Getting the Ranger ready for cold weather
October 21, 2014
First came the cabin frame from Black’s Corners Motorsport to replace the original “roll bar” and screen on the Ranger TM. Turns out the stock cabin frame on early 2000’s Rangers wasn’t ROPS certified, so dealers had to install more robust frames for commercial use. Steve had three still in their original packages in his warehouse, so he sold me one for $250.
Then came a Kijiji purchase, a leftover metal roof ($150) from the dealer in North Bay. A centre-mounted mirror came from eBay for about $60.
As summer faded into fall I started to look for a windshield. The cheapie I picked is built from 3/16″ Lexan, ($256 from Extreme Metal Products). Then the exhaust fumes forced the dog to hang her head out into the slipstream, so the rear half of the enclosure was in order.
I had used spring clamps and red duct tape to hold the stern cover off our old sedan cruiser in place on Tony’s Ranger 500 last winter. This worked surprisingly well for ice fishing, so I ordered a pair of rear windows online at the lowest price I could find, $40 USD. The rather flimsy plastic in the new rear cover led me to suspect that it will likely break from impact during the winter, but if it does I’ll sew in a heavier vinyl panel from a boat canopy shop. The canvas portions and velcro straps should work well to hold a more durable rear panel.* (See update below.)
The Ranger’s definitely more liveable now on dog-walks in rainy or cold weather.
A new battery from Ward’s Marina in Kingston ($165) gives the starter a lot more torque than before and should help in cold weather. The guys at the counter were surprised when I asked for parts for a TM. They had thought their red 2004 TM was the only one in the area. Used on the lot as a tow vehicle since new, theirs has 1300 hours on it with just normal maintenance.
“They’re bulletproof,” the owner commented.
*UPDATE: 7 November, 2014
I had to move the rear window down a couple of inches on the cabin frame in order to block exhaust fumes which were permeating the cabin from below the seat back. The $40 rear window is a couple of inches too short-waisted to do its job properly. When I get around to it I’ll screw on a 9″ strip of plywood or metal to fill the gap between the bottom of the cabin frame and the lower edge of the rear cover. Then it should work fine. With the device lowered to where it shows 3″ of air below the cabin roof the fumes are no longer a problem, though it’s not a viable long-term solution. Next time I’d buy a more expensive model ($65.) which appears longer in the illustrations online.
UPDATE 7 December, 2014
It took a piece of 1/4″ plywood 59 7/8″ X 16″ to seal up the stern cover. The plywood sits on the frame and just under the black canvas of the stern cover. It does not interfere with the operation of the dump box. I drilled two oblong holes for the lower velcro straps of the stern cover to go through and over the plywood and still hold the roll bar in a death grip.
UPDATE 13 December, 2014
My friend Tom Stutzman handed me a roll of boat-cover-vinyl left over from the top on his pontoon boat. It looked to be about the right size and shape, so I clamped it into place to block air flow on the right side of the cabin. Next stage was to trim the small amount of excess vinyl and fasten it into place. The hex screws which hold body panels to the frame of the Ranger didn’t mind another layer of vinyl beneath their broad heads. The clamps stayed in place for now. Black duct tape presented a visual barrier for the spaniel who objected to losing her access route to the Ranger’s seat.
This may seem a bit extreme, but it’s a lot warmer in the cabin for the dog. As long as I don’t take the Ranger onto a lake, what’s the harm?
Review: MFG 15 gallon spot sprayer from Princess Auto
August 10, 2014
I bought this rig to mount in the back of my Polaris Ranger because backpack sprayers were becoming a lot of work. In the first year it did a reasonable job around 8000 little trees, though I needed a driver for the Ranger.
As time went on the sprayer’s role changed to defender of the farm against invasive plant species, and in this role it served pretty well. A couple of tanks of Roundup mix per year did the job until wild parsnip moved in. I went at the parsnip with a vengeance and the sprayer continued to do its job with occasional repairs to the 12v outlet. I had to switch to a heavier plug because extended running would melt the little plugs.
Then came the current scourge of DSV (dog strangling vine) on a friend’s building lot, an intimidating mass of tangled vines stretching back into the forest. The pump delivered its load, but I melted a high-quality plug from sustained running.
I realized we need a longer hose to deal with this infestation as I don’t like disassembling the Ranger after every spraying session to ensure there are no seed pods hidden in its body.
The $129. sprayer has delivered yoeman service over five years with the only problems the power supply and an occasional hose connection coming loose. I wish it had a 50′ hose as an option.
Update 10 August, 2014:
This morning I grafted 50′ of beverage tubing to the hose and tackled the DSV anew. The load of 1% Roundup 3 weeks ago made it easier to move around in the infested area, but there was still more to do.
With the property owner handling the Ranger and the hose, I was able to venture deep into the jungle and kill stuff all of the way out while Les withdrew the hose and coiled it in the back of the Ranger in preparation for the next sortie. We sprayed two, 15 gallon loads in an intensive session where, among other obstacles, I had to belay down a ten foot embankment into a loose pile of logs hidden under vines.
