Good Morning Yard!

A chilly start to the day. I have errands to run this morning. I need to get the oil changed in my truck as well as the fuel filter. This ones going to be expensive. Regular maintenance on diesel trucks isn't cheap. 13 quarts of oil ends up costing a whole lot.

13 quarts! Yikes.

Good afternoon, Yard.

No mowing up here yet. The grass hasn’t even started thinking about growing. Anyway, I have someone who takes care of it for me.

The oil change wasn't bad. Only 90 bucks (for a diesel that's very reasonable). The fuel filter ended up being expensive. Right at 200 bucks. The drain valve was bad and had to be replaced and they charged me an insane amount for the fuel filter. But it's done.

I typically do most of the maintenance myself. But I don't have any of my drain bins or drip pans. Thye are all in storage

Maybe I don’t want a Diesel after all.

I absolutely love y diesel truck. But while there is less maintenance (kinda) it does cost more if you don't do it yourself. The fuel filter usually doesn't run that much. But if that was it for an 11 year old truck I'll take it.

Besides, read your "sig line".

Haha, some of us HAVE gotten to old for some of that stuff.

Question. Patty said she wish we Gould get a side by side. Nothing fancy, just something to run around town, maybe out to fetch groceries and gravel roading looking for rocks. I figure nothing less than a 500 ish size engine. Been researching Honda Pioneer 520 and some others up to 700 size. Y’all got any thoughts on a mainly recreational rig? We don’t need all the bells and whistles just something sorta basic. Don’t care what brand as long as it is reliable.

Good morning Yard. A side by side would be a nice way for you and Patty to spend some time outdoors together, and they are handy as well. Plus, you will be one of the "cool kids".

As far a side by sides go there are a ton of choices. Width 50 inch so you can ride on trails, then they go up 60, 64, 68 and 72 inch widths, They have 3 main types. Work, work and play, and pure sport. And crossovers for all of them.

The Honda Pioneer is a solid UTV and will get you most places but it is mostly a field and dirt road workhorse with a bench seat, The Can Am Defenders are really nice as well and The Yamaha Viking is similar but with enough differences that they are both worth looking at. The Polaris 570 Rzr is a solid little trail machine.

Once you get into the work and play models I think Can Am and Polaris stand out above the rest.

Figuring out what you want it to do and how wide you want it to be is the hard part. Each has its bonuses and minuses. The narrow ones run trails like a champ but are more tippy and cramped. The wider you go the more stable and roomy but the more limited you are on trails.

The other thing you have to do is look ar what it takes in your State/county to be legal to ride on roads. Some places it's strictly forbidden outside of forest service roads and others are pretty friendly if you get turn signals a horn and DOT tires.

I have been an ATV guy for nearly 30 years. I picked up a Side by Side and my wife absolutely loves it. I have to admit I'm a pretty huge fan as well. I like the comfort and abilities the machine offers. I'll keep the ATV's for small trails and use the UTV for everything else.