Can Am Side by sides

[Traveler]

The biggest single reason I got the Ranger was for the bench seat. Wife and kids ride comfortably. Getting in and out of the Ranger is just like getting out of a golf cart, it couldn't be easier. At calving time it's a breeze to drive up beside a running calf and have whoever is riding shotgun just grab it and step out.
All in all they are extremely handy, and hard to imagine having to live without one now.

I just bought a Ranger 900. The bench seat was a must for me. The Ranger has a higher load capacity. The engine is under the box on the 900 making it the quietest side by side I have been around and the suspension is greasable to make it last more durable.

The dealer I bought mine from also sells Honda and Yamaha. Over 90% are Rangers. The Honda has a problem with the air intake and sucks up a lot of dirt into the air filter. He keeps a couple of engines in stock for the Honda because of that. He recommends Rangers for ranch use but not Polaris ATV's. The Can-Am looks to me like a high powered play toy compared to a Ranger.

Glad to know about the bench seat, that's the only way we would want one. We haven't actually looked at the Can-Am but when I looked online, that was my thought, "it looks like a toy." One thing about the Ranger that we didn't like was the one we have ridden in has the exhaust under the seat making it really warm. Ok in winter, but not so nice in summer. Has anyone else noticed this?

That's something that won't happen with the 900 because the engine, and exhaust of course, is in the back. You will find that the engine gets really dirty being back there, which ultimately might not be a problem, but the air intake is just behind the drivers door frame and the air filter gets dirty fairly quickly in dusty conditions. It's a good, flat, automotive style filter but needs checked often.

I also don't find much fault with the Polaris ATVs, except maybe the zerks on the greaseable suspension points would be better adapted for a contortionist.

 

[Soapweed]

The best Rangers made were the 800 HD (heavy duty), which had a self leveling load system. Unfortunately they no longer make them, which is sad.

I recently traded for a Polaris Ranger 900. With a choice of power steering or no power steering but a factory installed radio, I chose the radio. Bad choice. The radio basically only picks up our local public radio station. It is made more for electric Ipod gadgets that I don't use. Once you've had power steering though, you miss it when it's gone.

Another feature I don't like on the new 900's is the gear shift. The parking brake is on the same lever, so when you go quickly from forward to reverse (as in trying to out-dodge a cow), instead of finding reverse you find "Park." This sure gives the cow a moment of advantage. The 800's had a separate parking brake, which is more desirable as far as I'm concerned.

 

[3 M L & C]

The best Rangers made were the 800 HD (heavy duty), which had a self leveling load system. Unfortunately they no longer make them, which is sad.

I recently traded for a Polaris Ranger 900. With a choice of power steering or no power steering but a factory installed radio, I chose the radio. Bad choice. The radio basically only picks up our local public radio station. It is made more for electric Ipod gadgets that I don't use. Once you've had power steering though, you miss it when it's gone.

Another feature I don't like on the new 900's is the gear shift. The parking brake is on the same lever, so when you go quickly from forward to reverse (as in trying to out-dodge a cow), instead of finding reverse you find "Park." This sure gives the cow a moment of advantage. The 800's had a separate parking brake, which is more desirable as far as I'm concerned.

My dad said the same thing about the park on the new 900. I haven't even drove it yet. But that's the first the he said bad.

 

[Traveler]

The best Rangers made were the 800 HD (heavy duty), which had a self leveling load system. Unfortunately they no longer make them, which is sad.

I recently traded for a Polaris Ranger 900. With a choice of power steering or no power steering but a factory installed radio, I chose the radio. Bad choice. The radio basically only picks up our local public radio station. It is made more for electric Ipod gadgets that I don't use. Once you've had power steering though, you miss it when it's gone.

Another feature I don't like on the new 900's is the gear shift. The parking brake is on the same lever, so when you go quickly from forward to reverse (as in trying to out-dodge a cow), instead of finding reverse you find "Park." This sure gives the cow a moment of advantage. The 800's had a separate parking brake, which is more desirable as far as I'm concerned.

