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Featured Replies

Getting rid of my polaris ranger xp that has been great. It's an 07 and have had great luck with it.

 

Having said that looking for a new 4 seater. Boys are getting older. I want nothing extreme, just some AT tires and reliability. Kind have narrowed it down to polaris and can-am because I know both dealers.

 

Thoughts on each?

Clearly with boys an X3 Max Turbo RR variety is the right answer. I’ve been toying with the idea of getting a 2 seater, but just never have pulled the trigger. We’re limited on places we can use them and I don’t want to destroy the farm with it either.

I’ve been in Polaris, Arctic Cat, Yamaha, Kawasaki, Can Am, Honda, you name them. 
 

Kawasaki Mules are far and away the best of the lot.  

Mule with lift and 8-ply tires full of slime is about as rock solid as you can get. The abuse I have put ours through is amazing and it just keeps on rolling. 

Mule with lift and 8-ply tires full of slime is about as rock solid as you can get. The abuse I have put ours through is amazing and it just keeps on rolling. 


They are bulletproof. My only knocks on them are they could use more power and they’re not that easy to get in and out off. Other than that, they don’t give 2 shits what you put them through.

My FIL has a Diesel Mule on his 1,000 acre place in Llano that has been to hell and back. 

11 minutes ago, HOOKEM4 said:

Mule with lift and 8-ply tires full of slime is about as rock solid as you can get. The abuse I have put ours through is amazing and it just keeps on rolling. 

Kevlar-lined Essex Bigfoot tires and a 2” lift on my 16 year old Mule.  On my second set of tires.  The thing has been all over TX, CO & MT and won’t die. 

Honest question.  I see these types of things can get into the $20k range for 4 seaters.  What’s the benefit of that vs something like a used wrangler?

I've got a Honda Pioneer 700-4, so the bed turns into two bucket seats.  It's great for what we use it for but my kids are pretty small and the backseat could get a little cramped for bigger kids.  I use it almost every day and am very happy with it.

I've driven most of them and I'd say that the Mules seems more sluggish/under powered than the Polaris, Honda, and Can-Ams that I've been in.  They are bombproof though.

Why don't you really let your nuts hang and go for a Tomcar?  https://tomcar.com/   My boss has two of these for riding the mining trails around Crested Butte and they are the baddest MF'ers around.  Some of the trails that I've driven up/over/through in these things are unbelievable.  Trails that I would never dream of taking my Honda up because it would rip up a tie rod within minutes.

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Guess I will look at those as well.  

The mules are also about the cheapest too. Like 12k for a 6 seater. Maybe a little more I can’t remember.
16 minutes ago, dingleberryswitzer said:

Honest question.  I see these types of things can get into the $20k range for 4 seaters.  What’s the benefit of that vs something like a used wrangler?

I think I paid 13k for our Mule 4010 Trans with lift, tires, roof and plastic windshield (which I broke less than a month into owning it, but that is a different story).

5 hours ago, deadshank said:

I’ve been in Polaris, Arctic Cat, Yamaha, Kawasaki, Can Am, Honda, you name them. 
 

Kawasaki Mules are far and away the best of the lot.  

Have you tried a Kubota, and what are your thoughts on them?  

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21 minutes ago, dingleberryswitzer said:

Honest question.  I see these types of things can get into the $20k range for 4 seaters.  What’s the benefit of that vs something like a used wrangler?

Can-Am has one that suggested MSRP is $29K.  The local Polaris dealer owner has one valued at just over 40K. 

25 minutes ago, Kennythetiger said:

Have you tried a Kubota, and what are your thoughts on them?  

Good but very loud product....and comes in prison orange; although, they have some non-prison orange now.

48 minutes ago, dingleberryswitzer said:

Honest question.  I see these types of things can get into the $20k range for 4 seaters.  What’s the benefit of that vs something like a used wrangler?

Wrangler?  As in Jeep?

UTVs are much easier on muddy senderos.

4 hours ago, dingleberryswitzer said:

Honest question.  I see these types of things can get into the $20k range for 4 seaters.  What’s the benefit of that vs something like a used wrangler?

Years back I wondered about that, ended up buying a 1959 Willys CJ5 for $3000 and spent a bit fixing it up.  Sold it for $3500 bucks a couple of years ago.

Edited by Judge Roybeanbag

4 hours ago, Kennythetiger said:

Have you tried a Kubota, and what are your thoughts on them?  

The Kubotas are much more utilitarian than recreational - drives more like a tractor than a SxS.  I think they have a lot more torque, but the one I rode in was very slow and loud.

This is far smaller than what you're looking for but I just bought a Polaris rzr 170 side by side for two small daughters. 

I still have no clue if I made a good call but it's a couple weeks before I get it.  I'm banking on fact that it's got ridiculous high resale value if they hate it or never use it.

