Kawasaki Mule vs. Polaris Ranger

I'm looking to sell my two 4 wheelers and get one of these. Any advice is appreciated. Pros and cons of each??? I am looking at the ones with two bench seats so I have room for the wife and kids when they come hunting. I like the way the Mule's second seat folds down to make the bed bigger. Thanks in advance for any input.

I have a mule and very happy with it but I think the Ranger might be a tougher machine . But there some difference in price when I was shopping several years back

I have a Polaris Ranger Crew. I put a 48x48 dog box that I can put 4 pointers and a English Cocker Spaniel in, put a 5 gallon Water jug on, a cooler and have had up to 6 Adult men in the seats with shells and guns and off we go to hunt. With this load it will do over 30 mph way to fast when you are up North in Kansas go to the back side of a CRP field to hunt pheasants. My son-in-law the Jet Fighter pilot will run it at 45mph to 50 mph. (top speed on Mule is 27-28 mph)No changing seats around to get more bed space, There is no comparison in ride with the Mule. Several of my friends have mules, They ride in the ranger when they can. Triplett 6 year old Granddaughters love to drive it, and their mom is happy because it has seat belts and a roll bar. As you can see I am very happy with my ranger. Have not been able to get it stuck yet and try out the winch on the front, even though I did use it to pull out youngest daughters boy friends car when he got it stuck.

When I was looking for a side-by-side I looked at the Mule 610 and the Rhino 450. I chose the Rhino becaues it had a top speed of 35, Mule 25, Rhino gas tank 4.1 gal, Mule 2.8, Rhino ground clearence 12.1 in, Mule 8.4 plus I thought the Mule was down right UGLY.
Of course Rhino does not make a quad cab.
Just some thing to think about when you are comparing the two.

I have used both the Ranger and the Mule. The Ranger is much smoother to ride in for sure. Ranger can haul and pull a larger payload. The maintenance and upkeep to fix it when something goes is much greater on the Ranger than the Mule. The newer Mule with power steering and fuel injection is nicer than older Mule hands down. The Ranger seems to be a little louder from motor noise than the Mule, but I did ride in a new Ranger Crew this weekend and it was quieter than they have been in the past. Your maintenance costs and your time to do it is much less on a Mule than a Ranger in my opinion.

Tried both and ended up with the Ranger. Smoother ride and greater payload as stxranchman already noted. Top speed not a consideration as anything above 25-30 mph in these things makes me pucker. Have the regular Ranger now but will probably trade up to the 2011 Ranger Crew which comes standard in camo and power steering. Check out the different blogs on these guys. PRCForum.com is specific to Rangers and SideXsideworld.com for all other brands. I spent months on these forums reading pros and cons before making a selection. Good luck - both are good machines. Depends on what you are looking for in a side x side.

I have a 2010 4x4 610 Mule, I won it in a raffle, so no complaints from me. However, I would say it seems a little under powered, and it's not fuel injected. If I had the cash, I'd move up to the 4010 with two seats. Look at the accessories too, I don't know about rangers, but Mules don't come with roof, winshield, etc. I'm with Ranger Man, if I want to drive faster, I'll get in my Land Cruiser. Mules have seat belts and roll bars too. They are fun too!

Test drove both in 09, the mule drove like a bus and the Ranger drove like a cadillac ( both crews ). Always funny to watch my buddies grab the hand rail when I'm about to hit a badly rutted road at 20 mph. They find out very quickly they didn't need to. Sold my 08 Ranger XP and got a 2010 Ranger Crew, it rides even smoother than the other one ( longer wheel base ).

I just bought a Ranger and this thing is a beast. I can't speak for the mule, but the ranger is well worth it. It pulled trailers loaded with stands through the mud and up the hills and never flinched. One of the best investments I have made.

I have a ranger, my friend has a mule. The mule is fine for what he uses it for, a small farm / cattle operation with mostly flat pastures. I use my Polaris in a lot of heavier terrain on my ranch. I go places I would not even try in his mule. And like has been said, the suspension on the ranger makes it a LOT smoother ride.

Oh, and I always rag on him cuz his mule doesn't have cup-holders. Where ya gonna put your 'beverage'.

I noticed that when I was riding around in one filling feeders last weekend and then hopped over in a new one, much quiter than they used to be.

can't add anything other than we have a Mule 3010 and have been quite happy with it for use around the ranch.

