My wife and I are moving out of the city back to the country. We are going to move into my Grandmother's house while we prepare to build on our 40 acres. I was hoping the forum had some opinions on side by sides. We will use this utv for work and some trail riding. My Dad has a Mule 610 and its WAY to slow for me, I want more power for sure.

I have narrowed the search down to either a Polaris Ranger XP900 or Kawasaki Mule Pro-Fx. Does anyone have any experience with either of these machines? or have opinions on others I may be missing?

Thanks

Question:
Ranger or Mule?

Choices:
Ranger
Mule
Other

 

I have outfitted and maintain seven Mules for Santa Clara PD. They use these at Levi Stadium. The PD guys love them, plenty of space and power. I have driven them plenty of times, super stable and plenty fast at a top speed of 45MPH.

No experience outside of the standard slow Mule (SX is the closest I see on the Kawa site) my dad has.
But was in AZ late last year & did a desert ATV tour & they had a fleet of Kawasaki Teryx 4WD 4seat that were a blast. Not sure how they are in the utility role.
Otherwise, my mom has a Yamaha Rhino that is a bit more utility styled than the Teryx.

quote:

Polaris Ranger XP900

The Ranger is made by Polaris a USA based company and the plant is in MN, with USA employees, nothing against Kawasukiahama stuff, it's good but my money would go to the USA company.

Plus they have a $1200 rebate on them right now
and 2.99% financing if you are so inclined.

http://www.polaris.com/en-us/r...er-xp-900-sage-green

There is a comparison option at the bottom of the page you can compare the 900 to the Mule.

Some quick differences, the Polaris has more HP, larger gas capacity, real 4wd to all 4 wheels, more travel in the suspension quicker acceleration, etc.

I've looked at them and they cost so damn much I'd rather buy an old Jeep.

quote:

Originally posted by Jus228:
I've looked at them and they cost so damn much I'd rather buy an old Jeep.

That is exactly what I did-a 1980 CJ7, for $3500. I've been using it for over 17 years now.

Regarding OP's query, I would go with whichever one has a competent servicing dealer closest to where you are going to live. That's why I picked a Kubota tractor over a Deere.

We have a Razor, not a Ranger. It is an 800 and it has all the power and speed we need. It does around 62. It seats 4. Took it to Utah in the Mts. Had a blast. Took it to Moab too. So far no problems. It is 4 years old I believe. Gonna use it Friday to pull a smaller fallen tree out of mmy woods.

Rangers are excellent machines, we call ours mountain goats. They see plenty of ranch/trail work. Amazing the type of terrain they can get up and down. I'd go so far as to say anything but a heavily modified Jeep would no be able to compete.

I have a 2011 Ranger Crew 800 and have tried like hell to kill it. My ranch is steep and rocky, I have only changed the oil one time since new and pretty much drive it like I stole it. I have been through 2 batteries and 4 sets of tires, no issues.

quote:

Originally posted by Shifferbrains:
I have outfitted and maintain seven Mules for Santa Clara PD. They use these at Levi Stadium. The PD guys love them, plenty of space and power. I have driven them plenty of times, super stable and plenty fast at a top speed of 45MPH.

How do you get them to go that fast? Ours seems to be governed at about 20MPH.

quote:

Originally posted by Phred:

quote:

Originally posted by Shifferbrains:
I have outfitted and maintain seven Mules for Santa Clara PD. They use these at Levi Stadium. The PD guys love them, plenty of space and power. I have driven them plenty of times, super stable and plenty fast at a top speed of 45MPH.

How do you get them to go that fast? Ours seems to be governed at about 20MPH.

Ours are 2015 and 2016 model years and came that way, no modifications. These have the 812cc three cylinder engines.

I have a 2015 Polaris XP 900 and just love it. Polaris offers more accessories than most other brands. Mine has the hard cab with glass not poly windows. Heater, stereo and winch and LED light bar on roof. I bought it slightly used last spring it just had 1000 miles on it. it came with all the accessories listed. All I purchased was a plow for snow this winter. It did all the plowing I asked it to and then some.

I plowed all my neighbors and some people I didn't even know it was so enjoyable!

it's been awesome for ice fishing this winter too. It goes through a lot more than I thought it would. I'd like to get tracks for it for next winter season to do some remote Canadian lake ice fishing adventures.

We have a 2016 Kawasaki Mule Pro FX 6-seater with 2 bench seats.
The rear seat can fold up, then you have an extended larger rear utility bed that tilts
The floor does not get near as hot as the Polaris that I had previously.
The Mule's crew wheel base is 20" shorter than the Polaris Ranger Crew. That's a huge difference when riding these desert trails.
Top speed is 45mph. Ride is excellent, though I did add a lift kit.

I have a Yamaha Grizzly 4 wheeler that has been nothing but fantastic. If I ever decide to get a side by side I doubt I would stray from Yamaha.

It depends on how you are going to use it. I don't have any experience with the Polaris, though the mechanic who we use for heavier jobs on the ranch said they are the most popular brand among his customers and seem to hold up the best.

We have rather rough terrain and relatively "mechanically declined" employees. We had a Kawasaki Mule, I think the model was 1200D (We run everything we can on the ranch on diesel). It did not hold up well at all. When we replaced it we went with a Kubota RTV900, which we have since replaced with a Kubota RTV1120.

Comparing them, I'd say the Mule feels like a quad pickup built by a toy company while the Kubota feels like a quad pickup built by a tractor company.

The Kubota also has a hydrostatic drive, which holds one back on our rather hilly patch while the Mule's centripetal clutch kicks out and lets it take off down the hill unless one keeps a little pedal on or rides the brake.

If it was something for just me and the family to play with, I do something else, but for something to work hard and have employees work hard, the Kubota does pretty well.

Dad has a Ranger Crew 800. Awesome machine. I've used it a lot and haven't found anything it can't do. It's big, obviously so it's a bit unwieldy in the woods. That's about the only negative I can find. It tows the pontoon the mile down to the boat ramp and it'll run almost 50 miles an hour and seat 6 grown adults. 1 wheel, 2 wheel, and 4 wheel drive modes.

My in laws have a Mule at their late house and I think they like it a lot. I haven't used it, though.

Thanks for all the comments guys I appreciate all the help. This weekend hopefully I can go check some machines out.

Polaris is the choice of the Spec Ops Community.

I just picked up a used ClubCar XRT950 for hauling stuff around my 3 acres and so far I have been pleased. It is a 2009 model but only has a few hundred hours on it and is in good shape. It is 4wd and also has a lockable rear diff, alloy wheels with mud tires, headlights and a dump bed. Powered by a 14hp B&S v-twin that pushes it around 25mph. It gets me from one end of my small plot of land to the other fine and I will never have to use a wheelbarrow again.

I picked this one up off CL for $3,500. It is an off road golfcart but so far I haven't needed anything more, nor did I want to pay 8-10k for a used Polaris/kubota etc.

I prefer my Winchester but my Browning got more use over the last 43 years.