check up. We have tried to get it stuck in some really nasty stuff but just can't.

I am sure the other companies have started to catch up to Polaris but if you look at the history of the others, they have copied many features/designs to get there and they all now seem to resemble a Ranger.


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