Well don't know about the Mule but my uncle is on his 2nd Ranger. The first one was a beast, held up on his ranch which is saying alot the way he drives it and the terrain it's on. It lasted a long time and then got shipped out to a masonry jobsite where it is still going and that's saying alot.

He got a quad cab ranger after that one and it's a POS. My BIL works for him and took it to the dealer a month or two back because the rollcage broke it 5 places. They didn't flip it, roll it, nothing, just under normal driving doing ranch work the rollcage, which is supposed to hold up under a rollover, broke in 5 places

I have had both. I much prfer the Ranger for comfort, ride, and payload. I just got a new Ranger Crew and it is even more satisfying. The ride is unbelievable and it is much quiter than my previous 500.

I have driven 3 Rangers and they all had frame breaks or cracks on the front right roll bar. All 3 had tops, one was Ranger Wear Top and the other 2 were homemade. There roll cages do not handle the stress on going back and forth over rough terrain from what I can tell with a roof on them.

I have a new 4010 Mule that hasn't been out of the garage yet so as far as I can see it's perfect .

Let's go find some place to get our Mule's dirty Chet. Mine's been doing some dog training and grandkid hauling.

Not sure I'm looking to get it dirty but would really like to get the dog box on it and do some bird hunting. The weekly trips around the subdivision and around the yard are getting kinda boreing...............Hope to take it out to the lease for some dove shooting.

sounds like fun

I can answer it all for since we got everyone except the Big Red... 08 Mule is great cause its more compact but it's much slower but its a lot quieter than the Ranger.. Maint wise I have replaced the starter on the mule 3 times "they hate water" and the bottom bolt is a ##@*@) to get off. The Ranger nothing so far on the 2010 HD but the 08 RZR replaced the belt and had some valve issues. My neighbor has a 09 Rhino 700 my only complaint is the speed limiter and the front seats but has alot of potential..

Trans Mule or 3010 25 mph quiet, okay ride, good for 4 grown men sorta really 3.. The starter on them suck its a known issue Kawasaki "has" corrected..

Rhino 35 mph good all around Side X Side

Ranger HD around 50 mph its the caddy of all Side X Side

Rzr 60 plus mph its the vette but rides better than all the above but its not roomy by any means

Ranger Crew I would save my money and find me a used Ford 4x4 SportTrac and take the doors off and put them on in the winter.. They are monsters they are for job sites or very open country. My uncle has one its long and wide and pricey

There is really no comparing the two. No matter how you stack it or what spin you put on it, Ranger is king. It will go places that will make your tail pucker and do it with comfort and power. I loved the first one we got and it was only a 500, now we have a 700 and it is incredible.

Rangers have to much plactic, it doesn't take much to poke a hole in the floorboards. They are alot faster than the mule, it just depends on what you are going to use the for. The mule is like a tank, we run two trans mules and they have been rolled, sunk in a creek, and have been drove like bulldozers. They are tough

In my opinion you cannot go wrong with either one. I have about 15 years experience owning mules and observing rangers. I am on my 3rd mule and they have all been very satisfactory. The first mule did not have 4wd and I still abused the heck out of it. I bought it used and sold it 3 years latter for most of what I paid for it. Bought an old style 4x4, added 1/8 in steel skip plates, and lift kit, and abused the heck out of it. I was very satisfactory and any problems were self inflected. Got older and maybe wiser and bought a used (50 hrs) 3010 4x4. Added a lift kit. I was doing some guiding at the time and felt I needed a backup. The newer one has over 700 hours now and is doing great with no problems. It has not been abused like the old one. The gas engine on the pre fuel injection mule could be hard to start in cold weather but after you learned how it was a piece of cake.

I have had several friends who had the rangers, and they are a lot more powerful and will carry a bigger payload than the mule. The old ones were loud but the newer ones are much quieter. For use on a deer lease carrying feed etc I believe the ranger is a better choice. For just general use and for quail hunting I believe the mule is the better choice because of price. The mule gas engine is very durable and is used in a lot of commercial equipment.

Both are good vehicles.

My mule was very cold natured even in the summer. It was slow running about 25 top speed. I also does not lock the front differential. I bought it new, it never would idle ! It was built well.

