I'm in the market for my first side-by-side. What are you guys using. I think I've narrowed my choices down to the Kawasaki mule pro fxt or the Can Am Defender hd 8 or 10. The 8 is plenty, but sometimes more power is what a guy wants. I'm not going to be running all kinds of trails flat out, I'm needing it for farm work and hunting/fishing plus maybe taking a ride with the wife and kids when the weather is nice.

The Kawasaki comes with a 3 year warranty, most only come with a 6 month or year warranty. The Kawasaki, to use the full bed, I will have to detach the back panel, push it in then lock it down again. There is no manual help for dumping, so if I have a load of slag or gravel, I will have to lift it with my own skinny arms. Having to move the whole back seat and dump bed are two main drawbacks for this machine.

The Can Am (8) seems like it is ready to roll. My wife liked it because of the power, it seemed to have more than the Kaw., but that is the gearing. The 10 has 1,000 cc, so it does have more hp. I'm not sure about the Can Am for farm work. I've read the internet just like everyone else, but my feeling is mixed on this.

I'm not downing the Polaris, the Yamaha nor the Honda, but I've narrowed it down to these two. Any thoughts?

Get the Polaris. 😀

Parker, Fox, or L.C. Smith, in that order.

I have a Can Am HD 5 which is smaller than your talking about but it is a workhorse and I have had zero problems.

Connecticut shotgun manufacturing
James Purdey&Son's.

Oh wait,the kaw.

Purdey may cost a little more than his budget. 😀😀

I visited Purdy, and Holland&Holland in London is 1992, very cool.

Have you driven both? I have a 2003 Mule and very happy with it.

Love my Mule!

Polaris

Why not Polaris?

I'd take a look at john deere too

I have a Honda. But, when I got it, I had it narrowed down to it and the Can Am. I really liked the Can Am’s power. The only reasons I didn’t get it was a great deal on the Honda and the Honda has the 2 rear seats that fold down into the bed.

If you are between those two, I would get the Can Am.

This. We bought a Gator 835 this year, and I like it better than any other brand I have used.

I've got a John Deere 825 and it has done everything I've asked it to from farm work to running around the mountains in Jackson county. For a more work/less hobby its hard to beat. More hobby I'd go CanAm, Polaris or Honda.

I don't have much experience with any of them but a friend has the Honda where the seats can fold down.
That feature I think is really cool and I would probably be looking at that one.

Yeah I'd look closer at the Polaris or Honda before the Canned Ham 😀

The honda I was worried about small stones, sand, hay and etc. falling between the seats. I will also put a sprayer on the back, and I would hate to turn the seats a little blue. The mule isn't getting as much love as I thought.

The mule pro fxt is the most comfortable ride for a true utility vehicle, period. You will end up leaving the bed/rear seat in the full bed position almost always. There is a powered dump kit available from Kawasaki also. And I think the Mule still has the only metal bed of any manufacturer, since you mentioned slag and gravel.

It is not, however, a speed demon. That’s one complaint. The other weakness is there is not locking front differential available. That hasn’t yet affected my use and I’m pretty hard on mine/use like it was built to be used on the farm and definitely in the nastiest fine silt mud south Alabama has to offer.

My warranty goes out this month and I haven’t used it for anything. Mine is bone stock except wheels and tires. I went to 28” blackwater evo which are a huge step up from the stock dry land tires.

2 friends with Honda and father has the can am. If I where to buy id go Honda don’t like the can am as much cause it’s belt driven. Don’t want any problems in mud or water