I wasn't sure if this was the best category for the question or not but here goes...
We have several acres on our homestead and it's far from level. We have need to move stuff around. Sometimes it's produce being moved. Sometimes it's manure being moved to planting beds. Sometimes it's hauling tools around the place for specific jobs. Sometimes it's to haul water here or there. Sometimes it's just to haul MawMaw and me 'cause we're old and it's a long walk from the lower greenhouse back to the house, uphill.
So last year, we bought a John Deere Gator. I really like it in a lot of ways. But there is one thing that irritates me about it that I can't solve, it is NOT road legal where I live. I could get away with county roads, perhaps, but THE way to get around here is a US highway that cuts right through that pretty much connects me without alternative ways possible, and driving the Gator on a US highway, even though I can keep up with traffic just fine, is a no-no. The state boys like to sit and watch, too, not far from where I live. I've talked to most everybody in this area, including the county clerk (were we get our registrations, titles, etc.), and it is just a no-go.
There are occasions when I would like to have a vehicle I could just get out on the road and go to town in. I'd go in the Gator if I could. When I speak of town, we're about 7 miles from a small town that has a grocery store, a hardware store, a feed store, an auto parts store, and more. It's all of one whole redlights but it can be handy. Major towns that actually have a Walmart are farther, about 20 miles at best, so that would probably be a little far for a Gator. Maybe not for another vehicle. (?)
I find it interesting that someone can ride a 2 wheeled crotch rocket with little more protection than a helmet but the Gator, with seat belts, roll bars, bumpers, somehow that's "unsafe". OK. Doesn't make much sense to me. But whatever, I can't change the law.
So it kinda begs the question as to whether a different vehicle might fit the bill, something that IS road legal, on ALL roads, but yet is small enough to pretty much go anywhere the Gator would go, which is a little bigger than a golf cart. I've heard of "mini trucks" but have also heard some people claim they can be problematic getting road legal as well.
Any suggestions? I could just keep doing what I do and hang on to the Gator for around the place (or to visit the neighbors, nobody cares about the particular road we live on which is a tiny county road) and maintain other vehicles for running to town. I've been doing that. But I did wonder if maybe there would be something more of an "all-in-one".
FWIW, I did have a Ford Ranger for a while. That would work but is a little big for puttering around the homestead. I have a minivan that I sometimes used, but same thing, too big and awkward in some places. I have a tractor, way to cumbersome, and slow. A golf cart I'm kind of afraid wouldn't even be up to the tasks I give the Gator, maybe if we lived on a level place, but it's not level, plus, not street legal, either.
There might not be a good solution. But I figured I'd throw it out there and just see what others might think.
Thanks!
We have several acres on our homestead and it's far from level. We have need to move stuff around. Sometimes it's produce being moved. Sometimes it's manure being moved to planting beds. Sometimes it's hauling tools around the place for specific jobs. Sometimes it's to haul water here or there. Sometimes it's just to haul MawMaw and me 'cause we're old and it's a long walk from the lower greenhouse back to the house, uphill.
So last year, we bought a John Deere Gator. I really like it in a lot of ways. But there is one thing that irritates me about it that I can't solve, it is NOT road legal where I live. I could get away with county roads, perhaps, but THE way to get around here is a US highway that cuts right through that pretty much connects me without alternative ways possible, and driving the Gator on a US highway, even though I can keep up with traffic just fine, is a no-no. The state boys like to sit and watch, too, not far from where I live. I've talked to most everybody in this area, including the county clerk (were we get our registrations, titles, etc.), and it is just a no-go.
There are occasions when I would like to have a vehicle I could just get out on the road and go to town in. I'd go in the Gator if I could. When I speak of town, we're about 7 miles from a small town that has a grocery store, a hardware store, a feed store, an auto parts store, and more. It's all of one whole redlights but it can be handy. Major towns that actually have a Walmart are farther, about 20 miles at best, so that would probably be a little far for a Gator. Maybe not for another vehicle. (?)
I find it interesting that someone can ride a 2 wheeled crotch rocket with little more protection than a helmet but the Gator, with seat belts, roll bars, bumpers, somehow that's "unsafe". OK. Doesn't make much sense to me. But whatever, I can't change the law.
So it kinda begs the question as to whether a different vehicle might fit the bill, something that IS road legal, on ALL roads, but yet is small enough to pretty much go anywhere the Gator would go, which is a little bigger than a golf cart. I've heard of "mini trucks" but have also heard some people claim they can be problematic getting road legal as well.
Any suggestions? I could just keep doing what I do and hang on to the Gator for around the place (or to visit the neighbors, nobody cares about the particular road we live on which is a tiny county road) and maintain other vehicles for running to town. I've been doing that. But I did wonder if maybe there would be something more of an "all-in-one".
FWIW, I did have a Ford Ranger for a while. That would work but is a little big for puttering around the homestead. I have a minivan that I sometimes used, but same thing, too big and awkward in some places. I have a tractor, way to cumbersome, and slow. A golf cart I'm kind of afraid wouldn't even be up to the tasks I give the Gator, maybe if we lived on a level place, but it's not level, plus, not street legal, either.
There might not be a good solution. But I figured I'd throw it out there and just see what others might think.
Thanks!
