Advice pls - Small Farm Utility vehicles

[tedw]

Advice pls from thos who work outdoors and know what they're talking about! My daughter runs a livery yard and her recent experience of hauling water out and muck in from the snowy fields has convinced her she needs motorised help. She's looking at some sort of small Farm Utility vehicle, probably electric, but has not got a lot of cash to spare. Any advice or recomendations gratefully recieved.
Thanks, Ted W

 

[Bazzworx]

Hi have a look at a suzuki sj410 or sj413. They have either a 1.0L engine or a 1.3L both are petrol. They are a small 4X4 and can be picked up dirt cheep for one without an MOT. I have had many and used them for allsorts. They are equipped with 4 wheel drive high and low range. Even though the engines are small they can still pull heavy loads. I had to pull a Range Rover classic out of a ditch in the snow last week. Hope this is of help.

Regards

Ben

 

[Buckshot]

Were you thinking of a quad, ATV/ golf buggy style or a road type 4x4?
I used to use a suzuki when I was younger and I found they went very well when empty - better than the Landys we had but struggled when loaded to the gills with wheat for the pheasants.
It seemed to bounce over the ruts rather than go through them like the heavier 4x4's
I drive a quad around a fair bit now (Honda 400cc ish) and it works well. Ours has a box fitted to the front rack which helps keep you warm as it defelects the wind. the main problem is if you want to carry anything more a flask you need a trailer - which almost defeats the object of having a quad.
The ATVs I think are a good comprimise between the other two. You have the carry ability of a trailer with the convienance of a quad - almost.

I really like the idea of electric. Problem is there's only one supplier of decent working quads as far as I know and most of the ATVs are golf buggies and not really up to anything more than driving along fairways.

Price wise you can spend a few hundred up wards with the electric stuff being £7K ish plus as there aren't many second hand ones around!

HTH

Mark

 

[tedw]

Thanks for the replies so far. Was thinking of an ATV, electric, glorified golf buggy sort of thing but the old 4x4 could be worth thinking of.

 

[Biggles]

Sorry Ted not electric but my old Massey Ferguson 135 does the job and cheap to run on red. They can be got for 3k. Best bit of kit I have used for our small farm.

Pete

 

[Martyn]

Advice pls from thos who work outdoors and know what they're talking about! My daughter runs a livery yard and her recent experience of hauling water out and muck in from the snowy fields has convinced her she needs motorised help. She's looking at some sort of small Farm Utility vehicle, probably electric, but has not got a lot of cash to spare. Any advice or recomendations gratefully recieved.
Thanks, Ted W

What's wrong with an old Landy?

 

[belzeebob23]

Hi ted
I have to agree the suzuki is a good entre level 4x4 just check out top gear's south american special but they do tend to bounce over the ruts rather than cut through them which can make for a bumpy ride. I know you where saying you where thinking about something electric the only problem with them is the weight of the battery and the cost to charge them.
but since your daughter is used to doing it by hand have you thought about a powered wheelbarrow something like these
http://shop.ebay.co.uk/i.html?_nkw=..._cqr=true&_nkwusc=powered+wheelbarrows&_rdc=1

scott

 

[locum76]

Thanks for the replies so far. Was thinking of an ATV, electric, glorified golf buggy sort of thing but the old 4x4 could be worth thinking of.

how big is the farm? is the vehicle going to have to do anything other than lug stuff about? would you require:

a tow bar?
A PTO?
A front loader?
4 WD?

How wide are the gates on the farm? What is general access like? How much money is there to spend on it?

Rob

 

[harryhawk]

Thumbs up for a Kubota. Used them on several shoots I work/help on. Great for lamping off the back of. 2 or 4 wheel drive. and plenty of room on the back.
http://www.rtv900-eu.net/rtv_eu_eng/products01.html And you can get them in "Realtree" not just orange.
I do a lot of rabbit control on a golf course and we use one of their vehicles. They have a 3-wheel and a 4-wheel Cushman. Again plenty of room on the back. You could try and get hold of one of those second hand. I know the Italian Police were using an electric version.


A bonus with both these is the fact that you can tip the flat-bed back up, a help if you're mucking out. They both run on Diesel.

Used a John Deere "Gator" once, what a pile of pants. Don't even bother!

Hope that helps. Harry.