Put a steering wheel spinner on it like the ones that were common years ago.

 

[Faster horses]

Bringing this back up because today I rode in a Polaris Ranger. It was really nice, rode smooth. Had cab and air. I liked it. I priced a new one without a cab or heat but with power steering. $14,000. :shock: I don't know if we could justify that. Maybe we should watch for the 800 HD in a nice used one.......

Thanks for all the replies.

 

[Anonymous]

Bringing this back up because today I rode in a Polaris Ranger. It was really nice, rode smooth. Had cab and air. I liked it. I priced a new one without a cab or heat but with power steering. $14,000. :shock: I don't know if we could justify that. Maybe we should watch for the 800 HD in a nice used one.......

Thanks for all the replies.

You need to look in a few more places... The 2014 Ranger 800 XP we just bought was quite a bit cheaper than $14,000... Ours has power steering (really nice) and I had them add on the kit that makes them highway drivable (horn & license plate light) and throw in a new set of ramps ... It came without cab, windshield or any of that- but I have added both a windshield and roof I bought off an RV website that is about 1/10th the price of factory equipment--- http://www.superatv.com/Default.aspx

I see where they just had a big sale of overstocked and used ATV's/UTV's down at Sidney... They held it there thinking they could cash in on all the Bakken money- but one fellow I talked to said they hadn't gone that high ...

 

[Faster horses]

Bringing this back up because today I rode in a Polaris Ranger. It was really nice, rode smooth. Had cab and air. I liked it. I priced a new one without a cab or heat but with power steering. $14,000. :shock: I don't know if we could justify that. Maybe we should watch for the 800 HD in a nice used one.......

Thanks for all the replies.

You need to look in a few more places... The 2014 Ranger 800 XP we just bought was quite a bit cheaper than $14,000... Ours has power steering (really nice) and I had them add on the kit that makes them highway drivable (horn & license plate light) and throw in a new set of ramps ... It came without cab, windshield or any of that- but I have added both a windshield and roof I bought off an RV website that is about 1/10th the price of factory equipment--- http://www.superatv.com/Default.aspx

I see where they just had a big sale of overstocked and used ATV's/UTV's down at Sidney... They held it there thinking they could cash in on all the Bakken money- but one fellow I talked to said they hadn't gone that high ...

This price was given to me from RMC in Miles City and I'm no particular fan of them. I will shop around, mostly I'd like to find a used one. The 800's were $1000 less but they said the 900 had better suspension, paint and tires. :roll:

Thanks.

 

[Anonymous]

Bringing this back up because today I rode in a Polaris Ranger. It was really nice, rode smooth. Had cab and air. I liked it. I priced a new one without a cab or heat but with power steering. $14,000. :shock: I don't know if we could justify that. Maybe we should watch for the 800 HD in a nice used one.......

Thanks for all the replies.

You need to look in a few more places... The 2014 Ranger 800 XP we just bought was quite a bit cheaper than $14,000... Ours has power steering (really nice) and I had them add on the kit that makes them highway drivable (horn & license plate light) and throw in a new set of ramps ... It came without cab, windshield or any of that- but I have added both a windshield and roof I bought off an RV website that is about 1/10th the price of factory equipment--- http://www.superatv.com/Default.aspx

I see where they just had a big sale of overstocked and used ATV's/UTV's down at Sidney... They held it there thinking they could cash in on all the Bakken money- but one fellow I talked to said they hadn't gone that high ...

This price was given to me from RMC in Miles City and I'm no particular fan of them. I will shop around, mostly I'd like to find a used one. The 800's were $1000 less but they said the 900 had better suspension, paint and tires. :roll:

Thanks.

Yeah I talked to them- but they had nothing I wanted in stock I could try out... We ended up getting ours from Havre- which had quite a variety in stock... And the price quoted you by Miles is close to what Havre wanted for a 900...
The reason I went with the 800 XP over the 900 XP was mainly because of size... The 900 is 8.5 inches longer and 2 inches wider... Besides the price difference I wanted the smaller size for fitting in horse trailers or bed of a pickup...