Mosquitoes and deer flies had no use for me today. Roundup’s a good insect repellent, though I wouldn’t recommend it.
Polaris Ranger shootout: 2WD vs 4WD in snow
March 10, 2013
Yesterday Tony brought his 2003 Ranger 500 to the farm and drove it around the trails in the woods I had established with my Massey Ferguson 35 and winch for hauling out logs. The wide body on full-sized Rangers may be a pain to fit onto a trailer, but the wheels fit nicely into a tractor track through deep snow. In anticipation of sugar making activities I had dragged the blade on the winch through the trails where the snow was very deep to provide ground clearance for the Rangers. Tony’s new to offroad driving so he wasn’t as impressed as I was by the 500’s ability to navigate sections that had stuck my 2004 2WD Ranger TM during the previous week.
Then we used the 500 to do something none of my toys could handle: move sugar-making equipment from the basement of the stone house up to the sugar shack. The 500 could move around in/on corn snow that had left the TM royally stuck. Just for the record, a standard 3/8″ dock line of the sort I use in summer is not strong enough to tow a Ranger when it won’t go any more on its own power. I stretched one past its breaking point twice with my Bolens 4WD tractor, then went with a prefab towing line out of yellow nylon which worked fine.
The first thing I tried with Tony’s Ranger was a slide down the hill. Why not? At full throttle off the top of the hill by the brick house we planed 600 feet down the slope until I could pick up a tractor trail back to the barn. Tony was a bit wide-eyed during the descent, but the machine worked fine in the granular snow.
After loading the gear in the deep corn around the south side of the house the 500 couldn’t back up the slope to get to the driveway, so I just booted it back down the hill and picked up the previous track across the field and up by the barn. It was an exhilarating ride for two guys, a dog, and a precious and fragile bit of kit, the boiling pan.
Eight 16 litre pails of water made another trip. Well, nine, but one didn’t have a lid, so Tony only filled it 2/3 full. Away we went. It was still more than half-full when we got to the shack. We didn’t get wet because of the rear windshield/stern cover. Pretty good ride with a partial load. Interestingly, with the extra 300 lb in the bed the 500 didn’t plane over the corn snow. The back wheels had to dig their way through. The 30 hp engine seems well suited to the chassis in tough going. I remained in high range throughout these adventures, of course, with the throttle pegged to the floorboards.
This week I plan to keep the 500 in the shed as a tow-truck and gather sap with the TM as long as it will do the job. If previous experience is any indicator, it will get through the syrup season just fine, floating over soggy turf which would bury heavier vehicles — even my little compact tractor, while carrying 14 pails of sap or up to nine volunteers per trip.
The TM is only 90% as capable as the 500, but its drivetrain is so simple I think it’s a better choice for multiple, inexperienced drivers.
Ranger Pix
December 27, 2008
EZ-Go golf cart vs Polaris Ranger TM
October 1, 2008
You may wish to read parts two through eight of this review, also posted on this site.
Our EZ-Go has been an indispensable part of life on the farm now for two years. It replaced a two cycle EZ-Go, a 1989 whose engine simply wore out. Its predecessor was a Yamaha G1 rescued from a wrecking yard and resurrected with regular engine rebuilds.
What I learned from the series of carts is that 2 cycle golf cart engines have a life expectancy measured in hundreds of hours; four cycles run for thousands.
The EZ-Go has worked steadily for the last two weeks on the walnut harvest. Each expedition would involve loading a large plastic tub onto the back compartment of the cart (where the golf bags go), and adding various pails as space provided. Off I’d go, cheerfully picking my way over the familiar bumps on the road back to the walnut plantation.
A good morning’s picking would fill a twenty-gallon tub and a couple of five gallon pails. Then would come a leisurely drive up the hill and back to the house. The cart moved agilely along some rather rudimentary trails in the woodlot, its handiness greatly enhanced by a narrow track, short wheelbase, and rearward weight distribution.
The EZ-Go won’t carry a lot in its “trunk”, but the lift-over height of the back bumper is about fifteen inches. Heavy stuff like rocks or a tub of walnuts can swing in there without much effort on the part of the labourer.
The EZ-Go’s two cylinder, 251 cc Subaru/Robin engine is the smoothest small gas engine I have seen. It provides an ample nine horsepower and runs tirelessly. Maintenance is very easy.
Then we come to the Polaris Ranger TM, a new addition to the farm. It was too big for my 5X8 trailer. This caused some consternation, but the dealer lent me a 6X12 for the delivery. Something that almost broke the deal was the requirement that one remove six screws and a plastic plate in order to check the engine oil! Polaris got rid of this abomination the next year, but it might account for why this brand new 2004 was still on the lot.
