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Used JD Gator Advice
I'm considering buying a petrol or "gas" 6x4 drive 1995 build with 842 hours on the clock for our dairy farm.
Not having owned a Gator before, I'm wondering if you've got some tips for me, please. What should I watch out for? What typically goes wrong with these?
Thanks very much!
Jem
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Used JD Gator Advice
Jem;
If the Gator appears to have been well maintained and the price is right it should have a lot trouble free life left.
I'll ask a couple questions forst tho.
Do you want the 6 X 4 for load reasons?
We've had Gators on the farm since our first 4 X 2 and quite frankly with the turf type tire tread they were totally helpless in any mud. I've never had a 6 X 4, but I've been told they are just twice as helpless as a 4 X 2 in mud, the tread fills with mud and there you sit stuck on nothing. A friend bought a new 6 X 4 to get the extra load carring capacity. his comment was that if you loaded the box too heavy the Gator would barely make a turn because the tandem rear axle just wanted to make it go straight no matter which way you turned the steering wheel.
I don't mean to dicourage anyone but I'd rather they knew before they bought.
My personal choice if yopu want to stay with a two wheel drive would be a 4 X 2 with some agressive tread mud tires on the back.
Frank.
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Thanks very much, Frank. This is just the sort of feedback I need. I don't really want a 6 x 4 in particular - just that it's at the right price.
Mud (and cow poo) is the biggest hurdle faced by all our machinery on farm. Gets incredibly slippery in the wet months and, unless you have 4WD, you just slide sideways off the track.
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Jem;
We've been happy with our 4 X 4 Gators.
Our first 4 X 4 was an HPX which was a good machine except for a cold starting issue. They had a carbureted engine that was a problem to keep it running while you shifted it into gear if the weather was at all cold. In the summer or if your climate is year round warm it won't bother much. The dealer was good about trying to correct this but to no avail. I've never had a diesel, but that was going to be my next move hadn't they came with the XUV with the fuel injected gasoline engine.
Our current XUV with the fuel injected gasoline engine has been a real good machine. It starts just like your fuel injected car or pickup, no choke, it just starts every time warm or cold, no dying, no sputtering.
Frank.
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I have a 1999 6x4 and the only issue I have is rust. The front frame is very rusty and causes some chasis flex. The turning is more about tire pressure then anything. If the front tires are low at all it doesn't turn. If they are aired up with a load I have not issues. I am not sure about the mud but it does ok on greese. I use my gator in large plants and warehouse to move surplus. I would think with some good mud tires it would be just fine.
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Jem;
One thing I forgot to add about the XUV gasoline engines is an oil/gasoline dillution issiue that some had problems with, some didn't. So far we haven't had the problem. I know the head shop foreman at the dealership we use quite well, so I ask him about it. I have no idea how many Gators they sell but I know it is a bunch. He tells me that out of all the XUV gasoline Gators they have sold that one did have this problem. This man had calf pens along a fenceline where he hauled feed to every morning, at every pen he shut the engine off while he fed the calves never alowing it to get up to full operating temperature. They solved the problem by having him just let it run till you're done for the morning so the engine can fully warm up, that solved it for him. His discussions with other dealer shop foremen who had more of a problem were normally non farm people who used the Gator to go the mailbox and back very day never warming the engine up. He also learned from the other foremen that most all of them with the dillution problem were not using the recommedned engine oil.
Frank.
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Thanks guys! After your feedback, I'm a bit concerned about the turning circle of the 6 x 4 and am now thinking of importing either an XUV or a HPX from the US. To give you the idea, we pay around AUD19,000 for a gasoline engine here but now the AUD and USD have achieved parity, I can get one imported for around AUD13,000. Crazy, isn't it?
Our climate is relatively temperate. We get summer extremes of 40 deg Celsius and frosts of minus 2 but that's it really!
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