 

[Soapweed]

You need to look in a few more places... The 2014 Ranger 800 XP we just bought was quite a bit cheaper than $14,000... Ours has power steering (really nice) and I had them add on the kit that makes them highway drivable (horn & license plate light) and throw in a new set of ramps ... It came without cab, windshield or any of that- but I have added both a windshield and roof I bought off an RV website that is about 1/10th the price of factory equipment--- http://www.superatv.com/Default.aspx

I see where they just had a big sale of overstocked and used ATV's/UTV's down at Sidney... They held it there thinking they could cash in on all the Bakken money- but one fellow I talked to said they hadn't gone that high ...

This price was given to me from RMC in Miles City and I'm no particular fan of them. I will shop around, mostly I'd like to find a used one. The 800's were $1000 less but they said the 900 had better suspension, paint and tires. :roll:

Thanks.

Yeah I talked to them- but they had nothing I wanted in stock I could try out... We ended up getting ours from Havre- which had quite a variety in stock... And the price quoted you by Miles is close to what Havre wanted for a 900...
The reason I went with the 800 XP over the 900 XP was mainly because of size... The 900 is 8.5 inches longer and 2 inches wider... Besides the price difference I wanted the smaller size for fitting in horse trailers or bed of a pickup...

Our newest Ranger is a 900. I don't like it nearly as well as our 800's. The main problem with it is the "new and improved" :? gear shift arrangement. On the 800's, there is a gear shift to the right of the steering wheel. Top position is high, then low, then neutral, and reverse is all the way down. The parking brake is a separate lever to the left of the steering wheel, and it is handy to have it there. On the 900's, there are five positions on the main gear shift, with PARK being the bottom position. Now that we are used to going from the top HIGH to the bottom REVERSE, it is unhandy as heck to need to quickly back up and find yourself in PARK. :x

I opted for a factory installed radio instead of power steering in the 900. That was a mistake. We miss not having power steering, and the radio is kind of a joke. All it picks up is public democrat radio. If you are going in the right direction, and going straight as a string, once in a while we can pick up our most local FM station. However, if you deviate off course by a few degrees, radio reception is eliminated. I also don't like the extra length of the 900. It doesn't get through the hills with a big load nearly as well as the shorter wheel based 800's. On the plus side, the 900 runs quieter and it has more power, but all that is likely to do is get someone hurt from going too fast.

If you get a cab, the 900 is probably more user-friendly in that regard. If you don't plan on getting a cab, or roof, stick with the 800's. The roll bars on the 800 are round, whereas the 900's have a flat frame. The 900's will drip dew and rain long after the 800's have dried off. The round configuration on the rollbars of the 800's are also more comfortable for your sidekick if he is trying to rope a calf while standing on the seat.

My suggestion to any potential buyers is to save some money and purchase an 800 instead of a 900.

 

[farmboy]

I just made a trip down to Tehrani motors in Valentine a few weeks ago with the intention of buying a new four wheeler, long story short I ended up pulling a new Polaris ranger 900 and a new sportsman 800 home on the trailer. My Ranger has a switch on it so I can either use one drive wheel or both or 4 wheel drive, it is awesome, I already have 175 miles on it and use it for everything around the place, since I bought it I have only had to put one tank of gas in my work pickup, I figured in the last three weeks I have saved over $250 in gas by driving the ranger. the one thing I don't like about it is I hate chasing cows on it, that is where the 4 wheeler comes in. I got my ranger with a cab and heater and the heater will drive you out of the cab it is so hot, even on the coldest of days.

