My local Kubota dealer sells the Gravely line of side by side UTVs. The seem robust and I actually had a short ride on one that they use for puttering around the business while my snowblower salesman was looking for a part for me. Anyone own one? Looking for my next toy purchase and am considering these as well as the kubotas.
Gravely side by sides??
- Thread starter Mowbizz
- Start date
I've never heard of them. Like Kubotas, if you want dealer support, buy a known good brand.
Personally, I'm partial to Polaris. YMMV.
Personally, I'm partial to Polaris. YMMV.
papajoe
Active member
Equipment
L3901DT Shuttle (2017), B6100E (1978), B6100E (1979), B6100HST-E (1985), RTV500
I have two Kubota side by sides, they both work hard and have been trouble free for many years. My 900x started yesterday morning at 7 degrees after setting outside all night. It would be hard for me to switch to some other brand.
JSV Side by Side UTV Job Site Vehicle 6-Seat | Gravely Atlas JSV
WIth an upgraded interior, 2,500 lb towing capacity, a 40HP/999cc OHC engine,dump bed and independent suspension, the Gravely Atlas JSV side by sidte is born to work.
www.gravely.com
JSV Side by Side UTV Job Site Vehicle with dump bed | Gravely Atlas JSV
With an upgraded interior, 2,500 lb towing capacity, 2,075 lb payload, 40HP/999cc OHC engine, dump bed and independent suspension, the Gravely Atlas JSV side by side is born to work.
www.gravely.com
I have a couple buddy's that have owned them. This has been back maybe close to 10 years now. Back when they got them they had Polaris engines in them and I think they were mostly built by Polaris. One is a acreage guy the other is a farmer, rancher. The acreage guy still has his and it been ok for him. They didn't stand up well at all for the farmer rancher. He is running Kubota's and Kawasaki's and has had good luck with them.
TheOldHokie
Well-known member
Lifetime Member
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L3901/LA525, B7200DT/B1630, G2160/RCK60, G2460/RCK60
Gravely has been around since the 20s. They pretty much invented the walk behind lawn and garden tractor and dominated the business for many decades. Originally founded in Dunbar WV by Ben Gravely. I played on Mr Gravelys little league team.
Yes. I want utility and not speed, etc
I love the Mules! That’s probably what I’ll end up buying. Just keeping options open and doing due diligence til I’m ready (2024 sometime)
A lot of companies are trying to get into the SxS or UTV market because they've seen the successes that Kawasaki, Polaris, Yamaha (to an extent), Honda and CanAm have enjoyed for a good while.
You don't hear much about the gravely brand, just like the Cub Cadet brand, Intimidator brand and many others. And for good reason. Note that they all have pluses and minuses, and really the only way they sell any of them is on price. They're cheaper than the more well-known brands, and they're also less expensive
I sold Kawasaki, Yamaha, and for a little while Intimidator. Oh and Kubota. Did Kubota for almost 30 years, we did intimidator from 08 through 2015. Intimidator was a spinoff of bad boy mowers originally so the "technology" largely came from their lawn mower lineup originally. The lead engineer who was in charge of the bad boy mtv vehicles originally was a good friend of the owner of a well-known Polaris dealer in town, so they copied Polaris on a lot of stuff, but used lawn mower "tech" elsewhere. Then Bad Boy ditched one of their owners, who started his own company called intimidator. Initially they took a lawn mower engine (kohler) and mounted it to their own chassis, which was based on Polaris but with lots of changes made. The belt drive was a dirt cheap setup, with NO COVERS, so any splash would cause belt slippage. I mean, what were they thinking? So you get the idea. Yamaha owned the SxS market locally for 5 or 6 years until the whole "Rhino lawsuit" deal--where some people went after Yamaha for building a "unsafe" side-by-side. It in itself was not unsafe, it was perfectly safe but the owners were doing stupid stuff with em and getting themselves hurt. Kawasaki didn't have anything to compete so they COPIED the Rhino in 2007/8 with the Teryx 750 which was a Brute Force 750 engine mounted on a copied Rhino chassis. That thing was junk. But, they sold tons of them (and ate the engines on tons of them) which told them, hey, there's a market for this. 2012, it was redesigned for the better, still a 750 but a lot better. 2014 it became an 800 and it's been 800 ever since. Oudated now but that's also why they've decided to build the teryx 1000 (KRX1000) and Monday I think, they're unveling the "ridge" which I know nothing of. I think it's gonna be a competitor to the Polaris Xpedition.