1 hour ago, Hornbeliever said:

This is far smaller than what you're looking for but I just bought a Polaris rzr 170 side by side for two small daughters

This was the path I was going to take for mine. 

1 hour ago, fattyflattie said:

This was the path I was going to take for mine. 

How big a property do you have?   I only have 7.5 acres and am worried too small.  There are country roads,  I guess though. 

5 minutes ago, Hornbeliever said:

How big a property do you have?   I only have 7.5 acres and am worried too small.  There are country roads,  I guess though. 

A whole solid 1/4 acre lol.  Would be for parents place and 1k acre lease.    

2 minutes ago, fattyflattie said:

A whole solid 1/4 acre lol.  Would be for parents place and 1k acre lease.    

Well,  I'll let you know what's up in mid to late March

On 3/1/2021 at 11:00 PM, NotActuallyALonghorn said:

I'm a fan of the Mules that convert from four seaters to two seaters. I prefer the bench style seat to the more bucket styles.

I second this one. You didn't say what you were using it for, but ours is an all-purpose farm wagon used for feeding the chickens and hauling shit around and I've never had a lick of trouble with it.

It's very easy to convert to four seats when you need it, but with two seats the cargo bed can easily be tilted and dumped when needed.  

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10 hours ago, Hornbeliever said:

How big a property do you have?   I only have 7.5 acres and am worried too small.  There are country roads,  I guess though. 

7.5 is plenty to make some cool trails for kids.  I have a little over 2 and it is fine.  Plenty of neighborhood friends have additional trails.

1 hour ago, crimsonlonghorn said:

I second this one. You didn't say what you were using it for, but ours is an all-purpose farm wagon used for feeding the chickens and hauling shit around and I've never had a lick of trouble with it.

It's very easy to convert to four seats when you need it, but with two seats the cargo bed can easily be tilted and dumped when needed.  

Lease for me (if I am the reference here).  Sometimes we have some spots with a lot of mud and water, but not to the point where you need those swamp treaded tires.  ATs do just fine and they ride 5X smoother. 

17 hours ago, The Royal We said:

The Kubotas are much more utilitarian than recreational - drives more like a tractor than a SxS.  I think they have a lot more torque, but the one I rode in was very slow and loud.

This!  It’s like riding in a tractor, slow and loud.  They are terrible option for recreational purposes.

Edited by Hook1997

My buddy just got one of these, have to admit it's pretty cool.  

UTV.PNG

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Went and looked at the 6 place Mule at lunch.  Very impressive and now at the top of my list.  

On 3/2/2021 at 11:39 AM, dingleberryswitzer said:

Honest question.  I see these types of things can get into the $20k range for 4 seaters.  What’s the benefit of that vs something like a used wrangler?

About impossible to get stuck. And for me the main advantage is our place has a shitload of gates and certain times of year many are closed. Much easier to get in and out of 50 times a day when driving around doing shit.

While I’m not suggesting you get this, if you are ever looking for a straight utility version, I suggest one of those cub cadet carryalls.  I was managing a project in WV and all my labor were some deep woods hillbilly 20-somethings.  These guys would intentionally try to break shit, err, test our equipments durability.  Anyhow, I let them guys have full reign of one of those and they couldn’t fuck it up. They had something like 15 completely water soaked (think literally pulled out of stream after 60 days) straw bales stacked about 8’ high in the bed one day, and 3 guys in front.  Then then took that load up the mountain trails and to our site.   One mentioned they were trying to break it but it just wouldn’t quit. He said they can usually blow up the polaris’ pretty easily. They didn’t have a high opinion on them. It was slow, hard to start like the old school mules, and only a 3 seater, but that thing took a BEATING.   I don’t beat on my stuff so I’ll still eventually land in a Ranger (likely) just passing that along.  Those fucking guys took 10 years off my life in 4 months. Idiots. 

8 hours ago, Hook1997 said:

This!  It’s like riding in a tractor, slow and loud.  They are terrible option for recreational purposes.

The diesel Kubotas are beasts for commercial and farm work.  VHT transmission is great in those applications vs a CVT transmission.

That said, Kubota introduced a gas powered, 50hp, SxS with a CVT to compete with the Polaris and Mules, etc.

  • 2 weeks later...
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  • Popular Post

Thank you fellas on the mule recommendation. Test drove the Ranch Edition today and will pick it up Saturday.

The utility mule has changed a LOT since the last time I looked at them.

Got the silver on black.

afec06fec0853959729ccb7a552032aa.jpg1f9b9464f2c63caf6f5beb6103bd7c14.jpg0761b259c652e5e2362c133e8a12d870.jpg

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Will add:

Glass windshield in the Fall, some sort of BT soundbar (Wetsounds likely) and a 2" lift. Probably a snorkel kit as well. Not for submarine missions, but for a creek I have to go through during duck season that gets high at times. Seat high.

