We put the Polaris Ranger XD1500 to work on a sweltering day on the farm to find out if its impressive spec sheet holds up to hard work. We love Polaris’ heavy duty utility machine, but until now we haven’t forced it to work hard. That changes now.
Did the Ranger prove itself or fall flat on its face? Stick around to find out!
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Favorite Gear:
Packtalk Edge ORV: Code 'octane' for 10% off https://cardosystems.rfrl.co/z8qy5
UTV Driver Videos:
UTV Reviews:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mn4C9HK06Jw&list=PLIl7O9RDWjgG-O6Dd1BWzponCVuvj3G92
5 Things We LOVE and HATE:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BYurJbSonDc&list=PLIl7O9RDWjgHOOiP1YKQb0LvejrQt8rea
Everything You Need to Know:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RdKKsxgk3Yw&list=PLIl7O9RDWjgH0LQZEvxMVB6K_hnZjL69J
For more stories, reviews, and first-looks check out https://www.utvdriver.com/
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Did the Ranger prove itself or fall flat on its face? Stick around to find out!
Looking to buy? Get prequalifed
https://octane.co/vehicle-selection/?partner=A8PrQQB&a=298&flow=long-prequal&appTheme=3a49337c5724d18079602a4ca5a91626
Favorite Gear:
Packtalk Edge ORV: Code 'octane' for 10% off https://cardosystems.rfrl.co/z8qy5
UTV Driver Videos:
UTV Reviews:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mn4C9HK06Jw&list=PLIl7O9RDWjgG-O6Dd1BWzponCVuvj3G92
5 Things We LOVE and HATE:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BYurJbSonDc&list=PLIl7O9RDWjgHOOiP1YKQb0LvejrQt8rea
Everything You Need to Know:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RdKKsxgk3Yw&list=PLIl7O9RDWjgH0LQZEvxMVB6K_hnZjL69J
For more stories, reviews, and first-looks check out https://www.utvdriver.com/
Want to see even more shenanigans from the UTV Driver team? Give us a like and follow:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/UTVdriver/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/utvdrivermagazine/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/utvdriver/
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@utvdriver
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SportsTranscript
00:00Can you feed cattle with a side-by-side?
00:02We're on a farm in the hills of western Virginia with the 2024 Polaris Ranger XD1500,
00:09and we have put this three-quarter-ton utility side-by-side through the absolute ringer.
00:14Now, Polaris bills the XD1500 as the extreme duty version of the Ranger,
00:19and on paper, that holds up.
00:21Now, the box is rated for a 1,500-pound capacity,
00:26hence three-quarter-ton.
00:28The machine is rated to tow 3,500 pounds,
00:31and the CVT features a steel drive belt which will weather abuse without ever needing to be replaced.
00:37It's also substantially bigger than a Ranger XP1000,
00:41which makes it much more easy to carry around a day's worth of chore tools,
00:45or mulch, or hay, or a sheep, or a goat, or whatever else farmers need to move around.
00:51All of that sounded good on paper, but we weren't ready to pat Polaris on the back too hard yet.
00:56With a full day of farm chores ahead of us,
00:58we had the perfect opportunity to put the Ranger to use and see how it holds up.
01:02Those jobs ranged from super light duty to the absolute edge of the Ranger's rated capacities.
01:08Now, it has been super hot and dry in Virginia this summer,
01:12and that means that cattle farms like this one have a problem.
01:15They have had to resort to feeding rather than grazing their cattle
01:19way earlier in the year than normal.
01:21That drives up feed costs, it drives up labor costs,
01:24and it means that profits go down.
01:26So coming here to use the XD1500 wasn't just a lark.
01:30We were actually going to do useful, meaningful work, even if we helped out just a fraction.
01:35Now, we kicked off the morning setting up a new row of posts
01:38and a strand of wire that will be used to hook up an electric fence later this summer.
01:42Now, that's pretty easy work, and it's something that you usually do on foot,
01:46but since we had a full docket in front of us,
01:48we decided that the XD could make it that much easier.
01:51And that's important because it was early in the day,
01:53but the temperatures were already creeping up into the 80s.
01:57Now, staying cool can mean the difference between a long full day of work and going home early,
02:02and the fact that this thing has HVAC in the cab
02:04meant that we could keep air moving and keep the day going.
02:07The Ranger also made running the fence cable easier.
02:10Normally, one guy would hook the wire to the posts while another walked with the cable,
02:14but instead, we were able to put the cable spool in the bed of the Ranger
02:18and creep along while one person walked behind, hooking it to the fence posts.
02:22That halved the on-foot labor, and it meant one guy got to stay fresh,
02:26even while the other was working a little bit harder.
02:28That was the quick job out of the way, and the next two tasks were the big ones.
02:32Both revolved around feeding beef cattle.
02:34One meant moving a damp round bale, and the other meant moving a 3,000-plus pound grain wagon.
02:40So we got a water, we got a Red Bull, we got geared up, and we headed to the barn.
02:44So checking fences and running an electric fence are all well and good.
02:48They're great farm activities, but they're something you can do on a four-wheeler,
02:51or on foot, or on a bicycle.
02:53You don't need a three-quarter-ton rig to do it.
02:55And what we're going to find out, if the Ranger XD 1500 can do, is pull this grain wagon.
03:00Now, this is called a gravity wagon.
03:02Out of the bottom, there is a gravity feed that dumps corn.
03:04This thing is filled with 40 bushels of corn, which weigh 56 pounds apiece.
