Westcoast,
Welcome to the forum.
I don't own both but I have a RTV and my Dad has a Ranger so I do drive both.
Hmmmm. Quite the potpouri of things you have going on there. I guess it would be best if you got one of each.[
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Actually, I would recommend you get a demo of each brought to your location and you try them both.
Let's break down your conditions.
Elevation of 3600'.
- Won't be a problem for either.
Cold weather
- Actually, the RTV may actually be better than the Ranger. Using the key, apply the glow plug warmer for 10-30 seconds (depending on how cold it is) and it'll fire right up and be ready to ride. The tranny will be a bit cold so you'll notice it's a bit sluggish but it'll work fine.
- The naturally aspirated engines in Rangers, Rhinos, Mules... all require playing with a choke and getting them warmed up before they'll want to run. I've heard many are coming out with fuel injection in the next couple years which would take care of this.
Steep hills
- Going up - They'll both go up and the Ranger will do it faster.
- Going down - A real determining factor when I chose the RTV (over the Ranger). The RTV's speed can be fully controlled using just the gas pedal. Heck, you can go down a very steep hill and when you let off the gas pedal, you're going to stop. Period. On the Ranger, it's going to pretty much free-wheel down the hill and braking will be required. It's not bad when empty but can get a bit hairy when hauling a load of firewood in the box (or much worse if you have a trailer in tow).
Dragging logs
- Both will do it.
- If you're using a winch on the machine to drag logs to the trail, the RTV may have a slight edge over the Ranger due to its weight. Basically, it won't tow the machine to the log instead...
Driveway and trail maintenance.
- Except the going down hill issue, I would say they're about the same.
Hauling firewood
- This is the 2nd factor that put the RTV over the Ranger when I purchased (the 1st being going down hills). The RTV can haul more. I've put 1500# in the box and it drove like it wasn't there. The hyd. dump box is also invaluable when processing firewood.
Fun
- Here's where most agree the Ranger beats the RTV. It has more speed and is more agile. Honestly, I normally find the 25-28mph top end on the RTV to be adequate. All the other machines all blow right past me. But, I have my 2 little kids quite a bit so they're more than happy with that speed. That brings up another thing. If you expect 3 passengers, the bench seat of the RTV may be handy.
Other things (not mentioned).
- Look around on other sites. My Dad's has been fine but I've heard of quality and reliability issues on the Ranger. I don't have details but look around.
- You may find the power steering valuable in your conditions.
- The RTV does weigh a lot more than the Ranger. If you have a lot of wet conditions, the RTV will sink more which isn't good...
That's all I can think of for now.
Brian