 

[Anonymous]

I just made a trip down to Tehrani motors in Valentine a few weeks ago with the intention of buying a new four wheeler, long story short I ended up pulling a new Polaris ranger 900 and a new sportsman 800 home on the trailer. My Ranger has a switch on it so I can either use one drive wheel or both or 4 wheel drive, it is awesome, I already have 175 miles on it and use it for everything around the place, since I bought it I have only had to put one tank of gas in my work pickup, I figured in the last three weeks I have saved over $250 in gas by driving the ranger. the one thing I don't like about it is I hate chasing cows on it, that is where the 4 wheeler comes in. I got my ranger with a cab and heater and the heater will drive you out of the cab it is so hot, even on the coldest of days.

Yeah ours has that switch to go from single wheel, locked differential, or 4 WD.. It is nice... Talking of economical- I see Polaris now has a 30 HP mid size battery driven Ranger EV... Claim it will travel 50+ miles before needing recharging... If I didn't need to use this out on the prairie and some long drives- and was going to just use it around the place for calving or for trips around town, where I could tie it up to a current bush, they would be inviting to try..

 

[pups and bucks]

Back in the day we used to use saddle horses.............that's when there were more good horses around.......
I must say I'm with Denny on this subject......I have a 93 dodge dakota with 212000 miles on it.......heater works and I can drive it 80mph if I want..... :wink:

Oh....and I only paid 1000 bucks for it 5 years ago.....

 

[Faster horses]

Back in the day we used to use saddle horses.............that's when there were more good horses around.......
I must say I'm with Denny on this subject......I have a 93 dodge dakota with 212000 miles on it.......heater works and I can drive it 80mph if I want..... :wink:

Oh....and I only paid 1000 bucks for it 5 years ago.....

We always used saddle horses too........wish we still did.........but we got older.......and wider.........and slower.........and the horses got taller....
and fresher.....

 

[Soapweed]

Back in the day we used to use saddle horses.............that's when there were more good horses around.......
I must say I'm with Denny on this subject......I have a 93 dodge dakota with 212000 miles on it.......heater works and I can drive it 80mph if I want..... :wink:

Oh....and I only paid 1000 bucks for it 5 years ago.....

I never would have thought I'd fall low enough to talk of the virtues of four-wheelers, but time and afflictions do change one's attitude. Horses have been our way of life for most of my ranching career, and one of the very enjoyable fringe benefits to raising cattle. My wife and I even rode 100 miles in one day, October 3, 1998, using five different horse each, just to see if we could do it. We did, and it took 14 hours and 15 minutes. Unfortunately, I can't even get on a horse now but I'm still a fairly good cowhand with the Ranger. The rest of my family ride quite often, because horses are even yet a very necessary part of our operation.

 

[Big Swede]

Next thing we know you'll be wearing a ball cap, wearing sneakers, and raising corn. You're on a slippery slope, Soap :lol: :shock: :lol:

 

[Soapweed]

Next thing we know you'll be wearing a ball cap, wearing sneakers, and raising corn. You're on a slippery slope, Soap :lol: :shock: :lol:

Or maybe even calving in May.

 

[pups and bucks]

Back in the day we used to use saddle horses.............that's when there were more good horses around.......
I must say I'm with Denny on this subject......I have a 93 dodge dakota with 212000 miles on it.......heater works and I can drive it 80mph if I want..... :wink:

Oh....and I only paid 1000 bucks for it 5 years ago.....

I never would have thought I'd fall low enough to talk of the virtues of four-wheelers, but time and afflictions do change one's attitude. Horses have been our way of life for most of my ranching career, and one of the very enjoyable fringe benefits to raising cattle. My wife and I even rode 100 miles in one day, October 3, 1998, using five different horse each, just to see if we could do it. We did, and it took 14 hours and 15 minutes. Unfortunately, I can't even get on a horse now but I'm still a fairly good cowhand with the Ranger. The rest of my family ride quite often, because horses are even yet a very necessary part of our operation.

