RTV 900 suitability.

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Eric Egland

New member
I've been sitting on the sidelines, reading with great interest, the postings regarding the RTV 900. It seems that a great many folks are unhappy with various operational characteristics of the machine. I have deduced solutions for eliminating the various problems that have been discussed.</P>


Problem: Proposed solution:</P>


1. Inadequate power...........................Trade the rig in for a '48 Dodge Power Wagon</P>


2. Inadequate clearance.......................Trade for PW</P>


3. Tires too small..................................Trade for PW</P>


4. Needs cab........................................Trade for PW</P>


5. Need to push snow...........................Set up Power Wagon to push snow</P>


6. Need to pull drag..............................Pull drag with Dodge</P>


7. Need to do job more suited for a tractor....Buy an appropriate tractor</P>


8. Want to run generator off of rear hydraulics..Buy a proper generator</P>


9. Machine stops too quick..................Learn how to drive it or get the Dodge.</P>


10. Machine will not go fast enough.....Well, just how dang fast do you have to go? How old are you and why can't you be happy with a speed that is close to being unsafe for the driving characteristics of the machine? The rig does just fine for speed as designed.</P>


11. Machine temperature gauge indicates hot....Do you know that there are threegear rangesavailable and a competent operator will select a range and speed that is correct for the load and incline of the trail/road?</P>


12. The machine stops moving when climbing....When you see that the nose is going to be going uphill, put it in 1st gear, 4WD and climb the hill. It can't be too big of a surprise that the machine stalls out if not set up properly before starting the ascent.</P>


There must be more, but this has been too long already. I see it as pretty simple, why whine about something that the machine was not designed to do?</P>


I find my 900 to be exactly what I believed it to be, a handy tool for my place and it dosen't need to be the Power Wagon.</P>


</P>
 
But '48 Power Wagons aren't available in <FONT color=#000000>orange</FONT> with spark arrestors. </P>


I think a better alternative is a Cat LGP D6 with the optional <FONT color=#ffa500>Highway Department orange</FONT> paint. It rides better than the PW, is way faster, and it's easier to get in and out of gear thaneither the RTV900or the PW.</P>
 
Even the best equipment is not without its problems, and I consider the Kubota RTV the best utility vehicle. It's good to have this forum and friends though to help work out any problems and to make it better. I agree that the top end speed of the RTV is fast enough for driving safely.
 
13 - Orange Color is Ugly (I hear this alot), buy "battle-ship gray" power wagon.
 
[quote user="MessickFarmEqu"]13 - Orange Color is Ugly (I hear this alot)[/quote]
Do you get a lot of "That RTV thingy is so damn ugly, it's cute."? (I hear that one a lot...)
 
PS, I think my RTV looks a little nicer (at least the way that one looks at time of the pic).

This pic of my RTV is missing the last 18 months worth of mods, but you get the idea...
 
Well, bczoom, your RTV looks sharp for sure. I didn't mean to seem as grouchy as my post reads. Nice pix of the Dodge van as well!! I can see that cherried out.</P>


I added the glass windshield, as the freezing blast of air proved too much. It has drawbacks, however, cause 1. it's hard to shoot through !! and 2. needs cleaning to eliminate glare.</P>


I live in the Monterey Bay area, central coast California. My place has canyons with Oaks that need trimming and dead wood hauled out, which the RTV does a nice job of. (no more of pulling stuck F-250 out with D-2). Rig allows hauling all sorts of ranch stuff around without being held to 1st gear, low range transfer case as necessary with the F-250. Of course, I still use low range in the RTV, but it is a better ride. I learned to not go too far down the canyon, where the tires are in 6" of leaf mold and the slope is excessive. A lot of manuvering, but haven't had to pull it out ( yet ).</P>


2 years now and just coming up on 100 hours. I found the discussion on the drive line and fuel cap problems very helpful and the local dealer fixed those troubles. Still learning the little quirks, as I don't use it a lot, mostly in the summer, when the rain goes away and I can go down in the pasture without ruining the grass.</P>


Regards, Eric</P>


</P>
 
Eric,

I didn't think your post was grouchy. I actually laughed in that a PW wouldn't last a day at my place. It either couldn't do the work or it would get destroyed (probably by rolling over) in my terrain.

You can shoot through your windshield... once.[:P] Not sure how well it works on glass, but Lemon Pledge works wonders on plastic windshields to keep them clean and glare-free.

What tires are you using?

As you can see in my pic, I replaced the OEM cargo box with my own. It's made of wood and I've integrated storage into it. I got one of the first RTV's and at the time, there were no real forum discussions or other info on how well the cargo box would hold up to tossing chunks (big ones...) into the box. I was afraid it would get banged up badly and the sides may buckle out. My replacement box is holding up flawlessly. I've found a side benefit which is temperature. My kids regularly use the box as a play area when I'm working in the shop or something. Being wood, it doesn't have the cold properties of steel and is therefore more comfortable for playing.
 
BC, I am using the stock worksite tires. They do just fine for what I am doing, as I just use the rig on my own place, which dosen't have "problem" spots. (that I need to visit).</P>


I can see, however, that your tyres would have better penetration through the soft leaf mold, getting down to traction. The worksite tires "float" and made it interesting, once. Since then, a mental note was to use the D2 on those slopes.</P>


Nice work on the box, It wouldn't take too long for the factory box to get bent up if the big pieces were flung in. I'm now 63 and the days of flinging anything too big are over. However, I can use my BX-1500 to load 'em in, and have done that,(carefully).</P>


I plan to have fun this summer, hauling dirt from back of my shop, digging out with L-275 backhoe, loading with BX-1500, hauling and dumping spoils. Great fun. Love the dump bed.</P>


Regards, Eric</P>
 
Brian,</P>


What kind of wood did you use to make your bed? Did you stick with the stock dimensions?</P>


The reason I ask is that I am getting ready to haul a lot of engineered fill made of gravel and clay into some levee areas around our ponds.Since I don't want to trash the metal bedI thought about making a wood liner for the stock bed. I'llhave to address the dump gate issue. Besides not denting the bedI also want to make the bed taller so that we can haul more material per load. The machine is certainly capable of hauling a bigger load of material than the stock bed holds. </P>


Thanks,</P>


Craig</P>
 
Craig,

I'll start a new thread with details on my box (once I take some pics later today) but in general:
I made the floor of mine out of 1/2" exterior-grade plywood.
The sides are 5/4 decking boards on the insides/outsides of vertically standing pressure treated 2x4.
The tailgate is a 2x12, hinged and attached to the rearward vertical 2x4.

For your use, would an OEM bed liner work (outside of the fact it's no taller)?

Brian
 
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