Tell me your Ranger problems

[duckkiller]

Ok guys say your wanting something for deer camp work and hunting(retrieve game, food plot work ect...) how praticle are they? You all say they loud and swamps are bad on them. Truth is I walk in and out and only use 4wheeler when I have game down or working at camp. Also most of my my roads at camp are dry(mud holes and gumbo of course), as there is very little swampy hardwood bottoms left anymore. How practical would one be for me? I graduate in May and plan on buying something before the next hunting season. I want something to work at camp, but to take to delta when I go to buddy's camps. Dad keep preaching the new mule's but I have never really liked the mule as its slow and small. What yall think?

[SWAG]

As I mentioned before, only problem I have had is the belt thing and it was as much my fault as it was Polaris. It is no comparison in one of these things and a 4 wheeler. I walk in to most of my spots as well (deer hunting), but have put it through plenty of muddy alligator clay soil while duck hunting (usually with 2-3 people, guns, packs, 2-3 bags of decoys) or working around the farm. Load capacity is awesome. Haul all your junk all the time. Not as loud as it has been made out to be, just louder in the cab. No more frozen hands going to the duck hole. Hands nice and warm. Can use all sort of accesories...trailers, sprayers, seats, gun racks; you can go the whole nine yards if you want to. No way I go back to a four wheeler as far as hunting/farming purposes go. Raining? Not wet in the Ranger. Probably know 10 area farmers who own Rangers. Know 2 who have Rhino's and will tell you they would rather have the Ranger. Besdies a few belts and a fuel pump problem, the ones I know of around here had little trouble. They have been used and abused. Got kids? I guess not yet since you are just getting out of school. Have seen alot of 4 wheeler wrecks with young 'uns over the years. I laid under a three wheeler in a dredge ditch during a rain for about 8 hours when I was 16. I feel alot more comfortable watching my 12 year old driving off on the Ranger than I do a 4 wheeler. There are so many advantages to name. Expensive they are, but if affordable it is a no brainer, get the Ranger.

[JDgator]

I was wondering why you would get a UTV when you can get a cheap wrangler or old 4wd Tacoma for half the price of a new Ranger. Then you can drive the vehicle on the roads and to and from the hunting spot. I guess the down side is that the larger vehicle needs to be insured and burns more gas...

[donia]

definitely the ranger would be practical for you. it is a workhorse, higher load capacity, higher seating capacity, a cab is NICE in the winter when there is a stiff wind blowing (i don't have doors, just top, full front windshield & full rear enclosure & it is still nice and warm). if you have any height to you, ranger is better - legroom is lacking in rhino (for me anyway). if you are doing much turf spraying, you can unlock the rangers rear axle (turf mode) so you don't tear up the ground turning like all its comptetitors do (better for pavement, too). and they are easy to work on (my rhino is like working on my 4runner was-big meaty hands in lil japanese spaces, not that i'm working on it very often)

[donia]

I was wondering why you would get a UTV when you can get a cheap wrangler or old 4wd Tacoma for half the price of a new Ranger. Then you can drive the vehicle on the roads and to and from the hunting spot. I guess the down side is that the larger vehicle needs to be insured and burns more gas...

ranger will go in most woods, with a few 3 point turns here and there - not so in a pickup-maybe a samuri or brat since they are lighter and narrower that a jeep or tacoma. can't go in our duck sloughs in a truck or jeep, but utv's will.

[duckkiller]

Cant use mini trucks or the other on WMA's either, where as you can a UTV.

[Matt S]

The ranger would fit your needs. As long as your trails are wide enough it go where a atv will go and have seen them go thru places atvs wouldnt.

[Duck Sniper]

the older rangers where loud but the 700's are not loud at all

and the 2010 800 crew is not anywhere near as loud as the '08 or older models. Mine is very quiet for such a beast!
Sniper

[stang67]

Ok guys say your wanting something for deer camp work and hunting(retrieve game, food plot work ect...)

