Working Ranch Magazine March/April 2025

ranch wheels BY JAMES BECKHAM The 2025 Side-by-Side Lineup

t about age 3, my oldest daughter decided “ridiculous” was her favorite word. She attempted to use “ridiculous” in nearly every sentence whether or not the word really fit. However, one of the problems with a three-year-old using a four-sylla ble word turned out to be pronunciation – “ridiculous” became “dikulus.” “Dikulus” elicited much laughter and snickers from adults, but didn’t slow Jamie down trying to repeatedly use the word.

I did not compare ground clearance as some manufacturers just don’t give good information on that subject. Disclaimer: Factory specifications are often hard to interpret and a guy has to sometimes make educated guesses as to what the factory marketing people mean. I have done my best to get this right! KUBOTA I did not include the Kubota Sidekick series in the comparison as the marketing materials sell this as an off-road machine. The Huntsman configuration was likewise excluded from the comparison. See the Kubota UTVs at your local dealer and check out all the fea tures at https://www.kubotausa. com/products/utility-vehicles/ full-size-gas-utility-vehicles/. POLARIS Polaris has a full complement of side-by-side machines targeting the ranching industry. WR compares 10 of the Ranger models. Polaris calls their UTV transmission

and Kawaski along with UTVs from Vitacci, Kubota and Polaris. General Notes: Each of the manufacturers included in this comparison have both mid size and full-size side-by-side UTVs. All companies have vehicles designed not only for ag, but also for hunting, golfing, off-roading, landscaping and tootling around the neighborhood. I made educated guesses in some cases about which machines would work best for ag. No electric powered vehicles are included in this review, only side-by sides that have internal combustion engines. This review does not include acces sories and add-ons.

Considering the word “dikulus” leads me to the subject of buying a new UTV… (OK, maybe that’s a stretch, but stay with me.) Assume it is time to buy that new UTV. You begin to research 2025 side by-side UTVs and quickly find that one manufacturer alone builds 24 models. “Big green” has so many versions you lose track. Trying to compare dozens of models of side-by-side UTVs turns out to be an exercise that is truly “dikulus.” (See, I told you to stick with me.) So, WR is here to give you a com parison of 52 side-by-side UTVs from five manufacturers. Yes sir, that’s 52 models even after I filtered out the versions of UTVs that don’t seem to work for ag. This WR comparison includes models from John Deere

BACKGROUND: LILKIN / SHUTTERSTOCK UTV: KRISTI BLOKHIN / SHUTTERSTOCK

56 I MARCH 2025 WORKING RANCH audited readers run 21 million head of beef cattle.