Polaris Ranger, Kawaski Mule, Yamaha Rhino???

ALright, I'm looking at getting a buggy for work and play. I need a bed for work and play as well. I was just about convinced i wanted the Ranger Crew, but have heard not so great things about them. I have to have it for work(pipeline) as i get paid to have 1 so it has to be dependable. Any thoughts opinions or experiences yall may have lets hear em'. Thanx in advance.

BTW, it has to be able to go threw NE Texas mud, so 4x4, winch etc is a necessity

I have used or owned Rangers and Mules.
Rangers have more power, much faster and much smoother riding. I have a regular Ranger 700XP now. It has a big enough bed to haul and can pull pretty good loads. I have used 4x6 and 2x4 Rangers in the past. All are great work vehicles. Downside of them is they can get expensive to maintain. The boots get a hole or cut in them and then you have issues with bearings and joints. They handle mud very well. The Ranger will go place the Mule won't and it will not beat up as bad when you get there. I have a friend who bought 2 Ranger crews last summer and had metal beds custom made for them and loves them. I would not get power steering if you are going to use it rocky/rough terrain IME.

Mules have a better bed, easier/cheaper to maintain and seem to hold up pretty dang well. They are slower, rougher riding and not as comfortable. The hauling and towing is less than a Ranger. The new ones have power steering and fuel injection and are easier to start(thank God!). I like the under the hood storage they have. The maintance schedule is much longer between hourly schedules making it a bit cheaper to maintain.

I have put 1200 hours a year on both a Ranger and on a Mule on different ranches over the years. The Ranger was more expensive to maintain over the Mule. I can not speak for a Rhino but when I looked them and compared them to what I have owned/used they did not seem to be built as well. Most seismec crews are using either Mules or Kubotas that I am seeing in South Texas and West Texas.

I have a Yamaha rhino......thing has been dependable as can be....have had it for four years and use it for pretty much just like you want one for. Never have had any problems with it at all. Really don't know at this point how I ever got along without it before. Just my 2 cents. If it ever plays out on me....I will get another one without any reservations about it at all.

How many hours have you put on it in that time?

Around 5000....I use it around the ranch about everyday it seems. When I'm not using it, seems the better half is taking it down to the lake to go fishing....

I will confess though, I do take really good care of it, change oil, air, fuel filters , grease, etc, regularly....if I can go around a mud hole instead of thru it, I do. I don't abuse it at all and use it for hauling corn to the feeders, firewood to the house, work at the garden, checking fence lines and such mainly. It was money well spent in my opinion.

John Deere Gator 825i 4-wheel drive on the farm in Kansas. Gets used for many miles checking electric fence, herding cattle, etc., twice a day, seven days a week. Been going strong for 3 years and not a minutes trouble.

Which one has the wheel wells in the bed? I really do not like that feature.

I had the Yamaha Rhino and sold it. Only because you can't get a bench seat or a four seater rhino.

I have the four seat Ranger now and love it too. However they are completely different machines. The Ranger Crew is a cadillac but still performs really well. The Yamaha is a beast that can be taken anywhere.

I personally believe the Yamaha is the better machine but they are built to ride hard. Dunes, river bottoms, and just flat out get after it. If you just like to cruise and aren't into the mud scene or riding hard then I would suggest the Ranger Crew.

we had a rhino for a few months last summer at work and that thing was loud and vibtrated even on cement parking lots. i have only been on the rhino and my buddies gas club car and it was much quieter than the rhino.

are the rangers just as loud as a rhino?

Yes they are all fairly loud.

Ranger all day long. Also look at the Can Am Commander

Ranger is the shizzle. Great vehicles.

Ranger

My choice would be the Yamaha Rhino. I have a Yamaha Grizzly that has been & still is dependable and will go anywhere you need to. Your one problem with the Rhino might be the small bed in it.

The two guys I know who have Can Am's absolutely regret it. They stay in the shop the majority of time.

I have a Ranger Crew, Mule Crew, two Kubota (one crew and one two seat), and two old John Deere Gators (one 2x4 and one 4x6). The Gators work great on the farm for moving feed, they are just slow and will get stuck in the mud quickly. The Kubota takes time to learn how to drive because of the engine breaks but is the best to work out of, great bed and can pull the world if needed and will just keep going. The Ranger is smooth and fast but seems to break easy and takes lots of maintance, fun the drive if just riding around checking feeders and fence, but it does get a bounce if you load the bed down. The Mule is not fast, in not fancy, but always gets me back home no matter what. If I had to pick just one it would be the crew Kubota, but I like them all. They all do some things good, some things great, and something really bad. My list goes like this:
1. Crew Kubota (Has speed, can hold people, always goes, good workable bed size, over kill on small farm great on big ranch)
2a. Crew Ranger (Speed, crew size, smooth, over kill on small farm great on big ranch)
2b. Crew Mule (Never stops, good crew mover, bed small, works well on farm and ranch)
3a. Reg Kubota (Limited by the amount of people it holds but best for work, works well on farm and ranch)
3b. 4x6 Gator (Has biggest bed but limited by number of people it holds and speed, great for little farm, no good for big ranch)
4. 2x4 Gator (I really dont like this one but it works great for my wife to clean horse stalls with, stays at farm will not take to ranch)

I have owened four Rangers, the most recent ones are the crew cab version and a six wheel drive version. All have be outstanding in the field. Ride good, good power & speed when you need it and have gone thru any and all terrian we have been faced with.
I have riden is several mules and rhinos that my friends have and they are small, uncomfortable and slow by comparison.
IMHO, Polaris Ranger is far better.

