TLDR- Do you and your group of hunters have experience with the Polaris Ranger Crew 1000 and Kawasaki PRO FXT and if so which one do you prefer and why?


Looking to start a discussion about experiences members here have with various UTVs, as I find myself considering upgrading to one from the Yamaha Grizzly ATV I currently own.  There are several reasons I am considering making the jump to a UTV that mainly include being able to do more with it versus the Grizzly, carry loads and additional people as well as use it for sporting clays in addition to hunting (which would allow me to use it year round).  I have plenty of experience with using UTVs for hunting as my cousin has several on the family property.

Primarily I’m looking for feedback and personal experience on the various brands and models that are out there.  At this point I am mainly looking at the Polaris Ranger Crew 1000 Premium Edition and the Kawasaki Mule Pro FXT, which are both nearly identical in price.  Today I was able to drive the Polaris and I have prior seat time in the Kawi that my cousin owns.  I like the Polaris for the larger 1000cc engine (812 cc on Kawi) and higher top speed, which although isn’t necessary is always nice to have.  It also has true shift-on-the-fly AWD in addition to the locking rear diff.  During the test drive, we were able to go off-road and the Polaris seems to have a very good ride.  It does seem as if possibly the Kawi is slightly quieter based upon my memory of it the last time we were up at the property earlier this year.  The Polaris seems to have a good amount of storage compartments and the electric power steering, which the Kawi also has, is very nice.

On the Kawasaki, I do know that the ride quality is excellent based upon my experience with my cousin’s PRO FXT.  As I said above, it seems as if it may also be slightly quieter than the Polaris I drove today.  I realize no one is sneaking into the woods with one of these machines but quieter is better for other reasons such as in-vehicle noise, comfort and ease of conversation in the vehicle.  I do like how the Kawasaki allows you to extend the front portion of the bed into the rear seating positions if you aren’t using those.  The Polaris does not have this feature but does have a larger bed when compared to the Kawi in 2-row seating mode.  Although it may not be a big deal, the Kawi does have half-doors while the Polaris just has nets.  The PRO FXT does not have shift-on-the-fly 4wd and is not a true AWD like the Polaris.

I realize much of this might be Ford vs Chevy opinion type things, but there are definitely some give-and-takes with each option and I figured some of you might have experience with a group of hunters that run the various machines.  Of course, durability is important and I am sure that both of these are good.  I am interested in the noise factor as it is always good to be quieter but I wouldn’t make my decision primarily off of that.

Thanks!  As you all know, these things aren’t cheap and I want to get it right the first time.

Man I hauled a lot with my Wolvy X2.  This rack was so low we trashed it, but it got us in and out.  I’m gonna fab up some secondary rack over the dump bed.

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Never had either one you are asking about, the only thing I wish the Yamaha had was more ground clearance.

I’ll say this, if it’s something you will be getting in/out of a lot like a clays course, the Wolverine is a PIA due to safety crap.   I think the other brands beat the “shoulder bolster” crap with a net enclosure.

We bought a 17 Mule Pro FX new. Had it 2 plus years and regretted not getting the FXT.

Loved that machine. Especially the factory equipped half doors.


Wanted to go to a six seater and looked for an FXT back a few months ago. None to be had.

But managed to find a Polaris Ranger 1000 crew Xp for a good price.

Was hesitant because I don't really trust Polaris quality but bought it.

3-4 months in and like it so far, other than the ridiculous door nets.

Machine has really good power, super comfortable, WAY better storage.

If the Mule made about 90hp instead of high 40s, I would've held out for an FXT though.


Here's the Mule. Paid 10.5k in December 17, sold for 8500 earlier this summer. Great machine, little under powered.

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And the new one. Ranger 1000xp crew 2020. Paid 15.2k this summer. Love it so far, but always little uneasy feeling worrying about reliability. We do have a 2 year warranty vs standard 1 year as we bought it under their Ag plan. Great power, cruises at 65 comfortably whereas the Mule was pegged out screaming at 44mph. Does great in mud etc as well.

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There's the reason we needed six seats lol. A while damn fleet of dogs. Funny part is the little bastards almost refuse to ride in back seat lol.

Eta--to address a few specifics from OP.

Bed size- my single row MULE Pro FX had a cavernous bed. Much larger than the Ranger. On the 2 row Mule Pro FXT, when the bed is opened to max size, (reducing seating cap to 3 instead of 6) the bed is still much larger than the Ranger. Bed size overall easily goes to kawasaki.

