I finally was able to pickup my UTV (Utility Terrain Vehicle) yesterday. This is a two (actually 3) seater version of what many know as ATV (All Terrain Vehicle). I decided to spoil myself this time and get a nice one.
After doing a lot of research, I decided the Polaris Ranger XP 1000 was the right fit for me. This combines a lot of utility and also some fun. For me, key factors were the ability to pull a mower, push a plow or snow blower, have a utility bed for hauling stuff around, and still be small enough to take thru the trees and have fun in the woods.
This meets all counts. I call it saving money vs. purchasing a tractor to perform these work functions. My wife calls it "a toy". I think we compromised at "a toy that has work attachments" lol.
I don't have the plow for it yet, still backordered from dealer as well as the cool graphic display with GPS and auto-plow raise/lower, etc. I was able to bring it home early to mow the 3-5 acre yard that hasn't been mowed in nearly 2 months. Yes, it was getting tall, calf high, nearly knee high in some places.
I showed the Swisher pull behind finish cut mower in previous post, but here it is actually attached to the UTV. I'll post some videos of it in action later, but let me say it did an outstanding job on this tall, thick grass. Knocked it all down in about 2 hours even with having to go over many of the clumps repeatedly to chop them up smaller.
The UTV also has storage area for a 5 gallon bucket right under the passenger seat. Very handy for grabbing some tomatoes, hauling tools, or other activities.
After finishing the mowing last night, I went for a trail ride this morning (videos later). These trails hadn't been used for a while it seems (good for me!) and there were a few fallen trees on them. Not wanting them to go to waste, I cut them up for firewood and brought them home. The utility bed very handy for that and will get a lot of use.
I found a most useful attachment that drops right into the mounting holes on the side of the bed and is built to hold the chainsaw nice and handy, yet gripped securely. This keeps it from bouncing around the bed, yet quick and easy to deploy. It came in very handy today.
While the UTV could have easily climbed over these two trees, they were perfect size for firewood without having to split them later. My favorite size! Was then able to back the UTV right up to the 4 ft firewood frame, and offload the wood quickly with a simple lift and shift. Very productive morning indeed for "a Toy with work attachments".
Trail driving videos and drone videos of the mower working coming soon!
@ksteem