|
NW Iowa | I have a Ranger500 I bought in 2019. 6500 grandpa miles on it now and all I have done to it is replace the belt last summer and while I was at it I replaced the drive shaft U joints. I consider it a light duty vehicle, not quite tinker toy quality but I have the feeling it would not hold up if I used it heavy. I have never had it stuck in mud mainly because I have no need to wallow in mud with it. I have bellied it out in snow more times than I will admit. It does like 91 octane non ethanol gas which goes against the grain with me because I burn ethanol in every other gas engine on the farm but that is what it is designed for. I think they are pushing the horsepower limits of that little 500 cc engine so that is why higher octane fuel is needed. The engine has had a rattle in it for the past year and a half but it doesn't get any worse. The rattle showed up one day and stayed. Maybe the cam chain is loose? It hits the governor at 47 MPH in high range but at that speed it is pretty well maxed out anyway. In low range it hits the governor at 25 MPH. The straight up and down gear shift has very little feel to it which leads to some gear grinding at times. Sometimes I won't have it quite all the way in gear and it will grind then slam into gear when I take off. Reverse seems to be the worst and I don't think the transmission is built heavy enough to take much of that kind of abuse. So to sum it up if you are a grandpa who wants a side by side that is easy to get in and out of and your ram rodding days are over I think a Ranger will work out just fine for you. If you need to do real work some other brand might hold up better. | |
|
Are Polaris Rangers really made for farm use?