Noise - the Mule seemed very quiet, and it is, at low speed. But with a windshield, and at speed it is about equal to the Ranger under same circumstance. They both require raising your voice quite a bit to hold conversation at anything over 25 mph or so in my experience.

Power - this is the greatest separation of the Ranger over the Mule. The Mule was a straight workhorse. The Pro series Mule is a giant step from the OG Mules, in that it actually has a little suspension travel and much greater hp/torque, but the Ranger doubles that number plus putting real suspension numbers under it.

We ride a lot on the gravel roads nears us and often go 20 plus miles from the house, barely getting on pavement. It's not at all uncommon for us to cruise in the high 40 mph range, and the Ranger does it without breaking a sweat. The Kawie would be maxed out at about 46-47 so didn't enjoy cruising there.

If you're never gonna leave hunting property, or never need to sustain speed over 30 or so, I think the Kawie wins. But it needs some mods to get get storage solutions. IMO.

CanAm. Is there anything else you want to talk about?

@jmt1271

Thank you so much for your detailed reply.  Glad I found someone who has owned both machines.  A couple of questions if I may:

First, as I mentioned in my OP my cousin has a PRO-FXT and I’ve spent some time in it and feel it has an exceptional ride quality.  I only have about 10 or 15 minutes in the Ranger 1000 during that test drive yesterday and it’s been 6 months since I’ve been in the Kawi at the property.  Without trying to split hairs too much, would you say that your new Polaris rides at least as good as your previous Kawi?

Next, on the noise level thanks for addressing that for me.  Do you think the Polaris is significantly noisier engine-wise than the Kawi?  Like I said above, you aren’t sneaking up on anything in gas-powered machine but quieter is always better.  Just curious since you’ve owned both machines.

Have you had it on any decent uphill runs?  I am not a mudder or anything like that, but am curious how that Polaris does in steep climbs and other situations that require good power delivery to the ground.

Also, if you don’t mind sharing this, would you tell me what you were able to buy that Ranger for and where you are located?   Out the door with taxes, their crazy assembly and delivery fees, everything.  Looks like your Polaris is a Ranger 1000 Premium Edition with EPS, is this correct?   If so, it is exactly the machine I was looking at yesterday.  Just curious on your all-in, out the door price and if that included any accessories.  I’m asking this because it seems that no one around here is really dealing on these, citing big sales volume due to COVID, but the one I looked at had a locally-made custom black diamond plate roof on it, a fold-down windshield, a soft vinyl roll-up style rear window mated to the custom roof as well as a SV audio system up inn the “visor” area.  As always, add-one make it hard to see what kind of deal you are getting but I’ve priced similar accessories online while doing research.  Just curious what a real-world decent out the door price is on that machine with no accessories.

Again, thank you for the response.  I was looking for a direct comparison and ARFCOM came through again.  THANK YOU!

@9mmCarbine I replied in the above quote.

My good friend has the Polaris General.  I like it a lot.  He upgraded from the Ranger 700 Crew.  Tons more power and more ground clearance than the Ranger he had.  Was able to stuff a 375" Bull and all of our gear in it.  Had to go up some very steep terrain loaded down and the machine ate it up.  

Another one of my friends has the Honda Pioneer 5 seater.  That is also a really nice machine.  I think the General may be slightly more powerful but the Honda has an actual transmission which is something I like.  Although switching out a belt on my quads is not to difficult.  

We had two rental Kawasaki Mule diesel models on one of my projects.  They were ok for driving around the job but I don't know how they would do up in the mountains.  Especially when i'm 10,000'+.


The wife is wanting to sell our quads and get a SXS of some sort.  I am looking at Can am, General, and the Pioneer.  

As I do more research on this I am starting to lean away from Polaris and am looking very seriously at a Can-Am- specifically a Defender HD8 Max DPS model.  Although I am fairly certain that for my use that any of these will do as I will not be “mudding” or otherwise subjecting the machine to abuse, I keep hearing that the Polaris machines seem to have more mechanical issues than other brands.  In fact, at one shop where I was inquiring about the Polaris we walked around back to the service area and the place was littered with Polaris machines in for repairs.

I know there is no guarantee of having no issues and that everyone has an opinion, but I am feeling a little better about Can-Am.  Additionally, their fit and finish seems a little nicer as well.  I appreciate the comments and would like to hear more about your experiences.

Got ranger 900xp.  I beat the crap out of it.  I run it in the swamp that is my farm.  It spends more then 1/2 it's time in water and mud.