Stick with a Mule if you want 100% utility. If you are VERY patient you can probably use a Mule SX but I guarantee you that at some point you'll wish it had more power. 13hp is barely enough. It is inadequate for any trail riding and/or real work, unless your trails are totally flat and manicured such that the 3" of suspension travel won't beat you up too much.
Kubota also has a line of utility vehicles, but most of them are centered around a diesel engine and a hydrostatic transmission. Exception is the sidekick which is a version of the "standard" CVT (belt drive). It is a cheap version of a CVT. I can't speak for the newest sidekicks but the 2020 and earlier models had a horridly over-reactive throttle, which made them mostly uncontrollable on rougher terrain. You couldn't pay me enough to ride on one the trails here. Polaris uses electronic throttle which I initially hated but the first time you are on a rougher trail you'll appreciate it. Polaris has them set up such that bouncing around doesn't automatically cause jerky throttle operation. Rzr line is a lot more sensitive but still NOTHING like the sidekick. I don't even consider a sidekick when people ask me "which brand". I'll suggest a Gator before a sidekick. The hydrostatic transmissions eat up too much of the engine's power on the diesels. Those engines are real powerful but you'd never know it because of the transmission. HST transmission in this application just does that. If you mash down on the go pedal while in a rut, and the wheels won't spin, they're not going to spin-and depending on the temp of the transmission, may very well kill the engine. They can take up to 25hp to run the transmission and the engines don't make any more than that. I do not like the HST design for this purpose. Stick with a CVT or go to a fully manual 5 or 6 speed straight gear transmission. But they can't do that because 96% of the target market can't drive a manual transmission. It's nuts.
Polaris' new ranger 1500 is impressive for a work horse. Real torquey, really smooth, rides excellent. I've been impressed with them.
You don't hear much about the gravely brand, just like the Cub Cadet brand, Intimidator brand and many others. And for good reason. Note that they all have pluses and minuses, and really the only way they sell any of them is on price. They're cheaper than the more well-known brands, and they're also less expensive
I sold Kawasaki, Yamaha, and for a little while Intimidator. Oh and Kubota. Did Kubota for almost 30 years, we did intimidator from 08 through 2015. Intimidator was a spinoff of bad boy mowers originally so the "technology" largely came from their lawn mower lineup originally. The lead engineer who was in charge of the bad boy mtv vehicles originally was a good friend of the owner of a well-known Polaris dealer in town, so they copied Polaris on a lot of stuff, but used lawn mower "tech" elsewhere. Then Bad Boy ditched one of their owners, who started his own company called intimidator. Initially they took a lawn mower engine (kohler) and mounted it to their own chassis, which was based on Polaris but with lots of changes made. The belt drive was a dirt cheap setup, with NO COVERS, so any splash would cause belt slippage. I mean, what were they thinking? So you get the idea. Yamaha owned the SxS market locally for 5 or 6 years until the whole "Rhino lawsuit" deal--where some people went after Yamaha for building a "unsafe" side-by-side. It in itself was not unsafe, it was perfectly safe but the owners were doing stupid stuff with em and getting themselves hurt. Kawasaki didn't have anything to compete so they COPIED the Rhino in 2007/8 with the Teryx 750 which was a Brute Force 750 engine mounted on a copied Rhino chassis. That thing was junk. But, they sold tons of them (and ate the engines on tons of them) which told them, hey, there's a market for this. 2012, it was redesigned for the better, still a 750 but a lot better. 2014 it became an 800 and it's been 800 ever since. Oudated now but that's also why they've decided to build the teryx 1000 (KRX1000) and Monday I think, they're unveling the "ridge" which I know nothing of. I think it's gonna be a competitor to the Polaris Xpedition.
Stick with a Mule if you want 100% utility. If you are VERY patient you can probably use a Mule SX but I guarantee you that at some point you'll wish it had more power. 13hp is barely enough. It is inadequate for any trail riding and/or real work, unless your trails are totally flat and manicured such that the 3" of suspension travel won't beat you up too much.