Like the EZ-Go, the Ranger has a Subaru/Robin engine, a selling point for me. This one is a big, rumbling V2, shaped like a Harley’s. The 653 cubic centimeters only produce 18 hp, so it’s not working very hard. The other two wheel drive Ranger, the 2X4, digs 40 hp out of a 500cc single, but that model costs a lot more. I read an online review which suggested that the larger engine is detuned in order that the top speed be kept under the 25 mph ceiling for low speed vehicles in the U.S.A.
Anyway, to get to the driving impressions of the new toy: from the first trip across a meadow we all realized that the Polaris is a clear winner in the ride category. The downside of life with the EZ-Go has always been its savagely harsh ride off-road. Do the math: the same back springs go into this 700 pound, gas engined machine as go into a four passenger, electric cart which weighs close to twice that amount.
On the other hand, the Polaris has adjustable back shocks to dial in ride stiffness. In full soft mode for the test drive, the thing floated majestically over the rough fields, even when I used a burst of speed to encourage the neighbour’s cow to return home. There is simply no comparison between the two in the ride department. The Polaris seats three adults side-by-side on its tall bench seat. My elderly mother quibbled a bit about its height because her feet didn’t touch the floor, but insisted that the ride was still comfortable for her while she drove.
As far as cargo hauling is concerned, the EZ-Go handles one large tub of walnuts, with perhaps a five gallon pail or two on the cockpit floor in front of the passenger seat. That’s a lot of nuts, but the Ranger easily holds four tubs and a bunch of pails in its dump box. The liftover height is a killer, though. It’s too high for heavy items. From now on I’ll set tubs of walnuts into the box with the loader or else tow them on a trailer. The golf cart wins hands down in the ease of shuffling aboard a heavy object. Another cargo advantage which goes to the EZ-Go is capacity to handle long objects. I learned last winter that the easiest way to bring a few 16′ boards to the planer is to slide them through the cockpit of the cart from front to back. They balance harmlessly on the dash coping and the rear sweater rack. This trick has proven a real work-saver.
The other thing the EZ-Go is unsurpassed at is sanding an icy driveway. In the fall I fill a few large plastic tubs with salted sand. Under normal circumstances I carry two tubs in the loader of the tractor when sanding is needed, but if it is too icy to walk, getting on and off the tractor safely becomes a problem. I have learned that one tub on the back of the cart is much more manageable than the tractor. Getting on and off the cart is safe because of the handholds provided by the top, and the EZ-Go’s traction is more than adequate for use as a sanding vehicle. The “trunk” is all plastic and I don’t think it has suffered at all from occasional sanding forays.
The Ranger’s plastic dump box isn’t pretty, but it seems well enough designed, apart from the liftover height. Things don’t seem to fall out of it on a rough trail, it dumps easily, and of course it holds a great deal of whatever one sees fit to pile into it.
The Polaris handles the narrow golf cart trails quite well when you consider that it is 16″ wider than the EZ-Go. Two wheel drive isn’t a problem at this time of year, though the differential lock is handy when the drive wheel spins on a rock or stump. Both machines are good in the woods, as long as trails are halfway civilized.
Even with a roof in place, a golf cart is very easy to tow behind a mid-sized vehicle. It feels as if it belongs back there. The Polaris on the borrowed 6X12 trailer nearly stalled my four cylinder pickup truck until I figured out that the mesh grate below the Ranger’s roll bar was sucking power away. I removed the grate at first opportunity, and then it towed well, though the extra weight and the roughness of the larger trailer were obvious.
As far as costs go, a good golf cart can still be found for around $3000, and all it needs is fuel. Overhead is delightfully low on a golf cart. The Ranger costs almost double that, requires $250 for liability insurance or about $450 annually for all perils coverage. The license is a one-time $35 charge.
So why did I buy the Ranger? It handles much heavier loads than a golf cart, the ride is terrific, and it can be used as a miniature truck. When time for spraying comes, the equipment will likely mount on the Ranger. While I still think an old tractor and trailer is the best rig for hauling out firewood, I can see the Ranger taking a larger role as I get too old to climb nimbly onto a tractor seat. Certainly it will come in handy in the future for moving fuel from woodpile to boiler in my shop. The Polaris Ranger TM is a long term investment, but I would probably have stuck with the golf cart if not for the bone-crunching ride over rough terrain.
Update: September 22, 2008
Today I ordered a portable garage to shelter the Ranger from the elements. It’s too much work scraping the frost off that seat in the morning, and it’s better to have the box dry for tools than to have to muck around the accumulated wet leaves to find something. On another level, the Ranger gives every indication of being around the farm for a very long time, so I might as well protect it from the UV. It’s finding its niche nicely, though I do a good deal more walking than I used to when served by a golf cart, most of the trips arising from a reluctance to sit on a cold, wet seat in the morning. The golf cart’s roof really did make a difference.
I almost forgot: the Ranger’s box makes a handy workbench. It’s a good height for that, at least. If I slide scraps of wood into the slots for racks (2003-4 only) they keep boards from sliding backward off the box when I balance a load across the back, though I need a wide, treeless lane when moving long stock to the planer.
the Walnut Diary 