1 hour ago, markstanco said:

Will add:

Glass windshield in the Fall, some sort of BT soundbar (Wetsounds likely) and a 2" lift. Probably a snorkel kit as well. Not for submarine missions, but for a creek I have to go through during duck season that gets high at times. Seat high.

You should get that option on anything you buy ‘Stanco.

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You should get that option on anything you buy ‘Stanco.
It's not my wife's jeep and it ain't the year 2014 so all good slappy.

(For those that don't recall or know I battled the red River and lost in my wife's 4D wrangler)
Thank you fellas on the mule recommendation. Test drove the Ranch Edition today and will pick it up Saturday.

The utility mule has changed a LOT since the last time I looked at them.

Got the silver on black.

afec06fec0853959729ccb7a552032aa.jpg1f9b9464f2c63caf6f5beb6103bd7c14.jpg0761b259c652e5e2362c133e8a12d870.jpg

Nice man!
  • Author
Mule with lift and 8-ply tires full of slime is about as rock solid as you can get. The abuse I have put ours through is amazing and it just keeps on rolling. 
(Reading through old recs)

Yes, the lift is the very next thing on the list. And as mentioned in the Fall I will do the glass windshield.

There is a good YT channel called Project Farm where this dorky guy tests out everything. Good follow. He did tire sealant Products a while back and some off brand was superior, but I think slime was up there. I'll have to go back and check it out.
1 hour ago, markstanco said:

(Reading through old recs)

Yes, the lift is the very next thing on the list. And as mentioned in the Fall I will do the glass windshield.

There is a good YT channel called Project Farm where this dorky guy tests out everything. Good follow. He did tire sealant Products a while back and some off brand was superior, but I think slime was up there. I'll have to go back and check it out.

Essex Bigfoot tires.  Do it. 

  • Author
Essex Bigfoot tires.  Do it. 
Yea good point. I will do that before duck season, but for now it's gonna be a neighborhood street queen. The stock tires are certainly not rice and flooded corn field material.
  • Author

The mules are also about the cheapest too. Like 12k for a 6 seater. Maybe a little more I can’t remember.
Add about 50% these days slappy.
(Reading through old recs)

Yes, the lift is the very next thing on the list. And as mentioned in the Fall I will do the glass windshield.

There is a good YT channel called Project Farm where this dorky guy tests out everything. Good follow. He did tire sealant Products a while back and some off brand was superior, but I think slime was up there. I'll have to go back and check it out.
Use Multi Seal with Kevlar for the tires. I use it in my UTV and Tractor tires.
9 hours ago, markstanco said:
10 hours ago, deadshank said:
Essex Bigfoot tires.  Do it. 

Yea good point. I will do that before duck season, but for now it's gonna be a neighborhood street queen. The stock tires are certainly not rice and flooded corn field material.

Apparently I had it wrong.  It’s Essex Surefoot tires and Essex Bigfoot lift kits.   Anyhow, they’ve always worked for me.  

On 3/11/2021 at 9:34 PM, markstanco said:

Will add:

Glass windshield in the Fall, some sort of BT soundbar (Wetsounds likely) and a 2" lift. Probably a snorkel kit as well. Not for submarine missions, but for a creek I have to go through during duck season that gets high at times. Seat high.

My FIL's mule is semi-snorkelled from the factory. Air intake goes through the roll cage. Are you planning to fully submerge it or something?

Add about 50% these days slappy.

Well you got the deluxe super super fancy version. Always add 50% for that.

Question: did you drive a ranger or can-am along with that specific mule? I am curious as to the difference in performance speed wise. The mule my friend has is just the base mule with the smaller engine and it’s not too fast. Their Polaris ranger 570 is way faster. Just wondering if the upgraded engine on this mule is a noticeable difference.
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Well you got the deluxe super super fancy version. Always add 50% for that.

Question: did you drive a ranger or can-am along with that specific mule? I am curious as to the difference in performance speed wise. The mule my friend has is just the base mule with the smaller engine and it’s not too fast. Their Polaris ranger 570 is way faster. Just wondering if the upgraded engine on this mule is a noticeable difference.
Ranger is 1000 cc so probably a lot faster. I got up to 50 mph for a brief moment this morning. Break in is at 20 hours, half throttle recommended. The ride is smother than a friends 570 4 seater, but probably a lot to do with his AT tires (not mud tires).
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My FIL's mule is semi-snorkelled from the factory. Air intake goes through the roll cage. Are you planning to fully submerge it or something?
Not on purpose. I have a deep crossing to my duck and deer blind after a good rain though.

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