UTV

[David L]

Man oh Man, got woke up this morning big time. Let the dog out she came back in with a smell I don't wish on my enemies. She had a run in with a skunk. Got her in the eye too. I will be smelling this for days...

Update: WOW this smell is giving me a headache...we bathed our dog with a peroxide/baking soda/dawn soap mix. It helped a little, maybe we were too slow in getting her bathed.
Reminds me of a Partridge Family episode were they pulled over to let the dog do it's business, when back in the bus driving off they discovered what we are going through.

I need oxygen

So was wrong, the skunk was found inside their bus.

 

[Smilingreen]

Wow, thank you very much for this list. It is not long. My father taught me what to look for in used cars/vehicles. One time found a hood with used chalk part number markings yet the owner said it never been wrecked. From what I have been told, most people do not get rid of a good UTV, like your 12 year old Gator...now I know some upgrade, like to a Crew, but this is a Crew.

There are a few concerns already with this one, it has been listed for 80 days, and 40 days from same dealer different location. Kinda a red flag for me since most of these sell quick. Also, I see rust on the Brake Lever, where was this UTV kept?

View attachment 216928

Mmmmm. Slide up underneath and look at the frame or any steel components for major rusting. Look at any exposed aluminum for pitting. That reminds me of heavy equipment that has spent it's life near salt water or.....in salt water. We see a lot of heavy equipment here in Tennessee at the auction lots that originally came from the Texas or Florida coasts. Any unpainted steel or iron is heavily rusted and scaling. That rust is a tale tell sign that it has been exposed to salt and it is decomposing more and more each day. Just me personally, it might be a diamond in the rough, but I would walk away from that one. If the brake lever looks like that, just imagine what the cables and cable jackets look like. Steel bolts......

Just for shits and giggles, if you have the machine serial number, enter that into a google search. See how many auction yards it has gone through in the past year or two. You might be surprised. The latest trend in auctions is to buy a piece of junk at the yard for the lowest price possible, leave it on the lot until the next auction, where you hope and pray that an uneducated buyer with cash burning a hole in their pocket, will see it and buy it for more money than you payed for it. I have seen the same piece of equipment go through the same auction yard multiple times in a years period and never leave the lot.

 

[David L]

Mmmmm. Slide up underneath and look at the frame or any steel components for major rusting. Look at any exposed aluminum for pitting. That reminds me of heavy equipment that has spent it's life near salt water or.....in salt water. We see a lot of heavy equipment here in Tennessee at the auction lots that originally came from the Texas or Florida coasts. Any unpainted steel or iron is heavily rusted and scaling. That rust is a tale tell sign that it has been exposed to salt and it is decomposing more and more each day. Just me personally, it might be a diamond in the rough, but I would walk away from that one. If the brake lever looks like that, just imagine what the cables and cable jackets look like. Steel bolts......

Just for shits and giggles, if you have the machine serial number, enter that into a google search. See how many auction yards it has gone through in the past year or two. You might be surprised. The latest trend in auctions is to buy a piece of junk at the yard for the lowest price possible, leave it on the lot until the next auction, where you hope and pray that an uneducated buyer with cash burning a hole in their pocket, will see it and buy it for more money than you payed for it. I have seen the same piece of equipment go through the same auction yard multiple times in a years period and never leave the lot.

So I called yesterday to find out it was sold. God stepped in

I agree, rust I understand but on the brake handle? I have seen rust in the 2 inch hitch, but normally on the inside. Still looking, there was another used one that got away on me. One place had several trade-ins from a Trophy Ranch...salesperson said they trade them in every couple of years...

I made a copy of your list to bring with me when looking...thanks again...not in a rush here, hopefully I will find one before it quickly gets snatched up...the good ones go quick...

Since my son-in-law got me looking again, I have been looking for him too. He wants a Crew with doors, at least half doors, top & windshield...he has 10 acres of pastured land.

 

[David L]

So looks like we went Green. We found this about an hour and half from us.


One owner, has an electric bed lift, big help for us. We went to see a Mule Crew Cab, the one that the back seat moves forward to extend the bed, well I could lift the bed (empty), the wife could not. I will say with all that extra metal from the seat and back cage protector, it was very heavy. I am sure a couple hundred pounds in the bed and I would struggle lifting it. So an Electric lift is a must.

The Deere has something we really liked, the back seat folds down to a flat surface. great for our dogs to ride back there. The doors are tall enough to keep them in. On the Mule the back seats are higher than the front and way too high for dogs.

Another big plus, for me, all metal floors, not plastic flooring like all the newer UTVs come with now a days. I just had a hard time with that on the new ones.

We drove it, both my wife and I, the power steering is very nice. We went up some embankments with no problem. Plenty of power for us. It backed up nicely, we will be adding a rear view mirror I think. It also has new tires, which is nice. He said 6 ply. Told me you can put your boot into a tire to see how strong it is. If it is weak like a balloon, no good.

