Home Forums Gear Horses and ATV's Polaris Brutus VS Kubota 1100 VS Bobcat 3650

Anyone have any experience with them. Good or Bad. Poors vs cons. Must have hard cab for working around the house and snow removal.

Anybody?

I compared the Kubota to a regular Kawasaki Mule. My notes are about how much machine...not of Chevy vs. Ford....

I had a trouble-free 1998 Kawasaki Mule 2510 (gas) with one bench seat.

I bought it with 700 hours and recently sold it with 1500 hours, fifteen years later.

In low range that Mule moved 1200 pounds of gravel in the bed and plowed near an acre of eastern (wet) snow a foot deep with a 6 foot plow.

I needed something with another bench seat. I was sorry to see the old girl go.

As I have diesel here I was open to any fuel type. I liked the water cooled V-twin Kawasaki industrial gas engine in the old Mule that I spent 15 years with. All I ever did was adjust the valves once. It takes two hours.

I wanted the Kubota or equivalent, as I understand Kubota makes them for other brands. I looked at a used (2010?) Kubota and was struck by how heavy and complex it looked compared to the Mule. It turns out the Kubota of similar size is about 1000 pounds heavier than the Kawasaki Mule! 1500 vs. 2500 lb.

The giant Kubota hydrostatic drive transmission, compared to the Kawasaki snowmobile drive seemed to account for a lot of the weight difference. That Kubota transmission is bigger than the engine and looked like it was out of a skid loader.

Everything looked intimidating, heavy, with complex design and difficult access in the Kubota compared to the Mule. Not really what I needed.

If there's a problem with the Kubota, I suspect one will be paying for his dealer's next vacation.

There is not much on the Mule a DIYer couldn't do at home. At 1000 pounds less, the unladen handling of the Mule was much quicker than the Kubota. The Mule fits on a 5X10 single axle trailer.

So last spring I bough a 2009 4010 Trans Mule (gas) with 1200 hours; this one upgraded from the old 1998 Mule with (lightweight) electric power steering and fuel injection, which has also been trouble free.

Of course the Kubota is of heavier duty which had no value to me as the Kawasaki Mule will seat six people and do more than I require of it.

I will adjust the valves and check the drive belt in the spring...Tom

Polaris stopped selling the Brutus after 2019 - so used only option....Unless you buy a Bobcat UTV, which are made by Polaris!

I am looking at used for any of them.

Hey Onpoint, I'm a bit curious as to why the preference for the Brutus? Thinking I remember the gas pedal is heel down for reverse? That sure would be sweet for plowing snow.

I also remember that Polaris had a Ranger that, when put in reverse, automatically raised the plow. Does the Brutus do that as well?

I looked at the diesel Ranger a few years ago and thought it might be a good thing for me, but after twelve or so years with a gas version and zero troubles, I didn't get too worked up over the diesel and their longevity.

Yes the brutus and the bobcat 3650 both have the toe and heal pedal. I am not sure on the reverse picking up the plow. I have a 610 mule now that I plow with that has a soft top and is ok but has to many spot for cold air to come in and heater is not very good. I really like that the bobcat and brutus can move dirt and mulch with a bucket. The bobcat 3650 and the brutus are about the same machine.

Well, there is a version of a Ranger with that. Might be worth some research.

Good luck man.

Anyone got a clean unit they want to sell I am in the market

I have owned 2 Kubota RTV,s 2006 RTV 900 (cab model) had 1,100 flawless hours on it when I sold it last year.Snow plowed 2 miles of road with it every winter.Liked so much purchased a 2021 RTV 1100c cab model with kubota snow plow.IMHO the kubotas are NO speed demons but if you want a real work horse this is the one to purchase.Check rosey brothers kubota in Dryden MI they had the best prices when I bought mine.Hard to find good used ones as folks hang on to them until they are dead.With options and snowplow setup I had $27,000 with tax in my unit.I owned a 2004 Kawasaki 4010 Mule 4X4 (gas model) before the kubota the mule was not even in the same league.

We have/had 3 Polaris Rangers and they have been really good UTV for us on the farm/ranch. Don't get beat by high speed off roading but work vehicles. No problems other than routine maintenance. Had to replace a fuel pump on the 2013 Ranger 900 recently but that has been it.

What you buy depends on what you need it to do. I have a Kubota RTV900 diesel with about 1000 hours on it. The thing is bulletproof. The steel hydraulic dump bed is outstanding. Yes, it weighs 2000 pounds and isn’t built for deep mud, it isn’t what you’d call a fun machine. It’s a tractor that doesn’t look like a tractor.