I have been reading some of the post here. I see to much emphasis on how fast they can go. Speed is not a huge issue. What is the best machine for 2/3 adults and 10 bags of corn? Smoothe ride or best suspension for not beating you up. Able to be pulled on a normal trailer. Reasonable priced.

Looking at the layout of the mule but the last one I rode on A LONG time ago sucked. Have they improved?

I had 8 lbs of corn in the bed of my rhino along with towing a 5x10 trailer. Its been a great sidexside

8 bags*

The mule is a good work horse and will fit in the back of a pickup but they ride rough unless you have 200 ~ 400Lbs in the bed.
Yup, the new ones too.
One of the passengers will have to be really small to fit 3 in a regular cab mule.

The Honda big red aint any better.
The Gator and Bobcat were worse.
Both the brand new Artic cat prowler and the Yam Rhino had to be winched on the trailer without finishing the test drive on my place in W Tx.
The Polaris rangers rode handled and hauled great, but if you want to work them hard they have to be in low range to prevent belt slippage/damage, low range is slow even wide open.

They all have their pluses and minuses, If your gonna get one buy a name brand

Love my Honda big red, will easily haul as much stuff as you can fit in the bed. I can only get about 600 lbs of corn in the bed without tying it down. I picked the big red because of the real automatic transmission it has. The rest have belts.

I have had mules and rangers both. Both have postives and negatives. Mule is cheaper to buy, built stronger, solid metal bed, 800# payload, tow light trailers good, and easy/cheaper to maintain. Bad on a Mule is they are slow, rougher riding, and not as good at taking hills with under a load. Ranger is faster, smoother,better in mud, haul/tow a heavier payload, maybe a little better fuel mileage and little better ground clearance. Bad is it is more expensive to buy, a lot more to maintain one over the long run,harder to work on or do maintainence on, not built as well as a Mule if you are going to really put the hours on one, and have a plastic bed. Have had 4x4 Mules from non-fuel injected to fuel injected, 2x4 Ranger, 4x6 Rangers. Put as much as 2300 hours on one and average about 3+ hours per day for the year. Buy a new one if your getting one.

I have a 2010 610 Mule 4x4. Two adults is all you can fit in the seat. I put out my feeder this weekend, my spot is way up on the side of a ridge in Young County. It seemed easy walking to and from. So I loaded her up with the feeder (winch up w 55 gal barrel) and 300 lbs of corn in the bed, loose rocks and big boulders around I put the throttle to the metal and up she climbed. My pucker factor was pegged at 10! The little Mule handled it with ease, I didn't need speed, I needed power and she had plenty!

What are ball park cost on these rides?

Most are around 10k and up.

Or less depending how much engine you get. You can get a Polaris Ranger in 500 that is around $8500-$9000 when I priced one last summer. The 2x4 Ranger used to be about $1,000 less than the 4x4 Rangers 8 yrs ago. Had the same ride and plenty of power with a locking differential. Just not good in steep or loose rocky terrain I would think and decent in mud if you know what you are driving in without 4x4.

I would not want a 2 wheel drive one. If I park on a incline in loose dirt I can't back up in 2wd. And right now in this drought all we have around here is loose dirt/sand. The Honda only has one engine size 700cc, and only comes in 4wd. And they are 10k.

My Mule was only $250...I bought a 60 raffle tickets...and won...lucky me! I think they retail for around $7500 for the 610 Mule, it's not the fuel injected model.

I guess I just dont understand why everybody needs one. My truck does me just fine.

matt

Because your truck won't go on my trails, or across my creek. It also tears up more ground than my big red.

Never had a problem with 2 wheel drive for 2 yrs and this was on 5100 acres. Never got stuck after a rain since I picked my routes, but did get stuck 2 times when on dry ground when I high centered on ruts trying to got thru a mudhole that was dry. Not gonna say that a 4x4 won't be better but if you don't need it don't buy it since it is one more thing to break and do maintanence on.

Yeah, I really need it. Trying to back up a steep hill in what is basically loose sand does not work in 2wd. My truck, tractor, and 4 wheeler won't do it in 2wd either. Just depends on your terrain. Also when it is wet (if that ever happens again) I can't climb the other side of my creek in 2wd.

I like my Ranger over the Mule I had! Suspension is way better on the Ranger.

No problems with 1000 of Corn and 6 people. I just had to upgrade the stock shocks and a 2" lift kit.

Mule is fine for my buddy on his farm. Flat terrain, hauling feed around and such. When he comes to my ranch, he says we go places in my Ranger he would not even attempt in his mule. Also haul loads he wouldn't put on his mule.

If you have pretty flat terrain and think 8 bags is a heavy load, you have lots of options. If you have rocks and steep inclines like I do, or if you occasionally want to run with 3 guys and enough feed for multiple feeders I'd look at a Ranger...

Every since I have gotten my ranger, I can not beleive what I have been missing out. You can load that sucked down and pull a small trailer with no problem.

Mules were just to small for my liking.

My only experience is with my buddy's Yamaha Rhino. Rides nice and smooth. Tows a trailer with up to 100 gallons of water just fine. Runs plenty fast enough for the trails and roads on the lease.

Down side...That is the dustiest, dirtiest, nastiest ride you'll ever take. The dust rolls up from behind and in the cab. You are literally covered in dirt by the end of even the shortest drive.

I personally believe that the best all around hunting vehicles are 4 cyl. powered 4x4 import mini trucks like Mazda, Nissan, Toyota. They're economical, haul anything, go anywhere, enclosed cab with heat and a/c and usually a whole lot less expensive than an ATV/UTV.

Have had 4 of them. They are nice for the things you have listed above including smooth ride and very, very quite. Have had 2 door and 4 door all in automatics. 4 door has much more room for taller guys to get in and out, those Japanese must be pretty small folks for the most part with short legs. Downside is not much power and 4 wheel drive in Suzuki is bad with Diahatsu much better. They are made cheap and radiator on some in under the seat. The engines do not like dust and will loose compression if they get the dirt in them past the air filter. I know this $$$$$$$$$$. Parts are expensive and very hard to get and then trying to find someone to work on one is even worse.

I have a Kubota RTV 900. Built like a tank, good ride, plenty of power. Some think the diesel is too noisy. I wanted a diesel because of long life, use the same off road diesel my other equipment use. May not go as fast as others but there are no places I would want to go over 25 mph. I like it.

I have been in a couple of the diesel kubotas, and they are neat.

matt

Your buddy has a windshield on that Rhino dosen't he? Without a windshield there is no dust rolling up from behind in the cab. I have one, I know what I am talking about.
If you have a sliding rear window on your pickup, try opening it while you are riding around on the lease, same effect.

Well until it rains or he removes the windshield I'm riding in the truck. That dust storm was ridiculous.