The windshield is nice, the top part lifts up like a back window of a camper cab, has two pistons/rods, or only open the bottom, and whole thing can be easily removed.

Has mat in the bed, also has the full plastic cloth cover for the whole cab area to close every thing in.

It was barn kept, only seen a little rust, mainly on the door hardware, thinking we can fix that and maybe repaint. I did not see any rust underneath or anywhere by the engine. Very impressed with front and back seats, they really look good. My Zero-Turn seat is pretty bad, threw a cover over it so I did not run out and pay high price to replace it.

The bed size is nice and big, which is what we want. The Kubota 1130 has a nice size bed, this is not as big but much bigger than others we looked at.

We are excited, can't wait to throw our dogs in the back!!!

 

[David L]

But, we do not have it yet. Two issues, the owner does not have the title, we found out. He never went and had it titled. He financed it with John Deere and they sent him a Manufacturers Certificate of Origin when he finished paying it off. On the back it looks like a Title does where when you sell you put Buyers info so he thought that was a title.

When we put the VIN (Serial # or Product #) as John Deere calls it, in the Texas Standard Presumptive Calculator Site, the VIN did not show up. We called the DMV and they told us what was up.

So the owner is going to go down to his county and title it so we can have it transferred in our name when we go to DMV. Only issue is it will take 3 weeks to get the title No biggie though. What we did is draw up a Bill of Sale, gave him 10% down to hold it.

This gives us time for our second issue. We have no trailer, lol. Hey we are slowing getting everything we need. As I told him, before I run out and grab a trailer I would like to have my tractor first so I know what size/type we will need. So I have about 3 weeks to figure this out and rent one. There are simply no trailers for rent out here in the country. Why? Everyone has their own trailers, haha, except for us. LOL I called half a dozen U-Hauls in our area, well all the other towns around us since we are way too small of a town. No one has trailers for rent. We don't know enough people here yet to borrow one either.

The Gator owner said he will make some calls and check with some people he uses to haul stuff. like hay, for him may want to make a 90 mile delivery. Again I have 3 weeks to figure this out... Borrowing one could be a problem if tires are dry rotted, hate to see the Gator scattered all over the freeway. LOL

 

[Smilingreen]

Well, congrats on the Deere purchase. You will like it. Our 855D is 13 years old now. Still running the factory tires, although the rubber is starting to get hard. Original Yanmar diesel engine. We do oil and filter changes, air filter changes and try to rinse the dirt off on occasion. I think this is the second battery in 13 years. I only had it stuck once and that is because all 4 wheels were off the ground and no winch installed. I high centered it on a big log left on the side of the hill on a logging road. Not exactly the machines fault.

Just remember to take turns a little wider with that super stretch limo! She should ride smoother with the longer wheel base.

 

[David L]

Well, congrats on the Deere purchase. You will like it. Our 855D is 13 years old now. Still running the factory tires, although the rubber is starting to get hard. Original Yanmar diesel engine. We do oil and filter changes, air filter changes and try to rinse the dirt off on occasion. I think this is the second battery in 13 years. I only had it stuck once and that is because all 4 wheels were off the ground and no winch installed. I high centered it on a big log left on the side of the hill on a logging road. Not exactly the machines fault.

Just remember to take turns a little wider with that super stretch limo! She should ride smoother with the longer wheel base.

Thanks, now we have two Deere's with our Z445-54C Zero-Turn. We were surprised at its turning radius. May add a winch, we will see. Had one guy tell us, if you use a winch to pull something big, you will need to tie off the UTV to a tree on the backside otherwise the winch will just pull the UTV towards whatever you are winching. LOL

The wife really, really likes it. She could not stop talking about it all the way home. Man I love that woman

How many Hours/Miles do you have on your Gator?

 

[danweber1]

as far as i know its the only utv with a lawn saver non spool rear. so its a 1 tire drive until you engage the rear lockup

Honda pioneer 1000's also have that, turf mode

 

[Smilingreen]

Thanks, now we have two Deere's with our Z445-54C Zero-Turn. We were surprised at its turning radius. May add a winch, we will see. Had one guy tell us, if you use a winch to pull something big, you will need to tie off the UTV to a tree on the backside otherwise the winch will just pull the UTV towards whatever you are winching. LOL

The wife really, really likes it. She could not stop talking about it all the way home. Man I love that woman

How many Hours/Miles do you have on your Gator?

About 520 hours. Now that I own the Kubota, the Deere doesn't get driven that much. I have a whole bunch of Deeres here on the farm. A 5055D tractor, a 900 series Z-trak, a 325 lawnmower, a 335 garden tractor, a 1968 John Deere model 140 Garden tractor, a 790 tractor...and now I just added a CAT 289D3 XPS track loader. I am getting too many engines around here. I buy offroad diesel 100 gallons at a time. The Cat will drink most of it.

 

[Smilingreen]

as far as i know its the only utv with a lawn saver non spool rear. so its a 1 tire drive until you engage the rear lockup

jiofi.local.html tplinklogin​

Virtually all UTV's are one wheel drive until you lock the rear differential. Then it becomes a true 2 wheel drive. Have fun steering with the rear differential lock in.