It has been solid.  Had a bearing die about a month ago but that is to be expected with conditions.

Has tons of power, rarely put it in 4x4.

I'm on my second Honda UTV because the first one went 6 years of near daily driving trouble free.

Polaris is so popular there will always be more broken ones.
They all break, just be reasonable and take care of the machine.

I have a 2016 mule pro fx and cousin just got a Ranger 1000. Both of his brothers think he made a mistake getting the ranger vs the mule based upon their time in both vehicles and have said the mule just feels more heavy duty.

Only major complaint I have about my mule is the lack of ground clearance but a $150 lift fixed the issue. It will do 47 mph which is fast enough for me.

Whichever you get, a light bar and a roof rack should be on your list of things to install.

We have the mule pro fxt.

When my dad first suggested it, I thought it was a stupid waste of money.  We had 2 Honda ATVs and I didn’t see the need.   Man, was I wrong!   I don’t know how we managed for so long without it.  

The thing is a workhorse!  Love the adjustable bed.  We regularly load it down with 1,000 lbs of corn to fill feeders and it handles it like a champ.   Yes, loaded like that it will bottom out at times, but just go slow and all is good.

Def easier to load a deer onto the back vs a pickup.  

Mule is the perfect name for it.   I’ve taken it  up and down some rocky inclines that made me extremely nervous on a 4 wheeler and it handled them easily.  

Very quiet!   I do a LOT of night hunting with it. Typical scenario, we will drive to an area, get out and stalk with night vision, and then I’ll send my son back to bring up the mule when we are done. Going slow, he is nearly in sight before I can hear much of anything. Heck, I’ve driven it right into a sounder of hogs and they never spooked.

Dash is a good height that I can park it and set my rifle on the steering wheel for me, or on the dash for my son, and have a good rest.

The only complaint that I have, is that it has no back up lights.    We have a 50” light bar on the front which is great  for driving at night when you’ve finished hunting.  I put some rear facing lights on the back, but ripped the wiring out driving over cactus last year.   Need to put some new lights in for that.   No back up lights is my biggest complaint, but easily fixable. That and changing the oil is a bit of a PITA, but there are mods for that

Speed is more than adequate for me.   I don’t want or need a “dune buggy” I want/need a “utility vehicle”

TL:DR.    Highly recommend the mule fxt

Happy with my ranger 900.  Dad has a can am defender 1000 and he loves it.

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Have a Ranger 1000 and General 1000.  Both have been great, and don’t get babied.

They’ll all break, more of that is in how you treat and care for them than the brand.

My Dad owns the Kawasaki Pro 4 seater and I have driven it a good bit.  Like a few have mentioned I feel it is a little under powered, not as nimble as some, and engine braking is not very good.   However it is nice that has two benches and with little effort you can change the bed size.    My dad almost crashed his due to something in the steering braking while going down hill.  There is now a Recall on the parts that went bad.  (IF you have the Kawasaki check with your dealer)

He bought the Kawasaki to replace a Polaris Ranger that was nothing but trouble.   I have a Kawasaki Mule 610 that is bullet proof, but a rough ride.  I have turned the 610 into my field spraying machine.  My trail UTV is a 2018 Can Am Defender which I love.    Our family will never buy another Polaris since owning an ATV and three Rangers over the years we were always working on them.  (Belts, Computers on two, front end parts, bearing issues.)

Our farm is in central KY so the main dealer only carries Kawasaki and Polaris.   I rolled the dice and bought a CanAm from a dealer an hour away.   Closest Honda dealer is over 1.5 hours so never tried them personally.    My dads Kawasaki Pro was purchased with a 3 year warranty and the steering issue and adjusting the hand brake is his only issues with it.

Good info- thanks.

Just thought I’d update this thread and let everyone know that yesterday I took delivery of a 2021 Can-Am Defender Max DPS HD8 and I am very pleased with it.  Thanks to everyone who provided input.

You're going to love it.  Post pics of you having fun in it!

Pics brother

What are you guys using for photo hosting these days?  I haven’t posted pics herein forever and I guess Photobucket is a pay site now.  Tried uploading from my iPad but ARF is giving me a file size error?

I don't know anything about any of the others, but we have the Polaris 1000 crew and like very much. You can do over 50 miles an hour and is comfortable on rough dirt roads.

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Nice

This is all I have for pics so far from delivery day.  Looking forward to getting it out soon.  I have a roof and windshield on order.

Excellent!

Don't forget a commander net for the bed.