The great debate

[themoleman]

Hi all. On the lookout for an utv and looking for a bit of advice. little bit about my self im a full time vermin controller from uk my busiest time of year oct through may the unit will be running eight or nine hours a day seven days a week giving the odd day off. Nearly all the work is in dairy pasture fields very little road work. typical day is a stop start affair usually up to a hundred times a day up till now ive used honda atv last 15 years. Im drawn towards the rtv x900 but the speed issue is a big concern. i've driven the mule ranger rhino gator and older rtv and the ranger did impress me .But the local farmers that have the ranger seem to have no end of trouble with the polaris. which is putting me off the ranger i cant afford any down time in the season so the kubota reliability is a strong influence but that 25 mph top speed is niggling at me. so my question is can the top end speed be increased somehow to 30- 35 mph and be fairly responsive with the original engine? I've read about the turbo kits and adjusting coast valve and tweaking some swash plate? I'm not overly mechanicaly minded so hoping there somebody on here that can point me in the right direction. sorry for the long winded post. regards chris

 

[Jim_S]

Chris, welcome to the Forum!

I don't know about the speed increase, all of my travels are just a few miles. Someone with more experience should be along soon with comments.

The coast valve adjustment really helped my 2005 model by smoothing the stopping jerk. The newer models may be better, I don't know for sure.

Jim

 

[Mark.Sibole]

Unless you are driving roads or good trails the 25 mph speed shouldnt even be a bother.With the durability of the Kubota and being diesel myself I didnt worry about the loss of say maybe 10 MPH at all.Ive driven mine on trails,through fields and trails and although it may take 5 or 10 minutes off the time it was no concern as you only see the time loss on long trips of say 10 or more miles.When driving through fields and woods I dont go very fast anyways because you never know what is lurking or hiding in the weeds.A log or stump in the weeds isnt something you want to hit at any speed.In the end its your decision but you can NOT beat the reliabilty and the ruggedness of the RTV.IMO The Kibots wins hands down even with the slight speed loss...

 

[bczoom]

Welcome to the forum.

im a full time vermin controller from uk my busiest time of year oct through may the unit will be running eight or nine hours a day seven days a week giving the odd day off.

Can I ask what kind of "vermin" you're looking for? Your forum name is themoleman. Is that what you're looking for? If so, I'm pretty sure that as slow as the RTV is (25 MPH), it can keep up with them.

Since you're looking at some serious high hours to put on it, I wouldn't consider many of the gas models. They'll probably quit in about 3000 hours. (to you, that's 1-2 years). Properly maintained, a RTV diesel will go 5000-8000 hours.

As for turbo and everything else, in general, no, you can not make it faster. You've applied more horsepower but the transmission is what it is and it pretty much tops out at 25MPH.

 

[OrangeBuggy]

Welcome to the forum. My guess is that you would be working mostly in fields and pastures. I presume that 25mph should be more then enough for those conditions. The RTV is very durable and should serve you well. I turboed mine for high altitude, you well not gain any speed from a turbo. For what it well do for you is, its a lot quicker off the line and has the ability to clime steep hills with dignity. The best to you regardless what machine you buy.

 

[aurthuritis]

it won't be realistic to expect more than 25 mph out of an RTV and if heavily loaded and on grade it could be much slower. the coast valve doesn't help top speed and i don't think the turbo would make much difference unless heavily loaded or at high altitude.

 

[ovrszd]

I think he's roading the machine to the job sites.

If so, and he has to put on 10 or more road miles a day, the slow speed will be very aggravating.

We'll know by his next response.

 

[71sschevelle]

The x1120 is a little faster. I think it will go 30 mph.

 

[themoleman]

Hi guy's thanks for the replies been away for a week with no internet signal. while away there was about a dozen rtv x 900 on lease to the show organisers for running the stewards and the like about and they seemed a lot more responsive than the old type that i drove few years back. When trapping season starts back it would only be carriying my weight plus 150 mole traps so say extra ten kilo when trapping in the day then two of us on our lamping forays at night. i appriciate the turbo doesn't increase top end speed just gets you there faster. dont think i could put up with extra noise any how. Right for my second thought at the moment i tow my quad on a trailer would it damage the rtv if i rigged up an A frame setup on the front so i could tow it direct to the different farms the roads here in wales are mostly B roads ie single carriage ways and a wider trailer would be a pain.