 

[David L]

HAULING

Question: Since I have not hauled an UTV, I have an ATV, what strapping method due ya'll recommend.

Lasso to the Tires
or
To the Hitch (Safety Chain connections) and Front to the Frame

I have done the frame but it was a short Haul. Now I see many are doing it to the Tires/Wheels to allow the ATV/UTV Suspension to not be compressed.

I will be trailering this 2000 pound 13 footer about 100 miles, 75 MPH Highway Speed limit


Don't remember if they are Alloy or Steel RIMs, is running a strap through an Alloy RIM an issue?

Lasso Straps I see are going over the tires (10 o'clock, 2 o'clock) and tying down at about a 45 degree angle forward or back. The clock position of course could be 11/3 o'clock for the Front and 9/1 o'clock for the Rear Straps.

Definitely not strapping Lasso straight down:


Oh, also 2 inch Strap recommendations, Rhino, Vulcan?

Thanks...

 

[Smilingreen]

HAULING

Question: Since I have not hauled an UTV, I have an ATV, what strapping method due ya'll recommend.

Lasso to the Tires
or
To the Hitch (Safety Chain connections) and Front to the Frame

I have done the frame but it was a short Haul. Now I see many are doing it to the Tires/Wheels to allow the ATV/UTV Suspension to not be compressed.

I will be trailering this 2000 pound 13 footer about 100 miles, 75 MPH Highway Speed limit
View attachment 217488

Don't remember if they are Alloy or Steel RIMs, is running a strap through an Alloy RIM an issue?

Lasso Straps I see are going over the tires (10 o'clock, 2 o'clock) and tying down at about a 45 degree angle forward or back. The clock position of course could be 11/3 o'clock for the Front and 9/1 o'clock for the Rear Straps.

Definitely not strapping Lasso straight down:


Oh, also 2 inch Strap recommendations, Rhino, Vulcan?

Thanks...

Do a 4 point attachment. Attach the straps to the axles and cinch down to the steel trailer frame on each corner of the trailer. Don't do the D-ring attachment to the wood floor. In case of a high speed accident, you don't want a 2000 pound mass tearing the lag bolts out of the wood deck and your UTV resting either inside your truck bed, or worse yet, inside your truck cab. Give it the o'l wiggle test to make sure none of the straps have loosened up.

Me personally, I like #70 load chain with hooks and chain binders.

If something happened to your trailer, your load should remain firmly attached to the trailer, like the tractor is on this trailer. Straps won't do this.

 

[David L]

Do a 4 point attachment. Attach the straps to the axles and cinch down to the steel trailer frame on each corner of the trailer. Don't do the D-ring attachment to the wood floor. In case of a high speed accident, you don't want a 2000 pound mass tearing the lag bolts out of the wood deck and your UTV resting either inside your truck bed, or worse yet, inside your truck cab. Give it the o'l wiggle test to make sure none of the straps have loosened up.

Me personally, I like #70 load chain with hooks and chain binders.

If something happened to your trailer, your load should remain firmly attached to the trailer, like the tractor is on this trailer. Straps won't do this.

View attachment 217534

I think straps are popular because with chains they scratch the trailer, so less rust. But I am with you, chains are the safest way to go.

The Lasso method was new to me. Made sense to me to let the ATV/UTV's suspension ride Free and not be compressed to a trailer, in theory...that is why I asked. Seems to be a small debate on this from what I found.

So, Good News, the Seller Titled the UTV today, so now we wait 2-3 weeks for the his Title to come in so we can finish the sale/transaction...

Man it is hard to find trailer rental in our area. Checking Neighborhood U-Haul's around us, Zero trailers. Have to go to a big city which would add another hour drive time, and that is returning to one of these Neighborhood U-Hauls as they call them. As mentioned before, Everyone here has their own trailers except me It is next on my List though...once my son-in-law and I figure out what/which tractor we will be getting/using between us...

I have been talking to our Tree guy and he offered a 20 foot trailer, but only when he is not using it, makes sense. So told the Gator Seller that I may have to pick it up on a weekend...

 

[David L]

Looking to get me some new straps.

I like these:





Wondering if the Snap Hooks will fit in the Safety Chain holes on the Hitch. Thinking this would be a good place to strap from:


If not, I will need some J-Hook Straps...

 

[David L]

Looking to get me some new straps.

I like these:
View attachment 217558
View attachment 217559



Wondering if the Snap Hooks will fit in the Safety Chain holes on the Hitch. Thinking this would be a good place to strap from:
View attachment 217557

If not, I will need some J-Hook Straps...

I went ahead and ordered the J-Hook ones, they were on sale and I could use some good 2 inch straps, I like the T Handle on these too.

Since we have alot of 18 Wheeler traffic I will just ride with them, they go about 5-10 MPH slower than the 75 MPH Speed Limit.

 

[David L]