Kubota also has a line of utility vehicles, but most of them are centered around a diesel engine and a hydrostatic transmission. Exception is the sidekick which is a version of the "standard" CVT (belt drive). It is a cheap version of a CVT. I can't speak for the newest sidekicks but the 2020 and earlier models had a horridly over-reactive throttle, which made them mostly uncontrollable on rougher terrain. You couldn't pay me enough to ride on one the trails here. Polaris uses electronic throttle which I initially hated but the first time you are on a rougher trail you'll appreciate it. Polaris has them set up such that bouncing around doesn't automatically cause jerky throttle operation. Rzr line is a lot more sensitive but still NOTHING like the sidekick. I don't even consider a sidekick when people ask me "which brand". I'll suggest a Gator before a sidekick. The hydrostatic transmissions eat up too much of the engine's power on the diesels. Those engines are real powerful but you'd never know it because of the transmission. HST transmission in this application just does that. If you mash down on the go pedal while in a rut, and the wheels won't spin, they're not going to spin-and depending on the temp of the transmission, may very well kill the engine. They can take up to 25hp to run the transmission and the engines don't make any more than that. I do not like the HST design for this purpose. Stick with a CVT or go to a fully manual 5 or 6 speed straight gear transmission. But they can't do that because 96% of the target market can't drive a manual transmission. It's nuts.
Polaris' new ranger 1500 is impressive for a work horse. Real torquey, really smooth, rides excellent. I've been impressed with them.
Thanks! You gave a great overview of them all! So the mule is underpowered, or just the SX? My neighbor has a mule but no idea which model. I have some steep hills I’d have to traverse. I would also like engine braking for the down hills.A lot of companies are trying to get into the SxS or UTV market because they've seen the successes that Kawasaki, Polaris, Yamaha (to an extent), Honda and CanAm have enjoyed for a good while.
You don't hear much about the gravely brand, just like the Cub Cadet brand, Intimidator brand and many others. And for good reason. Note that they all have pluses and minuses, and really the only way they sell any of them is on price. They're cheaper than the more well-known brands, and they're also less expensive
I sold Kawasaki, Yamaha, and for a little while Intimidator. Oh and Kubota. Did Kubota for almost 30 years, we did intimidator from 08 through 2015. Intimidator was a spinoff of bad boy mowers originally so the "technology" largely came from their lawn mower lineup originally. The lead engineer who was in charge of the bad boy mtv vehicles originally was a good friend of the owner of a well-known Polaris dealer in town, so they copied Polaris on a lot of stuff, but used lawn mower "tech" elsewhere. Then Bad Boy ditched one of their owners, who started his own company called intimidator. Initially they took a lawn mower engine (kohler) and mounted it to their own chassis, which was based on Polaris but with lots of changes made. The belt drive was a dirt cheap setup, with NO COVERS, so any splash would cause belt slippage. I mean, what were they thinking? So you get the idea. Yamaha owned the SxS market locally for 5 or 6 years until the whole "Rhino lawsuit" deal--where some people went after Yamaha for building a "unsafe" side-by-side. It in itself was not unsafe, it was perfectly safe but the owners were doing stupid stuff with em and getting themselves hurt. Kawasaki didn't have anything to compete so they COPIED the Rhino in 2007/8 with the Teryx 750 which was a Brute Force 750 engine mounted on a copied Rhino chassis. That thing was junk. But, they sold tons of them (and ate the engines on tons of them) which told them, hey, there's a market for this. 2012, it was redesigned for the better, still a 750 but a lot better. 2014 it became an 800 and it's been 800 ever since. Oudated now but that's also why they've decided to build the teryx 1000 (KRX1000) and Monday I think, they're unveling the "ridge" which I know nothing of. I think it's gonna be a competitor to the Polaris Xpedition.
Stick with a Mule if you want 100% utility. If you are VERY patient you can probably use a Mule SX but I guarantee you that at some point you'll wish it had more power. 13hp is barely enough. It is inadequate for any trail riding and/or real work, unless your trails are totally flat and manicured such that the 3" of suspension travel won't beat you up too much.