How often do you have to actually go into the woods to retrieve deer? I do quite often, and this is an area where I believe the atv is irreplaceable. Rangers, etc. are just too big to get in the tight places I put a 4wheeler. May not be an issue for you, but if I traded up to a UTV, I'd have to do alot more dragging.

Now for food plotting season -- no question -- the UTV would be the ticket.

[duckkiller]

I always drag to the nearest trail(all trails are cut with avg 45-50hp tractor 2 wide) and then load onto ATV?UTV. I dont like driving into the stand even to retrieve game.

[Deltaquack]

I can sit here and think of the ones in our club. There's a couple of Kubotas, a couple of rhinos, 3 or 4 mules, and then about 10 Rangers. I personally bought a ranger after much investigation. I wouldn't own any of the others......and honestly haven't ridden my 4 wheeler 3 times since I bought my Ranger. I can drive it down closed roads at our club where I can't a truck. It's perfect for retrieving game and i've filled the back up with hundreds of pounds of hogs at one time and have never had a problem. If you are wanting a UTV get the Ranger and never look back......you'll be happy. The guys that say they have problems would have problems with any of them.....running them through water and swamps all the time.

[SwampMan]

While in New Mexico elk hunting last year, we took a brand new out of the box Ranger up and down 3 mountains (we had to do some clearing), drove up to a 900+ lb. elk and with 5 men loaded him in the back and drove off the mountain. I don't know whether the rhino would have done that, I'm sure it would have made the ride, but I don't think that you could have fit the elk in the back. After that trip I bought a Ranger.

The only thing I have done to mine is a belt. Very easy to change yourself.

[goosebruce]

Any 4 wheeler or utv with a belt, you can smoke it if you are in hi range. lo range puts an extra brake on the belt to keep it from slipping, ive never seen any brand smoke a belt in lo range. Ive got 2800 miles on my 03 kodiack, on the orginal belt. i broke the hose that vents the belt busting ice, and soaked my belt, pushed it out of the water, and pulled the plug on the belt housing, ran in netrual for 5 minutes, put plug back in and drove it home. flooded it 3 more times before I figgered out what I had done and fixed it (a ziptie and 2 minutes), and still have never replcd the belt. My is used almost every day dog training, and I run 27 inch outlaws during duck season... if the big tires are on, lo range only, and after 6 seasons still on orginal belt.

a rhino is almost a cross between a true utv and 4 wheeler. sportier, but not as worky. but i think they'd go places a ranger wouldnt (narrower). But i wouldnt say they are safer for a kid, cause one power slide where they end up hooking up, and your going to get thrown out (see class action suits, and doors being sent out to customers as a result). seen people get hurt on rangers, but they where dumbazzes. travis

[goosebruce]

Any 4 wheeler or utv with a belt, you can smoke it if you are in hi range. lo range puts an extra brake on the belt to keep it from slipping, ive never seen any brand smoke a belt in lo range. Ive got 2800 miles on my 03 kodiack, on the orginal belt. i broke the hose that vents the belt busting ice, and soaked my belt, pushed it out of the water, and pulled the plug on the belt housing, ran in netrual for 5 minutes, put plug back in and drove it home. flooded it 3 more times before I figgered out what I had done and fixed it (a ziptie and 2 minutes), and still have never replcd the belt. My is used almost every day dog training, and I run 27 inch outlaws during duck season... if the big tires are on, lo range only, and after 6 seasons still on orginal belt.

a rhino is almost a cross between a true utv and 4 wheeler. sportier, but not as worky. but i think they'd go places a ranger wouldnt (narrower). But i wouldnt say they are safer for a kid, cause one power slide where they end up hooking up, and your going to get thrown out (see class action suits, and doors being sent out to customers as a result). seen people get hurt on rangers, but they where dumbazzes. travis

[blgros1]

how high can the water be before you hit the breather? stock ranger? can you snorkle them? i'm talking about short water runs, not all day?