[Foobar]

Ok so I have a new smallholding, 15 acres, half pasture, half woodland. Three big steep slopes, lots of mud, lots of rocks.  I need a vehicle that I can use to carry kit around, hay, tools, feed, buckets, fencing, logs etc, and also to tow a flailmower or trailer etc sometimes.  Not on a daily basis though, weekends or say 3 times a week in winter for hay.  I don't think a quad bike is an option - not enough load carrying and no roll cage.  So I was thinking a UTV like a John Deere Gator or the like, but looking at the price of them (second hand), I'm not sure whether I'd be better off getting an old SWB landrover.

Also, just to complicate matters, my current car is a Subaru Forester but it's getting long in the tooth. It's not robust enough to go up on the fields in the state they are in and the slopes are too much for it with any load.  I use it to commute to work though, and will need to replace it at some point for that purpose.  I also need a vehicle that can tow my trailer to the abattoir etc.  A wee small car for commuting would be more affordable (in fuel), and another rough vehicle I could use on the land AND on the road with the trailer when needed seems like the best way to spend what little money I have (although two road taxes unless the cheap car is a tax-free one).

Also I currently don't have anywhere to store a quad or utv, so for security purposes a landy would be less likely to be nicked.

However, the thought of driving a full size vehicle up my field slopes scares the bejesus out of me!

Thoughts anyone?

[shygirl]

i have a mini for work and a ford ranger pick up for the farm/snow. love them both.

[farmershort]

well, Landy's are the most nicked vehicle at the moment, so not sure your security argument stands up.... plus, they're silly silly prices at the moment - and probably will be until next summer.

Any landy you get for under £4k is likely to be a total rot box.

I've nearly finished doing a nut & bolt rebuild on mine.... new galv chassis, etc.... they're half hobby, half transport really.

in terms of mowing vs commuting, why not get an old tractor and then a cheap little car? quads and gators etc always seem a bit of an odd choice on smaller areas of land.

If you want a "secret great buy" option, then the 2 things I'd be looking at would be: cheap - a v8 disco 1 - or more expensive - a 2002/2003/2004 year range rover td6 (L322). The latter can be had for less than a half decent old defender.

[Foobar]

in terms of mowing vs commuting, why not get an old tractor and then a cheap little car? quads and gators etc always seem a bit of an odd choice on smaller areas of land.

I don't need a tractor, I don't need to mow or plough, seed, hedge cut or anything like that, I just need to trim some brambles/bracken/rushes sometimes until they are under control.  I need something small that can carry stuff.  Don't really want something heavy either as I don't want to make my mud problems any worse than they are already .


I thought about a pickup, as just having that as the only vehicle, but again, big heavy, I think I need something more nimble on the land.

[farmershort]

in terms of mowing vs commuting, why not get an old tractor and then a cheap little car? quads and gators etc always seem a bit of an odd choice on smaller areas of land.

I don't need a tractor, I don't need to mow or plough, seed, hedge cut or anything like that, I just need to trim some brambles/bracken/rushes sometimes until they are under control.  I need something small that can carry stuff.  Don't really want something heavy either as I don't want to make my mud problems any worse than they are already .


I thought about a pickup, as just having that as the only vehicle, but again, big heavy, I think I need something more nimble on the land.

then what you need sir, is... a mk1 fiat panda 4x4!!!

sadly also stupid money these days because everyone and their dog thinks that they're classic car speculators....

[stufe35]

then Suzuki jimny with the appropriate tyres (way cheaper than an atv)

[farmershort]

then Suzuki jimny with the appropriate tyres

Yeah that could work. Or even a mk1 3 door rav 4. They're cheap as chips now.

[stufe35]

Does a rav 4 have low range ?

Vauxhall frontera is another cheap as chips with low range. I believe the 2.2 dti has a chain rather than cam belt so that's one less thing to worry about.  Vauxhall will have good on road towing weight too. Downside will be heavier on the land.....but you don't want to be on it when it's too wet.

