Gator versus quad

patrickr321

Member
Horticulture
Hi

I'm looking at options of getting either a gator (something like the John Deere XUV855D) or quad bike (Honda TRX500) for 70 acres of pasture: feeding animals, fencing, moving stuff, pulling small loads etc. Apart from the obvious: staying drier, having more room onboard to carry stuff), but more expensive, I'm interested in:

  • Particularly impact on the ground issues (the gator is 4x heavier than the quad, so might have a much bigger impact on the ground?)
  • Fuel consumption comparison
  • Any practicality differences
Any advice gratefully received!

Best

Patrick
 
Get a honda 500 and a coat for when its raining. You might be able to get away with the smaller 420 one if your not pulling big loads. Have a 5 year old 500 here and done nearly 3500 hours without any issues yet.
 

tr250

Member
Location
Northants
About 15 years ago we sold a diesel quad bike and bought a mule dad loved the mule for shepherding but after 6months of red faces and swearing not being able to get cattle in we bought a quad again and have had both ever since currently a Polaris ranger and a Honda 420 quad. Dad loves his Polaris and spends about every hour on it he’s 80 so he’s warm can get in and out easily and he doesn’t make too much mess we use bike for moving cattle/sheep lambing electric fencing slug pelleting etc and wouldn’t want to have to make do with one or the other
 

Poorbuthappy

Member
Livestock Farmer
Location
Devon
If you have wet ground the utv will make far more mess and not go where the quad will go.
The utv is better for lugging lots of feed about, and obviously the cab has its advantages, but I much prefer the quad for stock work (we have both).
This time of year we're selective where we take the utv and take the quad if possible as it makes less mess.
 

neilo

Member
Mixed Farmer
Location
Montgomeryshire
W*nkers from the shoot have been on with a couple of gators today, despite being asked to keep off now it’s wet. This is the mess they made😡:

3753C213-42CC-43AC-AD97-30F415F7DD71.jpeg


But aside from that, all those machines are massively under-engineered for the job they are being asked to do, hence the common, expensive breakdowns.

If I was wanting to keep dry and carry more stuff, then I wouldn’t entertain one. I’d much sooner a light 4x4 suitably equipped with balloon tyres.
 

Longlowdog

Member
Livestock Farmer
Location
Aberdeenshire
I've got a twenty year old gator that hasn't had 1,500 quid spent on it in that time.
Upsides, doors, diesel,
Downsides lack of pace (relative to a quad) and larger turning circle, less nimble.
Being on flat ground with easily moved sheep I'd rather have a gator, if I lived anywhere with hills and wild sheep I'd rather have a quad.
It's a lot more civilised to have your break in a cabbed gator, likewise rolling a smoke or answering the phone in a gale. You can make your dog safer in a Gator but it takes time to let them out of a safe dog box.
Gator Vs Quad is really a black and white issue. Hills and flighty livestock =Quad, civilised pottering around doing a bit of fencing and putting out mineral blocks =Gator.
Bear in mind that a lot of the nimbleness and speed advantages of a quad are lost the minute you load a trailer behind it.
If you have an accident in a Gator with a ROPS/FOPS cab no-one is too likely to get hurt ...If you have an accident on a quad (or worse a staff member) HSE are going to be all over you if the correct PPE wasn't worn/training given/ticket acquired, blah, blah, blah..
 

Fendt516profi

Member
Livestock Farmer
Location
Yorkshire
W*nkers from the shoot have been on with a couple of gators today, despite being asked to keep off now it’s wet. This is the mess they made😡:

View attachment 1007752

But aside from that, all those machines are massively under-engineered for the job they are being asked to do, hence the common, expensive breakdowns.

If I was wanting to keep dry and carry more stuff, then I wouldn’t entertain one. I’d much sooner a light 4x4 suitably equipped with balloon tyres.
Have you driven to where you've taken photo from with quad? The tyre marks and the width of them look more like quad size than gator
1009141-e2e890ff60b9ba75aaf4c10e7c0f0cd2~2.jpg
 

Wood field

Member
Livestock Farmer
Depends upon a lot of things, from location and how your ground travels to age and fitness
We’ve had Honda trx 500 , farm steep wet inbye land 160 odd acres with one parcel a mile and a half up a main road
We also run a moor which is again steep and wet
We bought a cheap eBay special kioti utv to see how we got on
Threw a few quid in bushes and bearings and it’s been fine , last winter we had snow from Christmas through to the end of feb and feeding the moor sheep on the quad became a chore hence trying the utv
We’ve just took the plunge and bought a Corvus utv
Very good turning circle , good cab,heater etc and holds 40 mph on the road (flat) runs on red so fill from the farm tank
It’s a hell of a price but despite all the “ get a jimmny “ or whatever else comments it works fore us and is used daily especially through the winter period
Neighbour has a jimmny conversion and I’ve not seen it off road ( seen them on moor track but not off piste)
Other neighbour says utv are ok but won’t go where I need, yet is constantly rolling his quad
Me we’ve kept the quad and I am happy with the Corvus
Kioti for sale cheap if anyone wants it 😃
 

Yale

Member
Livestock Farmer
We run kutobta rtvs. Slower than gators but with the hydrostatic transmission much more solid than a belt drive in hills if you have any.
Main advantage over quad is red diesel and a roof!
Very pleased with our Kubota,it’s the only one which has the engineering of a tractor underneath.

Services are a bit more expensive as the hydrostatic transmission needs servicing on the dot however so long as it is robust and keeps going I’m not bothered.Definitely a lot heavier than our old K Mule 4010 however there is always a trade off,most other mainstream brands are a lot heavier than they used to be.
 

Yale

Member
Livestock Farmer
Hi

I'm looking at options of getting either a gator (something like the John Deere XUV855D) or quad bike (Honda TRX500) for 70 acres of pasture: feeding animals, fencing, moving stuff, pulling small loads etc. Apart from the obvious: staying drier, having more room onboard to carry stuff), but more expensive, I'm interested in:

  • Particularly impact on the ground issues (the gator is 4x heavier than the quad, so might have a much bigger impact on the ground?)
  • Fuel consumption comparison
  • Any practicality differences
Any advice gratefully received!

Best

Patrick
Why not go for the light UTV‘s like the Honda pioneer?Think Can Am also do them.

They are basically a quad underneath with a light roll cage and windscreen,side by side seats.
 

Wood field

Member
Livestock Farmer
Why not go for the light UTV‘s like the Honda pioneer?Think Can Am also do them.

They are basically a quad underneath with a light roll cage and windscreen,side by side seats.
We had a pioneer 520 on demo , it was a good bit of kit , rep said the 700 was being replaced this year
Only thing against it for me was the tiny load space
700 had better cab options if you need full cab
 

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