Displaying items by tag: UTV

Call them what you will, but UTVs, side x sides or ROVs have found a place in much of rural New Zealand.

The farm quad industry and its regulators are at odds over the fitting of rollover devices on these machines.

While electric and hybrid vehicles gain traction on our roads, the concept is largely missing from the rural and off-road markets. But Hisun Motors New Zealand is ‘dipping its toes’.

The Kawasaki Mule (multi-use light equipment) first saw the light of day in 1988, coining the generic name for a UTV (side x side).

The UTV is a workhorse on many rural properties, but the asking prices — $15,000 to $30,000 — cause some farmers to baulk. So imported Japanese micro-trucks or conversions of more mainstream vehicles are gaining ground.

Kawasaki's recently introduced Pro-MX UTV sits between the larger, three-seater Mule Pro-FX and the compact Mule-SX.

When Klaas and Janny Akkersma arrived in New Zealand from Holland in 1998 they brought with them a bucketful of hope and limited funds. 

We looked briefly at the Landboss in October 2017, but more recently spent a week driving the latest version onfarm in Waikato just as spring showed its hand. 

UTV's have become the Swiss Army knife to a farmer for carrying out a multitude of tasks around a property, and the Mule manufactured by Kawasaki has become the generic term for this type of vehicle.

UTVs have become the Swiss army knife to farmers for a multitude of tasks.