For the money look at the little jap mini trucks. They come with a full cab, heater, radio and some have ac. The cab and heater are a big plus for the rain and cold. I guarantee they are half the price of the mule and ranger !!!! So you get way more for half the price! They do very well in the mud, do a search on you tube.

those jap trucks are the way to go!

for some reason they jst arn't as popular, but i like having a cab and heat for those cold mornings.


We have two mules.....they are slow, rough and damn good machines. no problem carrying 15 bags of corn and putting along the roads at a decent clip. the rangers are smoother, alot faster, but I've seen some problems with the carbuereted ones using regular unleaded pump gas.

either one will work, when we bought our first mule, a 3010 mule 4x4 was alot cheaper than a ranger, so thats what we went with

I have had both and my only advice is, if you go the Ranger route, get the extended warranty.

Not my website, but I purchased one from these guys. I am actually looking to upgrade to one of the vans.
http://www.bulldogoffroad.com/

The vans are really nice. Your going to have to beef up the bumpers for sure. Have the automatics and they run great, have a strong 4x4. Only drawback is the bed area for carrying game. Have mounted a 50# tailgate feeder on the front and then added a fold up style game carrier to the back bumper. They are super quiet and lots of room. These guys on the website added a extended cab on a Suzuki Carry and did a good job on one of ours. Suzuki is the best made one of the ones I have seen but it had a really bad 4 wheel drive.

6 wheel ranger is the way to go

The 6 wheeler is a beast.

i have a ranger and have been nothing but please with it. it is very rugged, can handle some very rough terrain that you could not go through in a truck. has much more suspension travel than a mule. mules have metal beds though and can carry a little more weight in the bed. still, i have filled the bed of my ranger with rocks or firewood before and have not overloaded it. has unbelievable towing power.

if i had to do it all over again, i would still buy a ranger. i have ridden in plenty of mules and have not been nearly as impressed as i have with my ranger and its 4 or 5 yrs old.

but those japanese mini trucks from over seas seem badass. if i had the money id get one for sure. the one on duck commander is sick. i would just be worried about having it serviced. the local polaris dealer will come out to my place and pick up my ranger for service when needed and then trailer it back.

Finally got it put together, now bring on Oct. and some cool weather.

Nice rig Chet!

That's sweet Chet! How much did that dog box set you back? Is it custom built or stock like that?

Custom, turned out fine but I won't give the name of the guy on the board cause you can't rely on his work or his word. But I'm sure he's well known in the Ft Worth area. Had my Mule for over a month and told me it was done 4 times, and it wasn't. Had to stand there for 3 hours while they finished it to be sure it was all there. The kids who work for him are pretty good. Him not so much.........I'll PM you the info.

I like the Mule the best. Some of the Rangers have a design flaw. Their tail lights wrap around the end of the bed and reduces it to less than the 49 inches you get out of most UTVs. The Mule has the best bed in the business.

I went with the Gator because I can haul it in my pickup, but that's not what this thread is about.

I love my 2010 Ranger

One of the things I like best is the 18 gal water tank, lets me take enough of the water they're used to for a 2-3 day hunt. And a fan system.

Whoops got off subject, so I like my Mule

I have a '09 Ranger Crew with winch and oversize tires as well as an '09 Mule Trans4x4 4010 with FI and power steering with oversize tires and a winch. The Ranger is much more powerful and smooth riding. I got both at the same time.
I've put 10 times the hours on the Ranger vs the Mule. The one Mule advantage is when winching.

I have a '09 Ranger Crew with winch and oversize tires as well as an '09 Mule Trans4x4 4010 with FI and power steering with oversize tires and a winch. The Ranger is much more powerful and smooth riding. I got both at the same time.
I've put 10 times the hours on the Ranger vs the Mule. The one Mule advantage is when winching. The bed on the Mule Trans4x4 is better too. Being able to make it bigger is great.

I have a 2010 Ranger Crew and it is a remarkabke ride

Big Red if I had to buy one but nothing like the toyota!

What are you going to do when it rains or go by a water trough, tell them not to drink. I wish my dogs were that smart.

I have a 2006 Mule and it has been great - only oil changes up to now. Our neighbor bought a 2009 Ranger and that thing has been in/out of the shop at least 3 times over the last 2 years. I am sold on the Mules.

It's not that my dogs are smart, they just have good taste.