Kubota also has a line of utility vehicles, but most of them are centered around a diesel engine and a hydrostatic transmission. Exception is the sidekick which is a version of the "standard" CVT (belt drive). It is a cheap version of a CVT. I can't speak for the newest sidekicks but the 2020 and earlier models had a horridly over-reactive throttle, which made them mostly uncontrollable on rougher terrain. You couldn't pay me enough to ride on one the trails here. Polaris uses electronic throttle which I initially hated but the first time you are on a rougher trail you'll appreciate it. Polaris has them set up such that bouncing around doesn't automatically cause jerky throttle operation. Rzr line is a lot more sensitive but still NOTHING like the sidekick. I don't even consider a sidekick when people ask me "which brand". I'll suggest a Gator before a sidekick. The hydrostatic transmissions eat up too much of the engine's power on the diesels. Those engines are real powerful but you'd never know it because of the transmission. HST transmission in this application just does that. If you mash down on the go pedal while in a rut, and the wheels won't spin, they're not going to spin-and depending on the temp of the transmission, may very well kill the engine. They can take up to 25hp to run the transmission and the engines don't make any more than that. I do not like the HST design for this purpose. Stick with a CVT or go to a fully manual 5 or 6 speed straight gear transmission. But they can't do that because 96% of the target market can't drive a manual transmission. It's nuts.
Polaris' new ranger 1500 is impressive for a work horse. Real torquey, really smooth, rides excellent. I've been impressed with them.
all of the mules are underpowered but the SX is the smallest, least expensive and least powerful. I sold TONS of them and most people were happy with them, but 100% of them wished it had more power.
Mule 4000 series is a V-twin 620cc, a lot more power and torque but more expensive too.
Mule pro MX is a Kymco. Steer clear.
Mule PRO FX/R/T has about 50 hp give or take. 3 cylinder. Smooth. Still underpowered but way better than the MX, 4000, and SX series.
As of 2023 they now also have the pro fx/r/t 1000cc which is supposedly a lot more like the Ranger 1000 sohc, about 65hp or so. I have no experience with the mule pro 1000.
all of the mules have very little to no engine braking. To get GOOD engine braking, you have to look at Yamaha or Honda. Honda's Pioneer 1000 is cramped, a little noisy, and I absolutely HATE the transmission for tight trails. It does have engine braking and it is nice in a parking lot test drive but beyond that they suck in comparison to a true CVT. Yamaha still uses a true CVT but they also use a centrifugal clutch that runs the CVT. The clutch has a one-way bearing on it, which gives you TRUE engine braking, and it is top notch. The teryx 800 uses the same design but the one thing about the teryx 800 is that they run hot because the motor is right between the seats instead of being out back where it belongs. They get real warm, which is nice in the winter but it sucks in the summer.
Polaris engine braking is pretty good on the Rangers and somewhat on the Generals, just ok on the rzr's.
Intimidators have no engine braking to speak of, at least nothing like yamaha and kawasaki and polaris.
I like yamaha stuff-always have. The viking might fit your needs. Not overly powerful, not overly rough riding, big bed, can easily get 3 people on the seat (they made/make a 6 seat version as well), engine has great engine braking for the hills, plenty of power, dual range cvt, rides decent, decently comfortable. The downside is that the 700cc single cylinder engine has a roughness to it at idle. It's not a big deal and you get used to it, but if you get off of a Honda pioneer 1000 or a ranger 1000 and onto a viking, you notice it.
When the Gravely came out it was a Polaris Ranger with unique bodywork, I believe both Gravely and bobcat utvs are just rebadged rangers
polaris builds the engine on the atlas 1000cc. But it's only 40hp, rather than 61hp on the ranger 1000 (I thought it was 65, but I'm corrected). I'm understanding that the chassis and suspension won't take 65hp on the atlas. Tops out at 35mph on the atlas. I'd bet that someone makes a ECU for the atlas that "opens it up" but I also question why they de-tuned it in the first place. If you could get the remaining 20 hp out of it, what does that do to the clutch? Suspension? Driveline? Or maybe it really is built by Polaris? It sure looks like the ranger 1000 frame and suspension from what I can see.
The atlas is also priced pretty high. Ranger 1000 starts at 14,800. EPS version about 16,500. i wonder what makes the atlas more expensive? Bed lift (that is available from Polaris and isn't expensive)?