Just budget to put mud terrain tyres on whatever you get. That is what makes any 4x4 perform.

[Fleecewife]

I'm afraid I'm a total Landy Lass.  You can see my 80" 1951 LR on our website being used around the place in all sorts of roles.  We have a slightly newer LWB series 3 as well.  The interesting one though is the 80" which we bought from NZ and shipped halfway around the world.  Doing that, it was still way cheaper than the ridiculous prices you can pay for one today, as more and more folk realise how very useful they are.  Also, they don't use salt on the road down there so there was only minimal corrosion.  I love it.  I love my Scoobie too, but we don't use it to work, just mostly on the road for longer trips (it has heated seats  )

[stufe35]

I've always loved landys and have owned loads, but in today's world the old ones are outrageously expensive, all of them are noisy slow uneconomical, and break down all the time.

Having had a few years off them I had almost put the case together for buying a nice discovery 3, when my mates stopped starting....an 06 model.  It was diagnosed as a heater plug.  Anyone in the know would say new heater plugs no problem, 10 or 15 quid each and half an hour to fit...in most cars.  Not a 9 year old discovery 3 though...

The plugs are deeply resessed in the cylinder head, and seize.  They then snap off. You have to take the cylinder head off to drill them out,  but the engine is set back in the engine bay and is tight under the bulk head.  Hence there is not enough clearance to get the head off. So the vehicle body has to come off.
Approx. £1800 quid later (at mates rates)....

1 hour later....just been looking at your series 1 on your web site fleece wife.....I'm getting the bug again...you realise there is no real cure.......like you baler too..I have one the same.

[Buttermilk]

It sounds like you need a pony with optional cart or panniers. 

I loved my landy but it now sits doing nothing due to a siezed engine and lack of time to give it a heart transplant, instead I run a shogun.

[devonlady]

I, too love my Landrover and though she is only a middle aged lady (04 reg) she does need a lot of maintenance which I can't do myself so expensive garage bills! My mechanic has threatened to remove the sterio so that when I hear a "funny" noise I can't just shut the window and turn up the music!! I would hate to be without her.

[Womble]

We have a landy. Used to love it, but now TBH it's just a car (almost  ), and I'm acutely aware that there are cheaper and possibly better alternatives. I think I'd love it more if I'd spent more on it to begin with, but as it was I bought cheap (all I could afford) and then had what felt like death by a thousand cuts to bring it up to scratch.

My mechanic has threatened to remove the sterio so that when I hear a "funny" noise I can't just shut the window and turn up the music!!

Damn. That's why I INSTALLED a stereo in ours! 

I was out mountain biking in the winter and watched a lady feeding her horses from the back of a Panda 4x4. It didn't have much ground clearance, but it dealt with a steep slippery grass / mud bank incredibly well. I also have a friend who drives a Jimny and can go just about anywhere in it.


If I were in your shoes though, I'd get a second hand UTV for the fields, plus a 4wd estate car for getting to work and back, visits to the farm store for feed and for towing the trailer. With some thought to tyres it would be capable of going onto flat bits of your land for loading the trailer etc, and for everything else there's the UTV.

[Hellybee]

I would like a vehicle for the farm, I don't like Baz s 90 s for the job so I would like to get hold of a a Fourtrak.
Prooer little workhorse.

[Foobar]

I don't think I could have anything too heavy as I will need to get on the land when it's wet ... just because it's wet land at the mo because the drainage has been neglected. (I had tadpoles in one of my fields when I moved in!)  Something small like a Jimny would be fine but that can't tow what I need with that (700+ unbraked).  Fourtrak would be better but trying to find  decent one might be tricky now.

The advantage with the UTV would be that it can get in and around the wooded bits where a bigger vehicle will struggle, just because of the trees etc.  I think I'm erring towards Womble's suggestion ....

I've always wanted a landy, but have been put off by the horror stories about the upkeep.  It is something I could do myself, but I don't have the time or inclination alas.