Well since my wife doesnt have any toys for herself and I want a quad I was thinking that a side by side makes the most sense for us-we have two kids and have about 120 acres we can play on since there is no ATV trails in this communist county I live in.I plan on using it for chores around the house-plowing my small-100 foot driveway-and cruising with the wife and possibly mounting another seat in the back for the kids in the future.I dont intend on using it for hard/heavyduty work so I dont need max payload capacity,but I do want a nice running/riding well built Side x Side. Does anyone own any of these and can share there experiences with them? Can I go most place a standard one up quad can go? aside from the width of these are they capable offtrail?Thanks for any insight- :div20:


this one got her all excited-and I must say it does look like it could be a fun setup for a small family -

Myself I would get the AC Prowler, it has more ground clearance than the others and it has all the same features as the wheelers like front Diff lock and shift on fly 4 wd select switch. and is available with the 650 H-I and the available options for it are about endless with the Cat speedrack atachments

Rhino. Its is the best all-around side by side on the market.

Sad it say :burp: but it is true.... :div20:

It may be but right now the Cat Prowler has braggin' rights to the best in class from one of the ATV mags

go with the rhino or the prowler we have a mule on our farm but its strictly for the payload i believe you would want somethin with a bit more speed and better off road capabilities but thats jus my 2 cents... and you will get that with either of those

Thanks guys-I went and found a Rhino at the local Yammie dealer but it was sold so I didnt even get a test drive.The local Polaris dealer says I dont want a polaris ranger-he himself told me the rhino or the AC prowler-he sells Prowlers but not Rhinos.I heard a lil bit of info from one guy saying that these side by sides can NOT be trail ridden.. is that so?I live in a county without atv trails but there are several bigger loops fairly close by as well as Michigan being close enough for day trips...Can these be registered and ridden legaly in Michigan? or will a side by side keep me contained on our 120 acre chunk-

They are legal down here with a trail permit.

I hate to say it but I'd go with the yammi

A lot of places have width restrictions of 50", which means no Side by Side's. You will have to check with the places you want to ride. I have the Prowler and Love it, its been a great machine.

Try these sites:

http://utilityoffroad.com/forum/Default.asp

http://www.ridesidebyside.com/forums/index.php

Go with the Rhino or Prowler. They can pretty good off road and will be excelent to do the chores around the house. I myself would go with the Rhino simply because I have used a Rhino but not the Prowler. The best thing to do is find someone that will be willing to let you try them out. The Rhino is for more pleasure and sport while the Cat is more of a work horse, imo. Cat also makes the two up ATV's if you are intersted in them maybe.

1. rhino 2. prowler. 3 mule, but their not built for speed 4. polaris

Here is something to think about. In Michigan (Lower Peninsula) we are closed unless posted open- meaning you have to ride on a "legal trail" and not alot of our trail system is open to quad usage.. It really SUCKS but thats the way it is. We need more quad legal trails so the quad riders will stay off the motorcycle single track - they widen the single track out and make to open to have fun on a bike..
I have been steering customers to lifted 4x4 Golf Carts. Unlike a quad or a Rhino you can run them ANYWHERE on just a slow moving vehicle triangle. I am not sure that Wisconsin has that same law but it wouldnt surprise me at all. I believe that at as country we have slow moving vehicle acceptance everywhere - meaning you could use your Golf Cart ANYWHERE there is two track - this makes it MUCH more usable!!
I have been street legaling all my dirt bikes for years to do the same thing.... Problem with quads -here anyway- is that the laws are written in such a way that you cant ride with the triangle on them (like a golf cart) and you cant street legal them.. I am surprised they sell so well. I have personally witnessed lots of quaders getting ticketed for not being on a "legal" trail,
Ripper

In Minnesota there is a Class 2 license (any wheeler over 900 lbs.) for them now and it also makes them legal to ride on the shoulder of a county road, I have over 400 acres to ride behind my house and I have a personal trail system of just over 13 miles right now with more in the works

rhino hands down. they have a CD player!!!!