03:08The trailer itself weighs, eh, best part of 1,000 pounds,
03:11so we are bumping right up against the Ranger's tow capacity.
03:14We're going to hook it up, we're going to pull it out of the barn,
03:16we're going to feed the cattle some grain, and we're going to see how it does.
03:19And then, I get to back this articulating trailer into this barn.
03:22Now, I don't know if you've seen this building,
03:24but it's pretty big and it's got a great big door on it,
03:27but the wagon steers at the front,
03:29which means that the back of the wagon is going to do what the front of the UTV's doing,
03:33and it's all going to be very confusing.
03:34Normally, getting a trailer through that door would be like
03:37hitting the broad side of a barn with a cruise missile.
03:39Well, it's a wiggly cruise missile,
03:41so it might be more like trying to hit a dime at 100 yards with a blunderbuss.
03:44Let's see how it goes.
03:49So,
04:06we were pleasantly, but not completely,
04:08surprised by how well the Ranger moved that 3,000 plus pound gravity wagon.
04:13Now, because this thing is rated to tow 3,500 pounds,
04:16we were technically well within its limits.
04:18But the green wagon is huge and it's ungainly,
04:21and it has an articulating front axle and a very long tongue.
04:24That makes backing it up and maneuvering it a chore.
04:27So, I don't think I would ask the Ranger to move that thing around for hours at a time,
04:31but if you have a quick trip or you need to just move it around the property,
04:34Ranger's got you.
04:35But the more impressive feat by far was moving that giant round bale.
04:39Now, that thing had been sitting in a field for a couple of years,
04:42which means it had absorbed several seasons of rain,
04:45sleet, hail, snow, dew, all manner of moisture,
04:49and its weight had ballooned to nearly 800 pounds.
04:52And that's not a nice, compact, low center of gravity 800 pounds.
04:56That's a very tall, awkward, ungainly, wiggly 800 pounds.
05:00Oh, and the Ranger's got a pretty big bed for a side-by-side,
05:04but that round bale barely fit.
05:06As we used the tractor to get the round bale in place,
05:10I was concerned.
05:11With all of that weight way up in the air
05:14and bias towards the back of the bed,
05:16keep in mind we had the tailgate down to make it fit,
05:18the load capacity was the least of my concerns.
05:21I was actually more worried about keeping the load and the UTV stable
05:25while trying to move it across the farm.
05:27The only reason I'm not going quicker than this is that it's a little tippy,
05:30the load that is, not the Ranger,
05:31and I want it to stay where it is,
05:33but boy, if I wasn't worried about that, I could really get moving.
05:36But even with a pretty serious Carolina squat from all that weight,
05:39the XD1500 moved it without a problem.
05:42Now, there was more body motion than I probably would have liked,
05:45but that was more about the awkwardness of the load
05:47and not really anything to do with the machine itself.
05:50If you were moving 1200 pounds of square bales
05:52and they fit more easily in the bed
05:54and you were able to balance the load a little bit better,
05:56the Ranger wouldn't have a problem.
05:58See, we're testing, so we deliberately did something a little bit sketchy,
06:02and the Ranger eagerly ate it up.
06:04So that begs the question, would we do it again?
06:06Actually, yeah.
06:07With a different hay bale spike,
06:08loading it from the tractor to the UTV would have been a little bit easier,
06:11and if you just drive carefully, it's really not a problem.
06:14Actually, what was truly impressive about moving that hay bale
06:16was not that the Ranger moved it at all,
06:18but that when we got to the cows,
06:20we were able to deposit the bale by using the dump bed.
06:23As heavy as that bale was,
06:24there was no way even three guys were going to be able to push it out of the bed.
06:29So that meant we had to rely on the dump bed.
06:31Now, pulling up to the cows,
06:32I was convinced that the thing would at least strain under the weight
06:35and might flatly refuse to do it.
06:37But once again, I was happy to be wrong.
06:39I just hit the button and held it,
06:41and the bed dumped,
06:42and the bale fell out,
06:43and the cows were happy.
06:44The bed barely shrugged under the load,
06:46plopped the bale where we wanted it without any complaint.
06:48Super impressive.
06:49But goofy stunts aside,
06:51we proved something important.
06:52Ever since the Ranger came out last year,
06:54Polaris has blasted on and on
06:56about how it's an actual replacement for the old school farm truck.
07:00And in that time,
07:01we've used a couple Ranger XD 1500s,
07:03we've driven them a bunch,
07:04we've liked them a lot,
07:05but all of the marquee numbers,
07:07the 1500 pounds,
07:08the 3500 pounds,
07:09all of that was purely theoretical.
07:12The Ranger certainly looked like it was heavy duty,
07:14but looks really don't mean much.
07:16Working the rig at or close to its stated capacity
07:20proved that we're not just dealing with a supersized Polaris Ranger.
07:24The XD 1500 moves UTVs squarely into the realm of useful pieces of small equipment,
07:31not just super light duty novelties.
07:33Up to now,
07:34it has been really difficult to say with a straight face
07:36that a UTV is an able replacement for just a small used farm truck.
07:40Polaris has changed that.
07:42We would have this over a small truck any day,
07:45and that says it all.
07:46That's it for our Virginia farm test of the Ranger XD 1500.
07:50We've come away super impressed.
07:52And if you want to know more about this machine,
07:54head to utvdriver.com.
07:56We've got news, reviews,
07:57a buyer's guide on this machine,
07:59and so much more.
08:00We're there five days a week and seven days a week
08:03on social media,
08:04on Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok.
08:06And we're here on YouTube a couple times a month.
08:08We will see you around.