I'll certainly cut you some slack Soap........for my operation,can't say I really need one.......be one more thing to break down :roll:

 

[Cedarcreek]

I just made a trip down to Tehrani motors in Valentine a few weeks ago with the intention of buying a new four wheeler, long story short I ended up pulling a new Polaris ranger 900 and a new sportsman 800 home on the trailer. My Ranger has a switch on it so I can either use one drive wheel or both or 4 wheel drive, it is awesome, I already have 175 miles on it and use it for everything around the place, since I bought it I have only had to put one tank of gas in my work pickup, I figured in the last three weeks I have saved over $250 in gas by driving the ranger. the one thing I don't like about it is I hate chasing cows on it, that is where the 4 wheeler comes in. I got my ranger with a cab and heater and the heater will drive you out of the cab it is so hot, even on the coldest of days.

Yeah ours has that switch to go from single wheel, locked differential, or 4 WD.. It is nice... Talking of economical- I see Polaris now has a 30 HP mid size battery driven Ranger EV... Claim it will travel 50+ miles before needing recharging... If I didn't need to use this out on the prairie and some long drives- and was going to just use it around the place for calving or for trips around town, where I could tie it up to a current bush, they would be inviting to try..

I have Polaris 900. When the switch is in the position that shows one wheel drive it actually drives off both rear wheels with the differential unlocked. I had it on some ice and spun both rear wheels in that switch position. I turns a lot easier on hard ground that way than with the differential locked. Usually if I need the differential locked I need 4 wheel drive too.

I have a top and half windshield on mine, If I need a cab and heater I will take the pickup for what the cab costs.

 

[Faster horses]

I just made a trip down to Tehrani motors in Valentine a few weeks ago with the intention of buying a new four wheeler, long story short I ended up pulling a new Polaris ranger 900 and a new sportsman 800 home on the trailer. My Ranger has a switch on it so I can either use one drive wheel or both or 4 wheel drive, it is awesome, I already have 175 miles on it and use it for everything around the place, since I bought it I have only had to put one tank of gas in my work pickup, I figured in the last three weeks I have saved over $250 in gas by driving the ranger. the one thing I don't like about it is I hate chasing cows on it, that is where the 4 wheeler comes in. I got my ranger with a cab and heater and the heater will drive you out of the cab it is so hot, even on the coldest of days.

Yeah ours has that switch to go from single wheel, locked differential, or 4 WD.. It is nice... Talking of economical- I see Polaris now has a 30 HP mid size battery driven Ranger EV... Claim it will travel 50+ miles before needing recharging... If I didn't need to use this out on the prairie and some long drives- and was going to just use it around the place for calving or for trips around town, where I could tie it up to a current bush, they would be inviting to try..

I have Polaris 900. When the switch is in the position that shows one wheel drive it actually drives off both rear wheels with the differential unlocked. I had it on some ice and spun both rear wheels in that switch position. I turns a lot easier on hard ground that way than with the differential locked. Usually if I need the differential locked I need 4 wheel drive too.

I have a top and half windshield on mine, If I need a cab and heater I will take the pickup for what the cab costs.

Talked to a friend today who is familiar with both the 800 and 900 and he advised us to get the 900. The difference he says is well worth it. We are still going to shop for a used one. We are in no hurry...thanks for all the discussion.

Good point, Cedarcreek, on the cab. We don't PLAN to use it when its cold out.

 

[LazyWP]

When we got my Gator in January of 2013, I never figured I would use it at all. I have a Suzki Sidekick, 4X4 heat air, and goes anywhere. The second week I had it, I put a roof, and full windshield on it. The Sidekick hasn't been started in 6 months. The half ton fencing pickup, has had less then 3 tanks of gas through it, and that was because Lisa hates using the Gator when its below 0, and she was doing the chores after I had my surgery.
With the windshield on, it doesn't bother me to use the Gator down to about 15 below. Mine is a diesel, and starts about no matter what. The only time I won't use it, is in deep snow. The belt slips something terrible then. One thing about the full windshield is it sucks the dust and dirt into the cab. Someday I will have a back glass, and doors too, but it will probably be on a newer one. I put a little over 500 hours on in a year.