GPMD

Hi all, I'm pretty clueless about pros and cons for my needs when it comes to which to purchase. Trying to get an "all in one" for my situation. Here's what I need.
I'll be moving to a home on 4.5 grassy acres and a fairly long driveway. I want something that can plow 6-12" a clip. Also I was hoping to get a "pull behind" mower for whatever I purchase to mow the lawn instead of a lawn tractor. As far as hunting goes, I would just use whatever I bought to drag deer out a short distance so the electric quiet really isn't a need as far as hunting goes. Parking my truck and walking no more than 15min is easier for me as we just have smaller wood lots. No real hills or terrain to navigate.

So for these 3 needs, plow, mow, deer drag, which is best option? Any opinion on models etc would be a huge help too. Also opinion if I should scratch the mower idea helps too. Storage space a small issue and looking for the most economical for all 3 needs. Thanks!

Savage Sniper

if i were you, i would look very closely at the polaris sportsman and polaris ranger series. both are more than capable of doing what you mentioned.
cant go wrong with honda or yamaha either.

Mojotex

Trust me .... the "farm work" is best left to heavier duty equipment.

Regardless of the hype, the transmissions of ATV's and UTV's are extremely light duty compared to even the smallest of the "residential" farm tractors such as the typical 15-20 HP diesel models. The ATV/UTV transmissions simply will not take the strain heavy drags, "breaking ground" with even the smallest of the "food plot" plows and disking "acres".

If you can get a farm guy to break the ground, do so. Then maybe you could keep it marginally broken up using one of those light duty ATV disks.

As far as mowing using an ATV tyoe pull behind mower .... one that can manage 4 +/- acres year after year and hold up is going to run you about $3k. And they are a bugger to use for "yard mowing". The overall length of the ATV and mower will be in the 10' or so range, resulting in a wide turning radius. I'd think that you'd still need a walk behind mower for tighter areas. Might could get by with a weed-eater.

As far as dragging out a deer, any 4 wheeler or typical side-by-side in the 300-400 cc range can handle that.

If you are looking for a recommendation for an ATV/UTV to use primarily for hunting and piddling around, from what I have seen over the past 30 years or so of being around ATV's from back in the 3-wheeler days, the Honda products are dang hard to beat for ease of use and durability. A very close second would be the Polaris and Kubota products.

MZS

I have a Polaris Sportsman 500. It is an inexpensive ATV with a good amount of power but I do not think it would hold up to heavy plowing of acres. I use mine to disk 1/2 acre at the most and then also haul firewood in a cart perhaps 6 or 8 times per year. Otherwise I use it very little. It is a little over 1 year old and has worked well except for the carburetor gumming up from gas containing ethanol. I switched to ethanol-free gas and put in some sea-foam engine treatment and all is well. But I would not want to put too heavy of a load on it. For many acres, find an old tractor second-hand. For less than the price of even the cheapest ATV you can get an old tractor. And for $9K you can get a brand new 25HP tractor at Northern Tool.

GPMD

Good info so far, thanks. I don't plan on any plowing or tilling, just straight lawn mowing. My concern was I know those mowers that how behind weigh a ton and I wasn't sure if an UTV would handle it. I'm starting to think though that an ATV and a Karen tractor might be the best option and most cost effective. Bummer, I was hoping to get it all done with one machine and was hoping a UTV was that option. Now I guess I'm leaning toward the ATV for hunting and plowing purposes. Thanks for help given!

Mojotex

If all you are going to tow is a pull behind mower deck, you should be OK with something like a Polaris Ranger midsize 800 .... or something in that range of towing capability.

The tow rating of rigs like the Ranger 800 is probably about 1200# or so. Most of the pull behinds such as a Swisher or DR brands will weigh I'd guess around 600#-750#. That's a fairly good tow capacity margin. Swisher's cost about $1800-$2000 and the DR's about $1000 more depending upon HP of the mower motor. For both machines you'd be looking in the $13K - $14K range minimum.

peakrut

Well put! Honda's seem to run forever no matter how much you seem to beat them up.

uncle matt

I second mojotex. 100%!

I have a Polaris Sportsman 700 with a Glacier plow system and plowing 12" of snow just isn't going to happen - even 6" is going to be a huge chore. Rule of thumb to keep equipment from being abused is plow every 3". Even if you could clear a 6-12" snowfall it is going to just be pushed off to the edges of the driveway. What do you do with the snow from the next 6-12" snowfall? Or the next? That driveway is going to get very narrow.

I agree with the tractor being the right tool for the job. I would stay away from lighter duty "lawn mower" types and get into an actual tractor. My personal preference would be a Kubota BX or B series. The larger B series would probobly make the most sense if you want to get into ground breaking activities like making gardens or plots with a tiller, digging with a backhoe or using a frontend loader. Moving the snow you go with a snowblower.

Cheap? No. Especially compared to an ATV or UTV. But when it's time to work the job WILL be done. An ATV/UTV and a plow blade would take 4X as long as a snowblower on a B tractor. The tractor will be one path down and one path up - done. Even an ATV/UTV with blower will be up and down probobly 3 times.

salukipv1

I'd probably get a Honda ATV for the transmission.

If I wanted a UTV I'd probably get the big engined Kawasaki Mule

But yea a tractor would do farm work tilling etc... better than either.



I have an atv, we either need a 2nd atv, or a UTV, which are nice because 2-3 people 1 vehicle and a bed to haul a lot more stuff more easily than an ATV.

ATV's can get into tighter spots than a UTV.

GTX63

We have a 660 Yamaha Grizzley. I haul cord wood in a trailer, I drag tree stumps to the burn pile, I plowed the road last winter (very rural). That said, I start it up and run it around more to keep the cobwebs off of it than anything. My wife and kids prefer our golf cart and the bench seat; just stab and steer. If I had to do it again I would probably have gone with a UTV. Kubota's are nice but at around 10-12K the price isn't.