My brother is looking to replce his Kawasaki Mule 610, to be used around the farm. What do you use and the pros and cons 4x4 preferred.

I have a 2016 Kawasaki pro mule dx. It’s single seat, diesel powered. Bed dimensions are 54” x 54”. It’s a fuel miser.

This or get a trans. mule.

thanks

I have a Kubota RTV900, older unit that keeps on going. It is rock solid, large bed with hydraulic dump, it's a bit on the noisy side and not the fastest UTV but it is a work horse. I have really been wanting to move up to the dual row seating but the bed on most are just too small to also be functional for me. The Mule Pro and CanAm look like solid contenders for dual row seating with larger bed.

Thanks everyone

I love my Canam defender max (6 seater). I think a lot of what you'll need is dependent on if you need dual row seating or not and how big of a bed you'll need.

Kubota 1100 with full cab - use mine to hunt and around my acreage - like driving a small pick up -

Has AC Heat etc but best thing is no dust inside my cab

If you can find a used one, the Honda Big Red is an excellent choice. Not the fastest but can haul 1000 lbs plus and will tow 1500. The auto type transmission works great, no belt.

I have a 2015 Polaris ranger crew 570 fullsize. Over 1200 hours on it. Hasn't missed a beat yet. I keep up with basic maintenance and not abuse it. I had a trans mule prior to this and it was way too rough riding. Ranger is very comfortable and tons of aftermarket

RTV900 if you need to work. Lots of others better if you want to play. Sold my 3010 Transmule for the RTV, hydrostatic trans is nice compared to a belt drive.

Our dusty grimy RTV900 must be 10 years old, and I bought it used. Heavy, loud, and slow, but dependable. I have replaced the battery twice, the right headlight bulb went out, and I replaced the throttle cable (which didn’t really need replacing). That’s it, other than fluids and filters.

The wife truly loves the hydraulic dump bed. Solid steel bed. It has a few dents after all these years. And I should mention that you can get the Kubota with external hydraulic connections and run all sorts of tools, like a wood splitter or T-post driver.

And my wife broke out the glass windshield, but that’s not the fault of the Kubota. That was expensive.

You'll get a ton of different answers. The big thing is determining what your needs are. If its strictly a work vehicle you cant go wrong with a mule. Tough as nails. Down side, much rougher ride than some other UTV's and low max speed. If that doesn't matter than its probably a good option. If you want a smoother ride and faster max speed I would consider a can am defender. I've had many atv's and utv's over the years and I've been very impressed with this machine. I would strongly recommend putting S3 springs on it though if you plan to haul heavy loads and pull trailers. Best mod I've made to my defender hand down. Think it only ran me like $300, maybe $400 for the springs. I cant remember exactly. Either way, that's my 2 cents. Good luck!

[quote=hagop]You'll get a ton of different answers. The big thing is determining what your needs are. If its strictly a work vehicle you cant go wrong with a mule. Tough as nails. Down side, much rougher ride than some other UTV's and low max speed. If that doesn't matter than its probably a good option.

All of what is said is true for the old style Mule. However the Mule Pro is like riding in a car. I use a Pro DX and it has thus far stood every test. In quail season it regularly hauls my hunting rig, six dogs, and up to five hunters. The only alterations have been changing to heavy duty springs and kevlar tires. I don't know anything about Can-Am but if they have one that will work all day under a heavy load in rough country and use less than two gallons of fuel, I want to know more. The Mule Pro DX is not a toy but if you are looking for something to use for real work that is super comfortable and amazingly economical with top speed of 30 mph it is going to be hard to beat.

My Kubota RTV 900 that is 8years old with over 3500 hours on it. Not babied as you can see. This thing is a real work horse.

Wow! 3500 hours! Mine only has about 900. I guess the old gal has a while yet to go.

3rd set of tires. One fan belt. One water pump. One small hydraulic fluid return hose. And had to replace the u-joints in the rear end. Oh and the battery a couple of years ago. Put a small car muffler on it and a heavy rubber mat in the bed and that made it quite a bit less noisy.

Won’t be long till I get new tires. The tread is down low.

I tell folks that the RTV900 is commercial equipment, not a plastic plaything. I think it's a diesel tractor disguised as a UTV with two cup holders. The wife claims it as hers, since we bought it in 2006 (used) for our anniversary. So I guess it must be about 15 years old, in total. That was $10,000 well spent.

I got a Kubota RTV X1140 a couple of years ago to haul hunters and prospective Ibex buyers. It is even more powerful than the 900 and rides like a Lexus.

Who did the work, or did you do it yourself?

Thanks everyone

I did all the work on it the entire time I owned it. I gave it to my son who now uses it when I got the 1140.

My 900 is a 2008 and only has about 950 hours on it. Replaced the tires a few years ago and found it was cheaper to buy the entire replacement rim/tire combo from Coleman equipment than to try and go out and replace the tire by itself. Like others have said, the things are tanks and run forever. Downside is they are loud, slow and no where near as comfortable as a ranger.

I would love upgrade and to go to an 1140 but the bed size keeps me from biting the bullet. Yes, I know its bigger with the rear seat folded but then I am back to the same seating as my 900.

We've had John Deere, Kubota, Polaris and almost every model of Kawasaki mule made here on the ranch and the Kawasaki Pro FXT transmule is by far the best machine. My son and one friend had Yamaha Rhinos and both had a lot of problems with them. Kawasaki's come with a 3 year warranty while all other brands only have a 6-12 month warranty, I think this says something! Also Kawasaki dealers will sell you as much extended FACTORY warranty as you want as long as you never let the warranty run out. We've put over 20k miles each on 3 of the Pro mules with virtually no issues.

The little 610s are bulletproof, but they ride REALLY rough compared to the Pro FTX