Theres' another side by side you could consider, it all depends on what you want the machine to do. You might want to look at the John Deere Gator, they have the HPX now, but there is a new one on the way out this spring. It will be called the XUV. they have targeted the side by side market I think. The new one will have 4 wheel independent suspension, limited slip and fully locked diffs and EFI and higher top speed. This one will do over 30mph but might have a key switch in the dash to turn it down to 20 like they are now. I've driven one and it's impressive and when you compare the pricing of the SbS market, the Deere is right in there and in most cases can be less cost.
I don't know, it still seems like an elephant amoungst gazelles.
Hey! I forgot about this one, I was at Cabelas and they had a Mule 4 seater! front and rear bench seats, full cage, pretty cool! but I think the Yammie is still the hottest looking one. That 4 seater at the top of this post..... man that's killer!

Why so down on the rangers guys? I looked at them all a few years ago and picked the Pol. I will give the Yam an A+ in the styling department, but payload and bed size was way down. Cat looks cool too but lawn mower seats in a 10 grand plus machine seemed cheesey. Can you tell I like my ranger. I opted for the 2WD and only wished i had 4 a couple times. Nothimg the winch couldnt get me out of. Duality, Go test drive one before you rule them out. there built like a brick shit house and no known problems that im aware off except the first year 700 twins. The 500 EFI would be perfect from what you discribed you needed from the machine and the extra room is always great for coolers and gear. Take mine to Canada every year and haul 5 adults and a lab for miles on old logging roads without a worry. heres a sight to check out if your still looking. Even my little 2wd is hard to stop.

http://www.prcforum.com/default.asp

i am also looking into buying a side by side for farm use.in my area we have alot of hills and rough terrain.i have looked around.at all the diffrent types.the one that i really like is the polaris ranger.it is 500cc and can hold 1000lbs in the box.i also like the size of the box.unlike the artic cat that was a plastic box and isn't very big.i went to a polaris dealer and we speaking to them.they gave me a dvd on tests they did on each machine.they used a rhino ,a prowler,mule,kabota,and the ranger.i was really impressed in what i saw.and the polaris has a top speed of 41mph.mule has only 30mph.but the prowler has a speed of 40.like i said go check out the dvd it really impressed me.think i'm going polaris.

I don't think my bucket "lawnmower seats" are that bad.....seem more comfortable then a bench seat.........


The rhino has been around for a while and has proven itself....The ranger is a good machine too, but I like the arctic cat. If AC didn't make the Prowler I would have went with the rhino.

But I love this machine, it will go any place and rides great!

Wow-Thanks for all the great perspectives on the side by sides-These low snow conditions REALLLLY have me tempted to go out and get one sooner than I had anticipated-I'm thinking the wife may really enjoy her valentines day gift.....

rhynos use same axle as grizzly,if you get big wheel kit go to gorilla axle right away. my buddy put 686 big bore kit in his rhyno and every time out he broke stalk axles.he still even breaks gorillas.

look out rhyno,check out polaris industries new ranger rzr for 2008.780 parellel efi 2 seater,wicked looking machine.do not rule this side by side out there finally after the rhyno prowler high performance market.

Where did you see this?

EDIT: Found it http://www.glamisdunes.com/invision/index....showtopic=97230

i work at a polaris/john deere dealer,it is on our main polaris ind website,you should be able to access it through polaris ind .com.

Our Ranger has given us zero problems since we bought it new in '05.

It kicks ass in every terrain imaginable and has yet to be stopped. Seriously, the thing is a fucking animal.

100% stock too...

The newr poo Ranger RZR is the best side by side ever made check it out comes out this year it's awsome I want one.

rhino is where its at!! They have by far the most mods avaliable

I think you would be happy with either the Cat or Rhino... I think then it just comes down to personal preference and the little details.

I also agree with cat or rhino. Ive seen A rhino and ranger to the tug a war stuff. They tied some huge strap to the back of both machines and then they both gas it, the rhino beat the polaris every time. I dont really know if this is a helping response but i thought i would ad it.

I think you guys have forgotten about the most powerful and severest duty side by side ever made. If you are looking for a work utility vehicle then nothing even comes close to the Kubota RTV. 3 cylinder liquid cooled diesel, mega duty full hydrostatic rear end put this vehicle in a class of its own. This thing can out pull, out haul, and out muscle anything out there. Check them out and forget the others. The front has a trunk and the seat flips up and has more storage underneath. Fire departments and farmers need one of these. Also comes in full camo.

NEW POLARIS RAZOR, give it a look.