We have a diesel Ranger we use at our lease in Sonora. The roads we use it on are as rough as they come. It handles everything we put it through.
We change the filters and oil on it regularly as it is quite dusty. I inspect the boots pretty often as we use it in rocks, mesquite and cactus.
The only thing I don't like is the shifter is pretty stiff. It has a CV trans so all shifting is done at a stop. So it is not a problem just an annoyance.
We added power steering to it. Glad we did.

The Ranger is King. The others are just pretenders. Just bought our second one a '12, and it rides like a Cadilac on the roughest terrain. Power steering his huge, and worth every penny to add on.

I've had my Can-Am Commander 800R for a little over a year. Absolutely luv tha machine. Traded a 2006 Polaris Ranger for this, and have never regretted the move. More power, better handling, more storage capacity, better lighting....and if you need it....more speed. Have not had one single issue and would highly recommend it to anyone! I've added a top to the Commander, otherwise it's just like this picture I took last spring -

X2

Well I like the Razors, and Commanders. However,being a welding inspector and having to get out every 40 or 80', I decided to go with a single cab Ranger 800 XT. Found a hell of a deal in Canton. 2012 model w/ 11 hours for 12.9k. Its got a winch, front brush guard, roof, and stereo. Showroom pretty.

Since I picked it up last Wed nite I've put it in some nasty, nasty stuff. Already put 9 hours on it running the pipelines.
There are some things I dont care for about it, vibration and loud. However it appears to handle just fine. Wander if they'll ever build a manual trans. UTV unless they already do.
Im goin to do some customizing it when this job is done. Lift kit, bigger tires, rear winch and possibly an Aluminum diamond plate bed.

The crew is what i really wanted, but I dont feel like hauling around a bunch of the contractors employees, and there are some areas that the single is better then the stretched crew. Maybe get the crew for the house...

I race professionally for Can Am (Dakotah Klein for all the doubters) I have had two commanders and both have been great. The Polaris ranger has a great reputation but still has its problems.

My inlaws have a kubota. Its pretty dandy.

If you get a Ranger Crew, don't put a windshield (even the vented one) on it. It creates so much dust that no one can ride in the backseat. I have tried every after market gimmick to fix this. In the end, the only solution was to remove the windshield.

It came with a windshield and yes, it does make it dusty. Being that up here it has been raining lately it aint too bad, but when it starts to warm up, it'll be the 1st thing to come off. But drivin around right now in sub 50' weather with mist the windshield is nice.
Ive read that a read windshield helps with the dust a little bit as well.

I have a folding windshield that I keep folded most of the time. Except when its raining or really cold and nobody is in the back seat.

Works ok.

Just went thru this with my dad. He's an inspector on the pipeline as well. Might be the same one.

From my duck/goose hunting experience, the Rangers ran circles around everything else we put in the field. I think there were 11-12 of them on the pipeline that were headed to buy a UTV. He got a Ranger. The other's got various other manufactures. He said compared to what everyone else got, he's very happy I talked him into the Ranger and the other guys that didn't get the Ranger wish they had. Just what he's told me for whatever it's worth.

I've never used one on the pipeline, but if I bought a new one tomorrow for hunting it would be a Ranger. In fact, I think I'm going to buy dad's 800, and he's stepping up to the 900.

Well it depends how much $$ you have & how fast you wanna go.

Polaris's are expensive to maintain, but they are fast.
Mule's have a top speed of 25MPH, but are work horses.

Every Polaris i have ever owned broke almost monthly. The 4 seater mule i have now is a slow, dependable, 5 person, big bed having work horse. I pull an 18 ft lowboy, go thru any mud at the deer lease, and haul over 1000lbs in the bed.
Polairs for the rabbit, but the mule is the tutre!

If you want a serious work machine, you want the Kubota diesel UTV 900. We have had one for maybe 4 or 5 years and it's bulletproof. The downside is that it's loud and unless you put mud tires and a lift on it, don't go in deep mud. The upside is that super heavy duty hydraulic dump bed. You can load that thing up with firewood or dirt and you can't even make the suspension squat. It's great, but it's really just a work machine, and I call ours "the dump truck". If you want speed and fun, get something else.

If you want to fix the dust problem:

Buy some high density foam like you would use for a sofa. Cut it to about 4" wide and the length of the seat. Stuff it in the opening between the seat cushion and the back cushion. This is where most of the fine dust makes its way into the cab from. I use a half windshield with the contoured lip at the top, and this keeps the cold wind off my face and body, but I don't have to deal with trying to keep the full windshield clean from dust, mud, snow, rain and I can still see clearly above the half windshield. I final piece that will virtually eliminate the dust problem is a rear windshield.

Make sure you look at the honda big red. Like mine, and no belt to burn up