ATV vs. UTV

For those who may have had both of these at some time, which vehicle do you find better when working with firewood?

 

Depends a lot on your wood lot...how open is it? Tight trails kinda stink with a UTV IMO...I personally prefer an ATV just in general...

 

Buggies offer more utility for me. Enclosing and adding heat was an absolute game changer. If I were still trying to mix recreation and utility I may favor a quad.

 

My wood lot is long and narrow with hills. I would estimate the woods to be 300 yards long and up to 100 yards wide. I do have a trail cut thru the woods and I use my garden tractor to do the hauling. I don't know if an ATV or UTV would be any better. A UTV would give me the benefit of not having to use my trailer to haul saws and other equipment.

 

Erik B ... have had a couple atvs... last one with tracks, sliding logs out in the winter. After one drive in my son's utv... (I'm now 71)... I wouldn't even consider climbing up on an atv again. Loading & dumping loads at the back, and stepping into a comfortable ride, sure would be nice. Many run tracks on utvs too. They become tanks then. Have fun.

 

I'm 78 and going in for hip replacement next month, so there is that. At this point I don't know how much I would use it during the winter. I have been trying to get all of my wood work done during spring, summer and fall.

 

I have both. The ATV is better at fitting in tight spaces. The UTV is better at everything else.

 

Thanks for mentioning the ease of getting on a utv. I hadn't thought of that.

 

Same here, agree with the comments.

UTV has a dump bed, so I can double how much I carry vs ATV. UTV can pull more weight. UTV is covered in weather.

If you have tight trails or a small woodlot, ATV is good. Other than than, UTV is better.

 

You can have both rec and utility in a UTV.
Everyone makes their own version of these now. Hybrid between the sport models and utility models.
Has a dump bed, tows 2k lbs, sporty suspension to handle trails with ease, can get up to 70mph.

 

Fully aware at attempts to comingle. Gotta give up stuff on either side, so I choose utility. Nice ride.

 

All of my experience is with the Kubota diesel utv with a cab. I would recommend it if you don’t mind noise and being slow. Typical Kubota durability. Shifting is clunky. If you have saws, gas and bar oil in the bed, you better be pulling a trailer, if you want to haul wood home. If I had 30k to burn and 50+ acres in the foothills, I’d get one.

 

I wouldn't be looking at spending more than 15K. We do have a Honda dealer not far from here and they have a great reputation. I bought my Ariens snow blower from them.

 

One can get cargo in an ATV. I'm an ATV guy myself.



Here's mine:

 

Just one guys opinion, but I would not get a diesel UTV. They are louder, slower, drive worse, and more expensive than they need to be compared to a Japanese gas unit. My uncle has a Kubota RTV and I have a Kawasaki FXT. I would get in the Kawi every time for every task over the Kubota.

 

I have experience with the Botas. Comparitively speaking in terms of performance, they are easily over a decade behind. BUT...and it's a big but...aside from maintenance they will ask for nothing...over a very long period (more than a decade), so there's that too. Example would be the long term unit I know. Two decades of use. The only real failure the machine has had was that the rubber on the front CV shafts broke down and rotted. Never needed brake pads or anything. It does work but is not abused. Nobody will ever be impressed by a test ride. Very undewhelming. They will just go seemingly forever, just not very quickly or comfortably. Uncommon in today's world.

 

This explains why farmers like them. That and diesel last longer in a tank then gasoline

 

They still are buying Mule 4010s, which is just an upgraded 3010 that came out in 2001. I can see that side of things, though I'm not absolute. It's nice when stuff just works.

 

Ive driven both the original and the X variant. The X variant is more comfortable with much more suspension travel. They look far better to in my opinion. Still slow but as you stated, they are very reliable.