The atlas is also priced pretty high. Ranger 1000 starts at 14,800. EPS version about 16,500. i wonder what makes the atlas more expensive? Bed lift (that is available from Polaris and isn't expensive)?
whitetiger
Moderator
Staff member
Equipment
Kubota tech..BX2370, RCK60, B7100HST, RTV900 w plow, Ford 1100 FWA
For $25,000. you can buy an RTV-X1100C. It has a diesel engine, hydrostat transmission, enclosed cabin with a heater and AC.
and is the absolute slowest underpowered pig of a utv on the planet, which won't climb over a rock or even a small hill with the hst. . hst's eat a ton of power.
2800 lbs and 24.8hp. They serve a purpose, but you cannot expect much out of them as far as speed and power.
whitetiger
Moderator
Staff member
Equipment
Kubota tech..BX2370, RCK60, B7100HST, RTV900 w plow, Ford 1100 FWA
Try pulling a 16-wheel rake on a cart rolling two windrows together all day long, or carry a 750-gallon sprayer with 18-foot booms over soft ground spraying crops with a rubber band drive unit.
An RTV-X1100c will carry 1800 lbs of alfalfa bales uphill in the mud and snow just fine, we have dozens of customers that use them on the farm year-round. Many of them have over 3000 hours or more with just general service.
They just won't run down the road at 40MPH. It boils down to do you want to play or work.
Hmmm…see? Different experiences for different folks…I think a thorough test drive is in order no matter what you buy. I personally have zero “farm chores” but I would want to traverse my hills for woods trail clearing of deadfalls. I know my BX25d will climb for mowing (when I used it for that) but never had it on my back woods hill.
yeah i've used rtv's for that purpose, during field training
they aren't all they're advertised to be. They work well on flat or mostly flat farms but any hills? We got hills here-not mountains but hills, even though they call them the boston and ozark and ouachita mountains they're just hills. Rocky. RTV by itself won't climb over a 8" dia log in a trail you have to back up and run at it, and break your back with the lack of suspension travel and rock hard seat. That was my third experience with them. First one, field repair, wouldn't climb a ditch bank-I think it wasn't much more than 14-16" deep. Goes down just fine, just won't climb the other side, exactly like the customer said. We didn't believe him. Kubota rep said "he's asking more of it than it was designed". I did manage to get it stuck, enough that they had to use a tractor to pull it off of the berm we tried to climb. Maybe a foot tall. Real frustrating. An off-road machine that has little off-road capability aside from runnin around on a rolling or flat farm. My friend has one, at the drag strip-all flat. Hates how slow it is but it gets him back & forth.
maybe the new x1100's and x1140's that I used were less powerful than the ones you did but I was really wanting to be impressed with them being that I worked at a dealer and had to sell and service them. We came to the conclusion that if a customer came in and wanted one, we would have to ask them of the intended purpose-if they were trail riding at all (any!) we tried to get them on a Mule or Teryx. If all utility and not much stuff to climb over, rtv might fit the bill-with a warning that they do not climb and they ride rough. If people paid attention to those limitations they were satisified with em.
they aren't all they're advertised to be. They work well on flat or mostly flat farms but any hills? We got hills here-not mountains but hills, even though they call them the boston and ozark and ouachita mountains they're just hills. Rocky. RTV by itself won't climb over a 8" dia log in a trail you have to back up and run at it, and break your back with the lack of suspension travel and rock hard seat. That was my third experience with them. First one, field repair, wouldn't climb a ditch bank-I think it wasn't much more than 14-16" deep. Goes down just fine, just won't climb the other side, exactly like the customer said. We didn't believe him. Kubota rep said "he's asking more of it than it was designed". I did manage to get it stuck, enough that they had to use a tractor to pull it off of the berm we tried to climb. Maybe a foot tall. Real frustrating. An off-road machine that has little off-road capability aside from runnin around on a rolling or flat farm. My friend has one, at the drag strip-all flat. Hates how slow it is but it gets him back & forth.
maybe the new x1100's and x1140's that I used were less powerful than the ones you did but I was really wanting to be impressed with them being that I worked at a dealer and had to sell and service them. We came to the conclusion that if a customer came in and wanted one, we would have to ask them of the intended purpose-if they were trail riding at all (any!) we tried to get them on a Mule or Teryx. If all utility and not much stuff to climb over, rtv might fit the bill-with a warning that they do not climb and they ride rough. If people paid attention to those limitations they were satisified with em.