[Womble]

If you have to get through tight gaps or around trees, the UTV would definitely be easier, and would damage the land far less.

Something small like a Jimny would be fine but that can't tow what I need with that (700+ unbraked).

700+ unbraked across your fields, or on the road? (remember the max all up road weight for an unbraked trailer is 750kg regardless of the towing vehicle).

How do you like the Forester? Perhaps you could get the UTV plus another one of them in due course (or an Outback / Legacy).

[Foobar]

700+ unbraked across your fields, or on the road? (remember the max all up road weight for an unbraked trailer is 750kg regardless of the towing vehicle).

On the road only.

How do you like the Forester? Perhaps you could get the UTV plus another one of them in due course (or an Outback / Legacy).

I love it.  Best car I've ever had.  '53 plate, 150,000 miles.  Don't like the newer models though as they have reduced the boot space.  I have (luckily) found a subaru specialist who says he can keep it going for how ever long I want ...

[Rosemary]

Sounds like you need a native pony. Does hills, rough bits, tight turns, goes over wet land without damaging it, can tote a surprising amount of weight or drag it. Lives on rough grazing and will be your pal.

[Foobar]

Sounds nice but don't have the time to tack up a pony etc.  I'm very time poor!
How would you strap a hay bale to a pony anyway?

[farmershort]

Sounds nice but don't have the time to tack up a pony etc.  I'm very time poor!
How would you strap a hay bale to a pony anyway?

Easily.

Ponies still sell for a few quid in certain areas of the country. Sounds like a cheap option to me...

[Foobar]

Nah ... walk up to field to catch pony ... walk back to house to tack and load up pony ... walk back up to field to put out hay ... nope.  Each of those is a 10min+ walk (up a big hill!).  When I say I am time poor, I really am very very time poor, every minute counts with me .
I could perhaps ditch the sheep and just keep ponies and never have to feed anything .... but that's how my land got ruined in the first place!

[stufe35]

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.

I like this too, but would still consider the jimny for field use only over a utv.  A quick look on ebay tells me I cant buy a UTV for less than 4k,  where as I can get any number of  jimnys for less then 2k.  If budget is an issue, which im sure you said it was.

[farmershort]

Nah ... walk up to field to catch pony ... walk back to house to tack and load up pony ... walk back up to field to put out hay ... nope.  Each of those is a 10min+ walk (up a big hill!).  When I say I am time poor, I really am very very time poor, every minute counts with me .
I could perhaps ditch the sheep and just keep ponies and never have to feed anything .... but that's how my land got ruined in the first place!

My mistake, I read the previous post as "very very poor" rather than "very time poor". My mistake.

What puts me off the whole quad/utv thing is that as smallholders, most of us have aspired to a more self-sufficient life with a closer connection to nature and the natural world.... then what do we do? We want to play farmer and get a quad bike (I'm not saying that you're playing farmer, it's just a construct)...

If we really wanted this closer connection, and to produce ethical food, be nice to the planet, etc etc, then shouldn't we just walk!? Don't have enough time? Go to bed earlier and get up earlier...

Of course there can be health / time constraints, but putting the environmental improvements on hold whilst we go off and earn a living is the wrong way around for me.

I'm not by any stretch saying it's easy, but I just think sometimes we need to step back and re-acqauint ourselves with what we're trying to achieve and why.

[Foobar]

Oh yes, I'm totally with you there, but for now I have to work full time, and in order to maximise the time I have to enjoy the outdoors I need to get from A to B quicker and I need something to get heavy stuff up the big hill.
Whatever vehicle I get it will be an enabler, it will enable me to do more, get further etc etc.

[Womble]

^ Great post Farmershort!  It's a difficult balance to strike though.

Generations ago, our 'farm' was the main one for the area (much more land in those days), and supported five large families.  Now, the same fields only provide a wage for 1.5 people. So, whilst it might be "wrong to put the environmental improvements on hold whilst I go off and earn a living", equally if I put earning a living on hold whilst I worked the land, I'd be getting angry calls from The Woolwich pretty quickly!

So I recognize time poor, and wishing I had a faster tool than a push lawnmower for topping my 5 acres is more practicality than wannabe farmer. My new frame of mind is that we keep the sheep; they don't keep us. That means that if compromises have to be made in how naturally we farm that's the way it has to be (for example we may sponge the ewes next year for a tighter lambing). In the long run we hope to be able to 'downshift' and spend longer on the smallholding, but if in the meantime a UTV made practical sense, I wouldn't think twice about buying one.

[stufe35]

Put the feeder at the bottom of the field and let the sheep walk down the hill ?!  (I realise the layout probably dosent allow for that)

Or build a shed/ put a container in the top field so the hay is already there ready for winter ?

[Penninehillbilly]

I realise it's some time since this post, but thought I'd add my bit -
We ended up with a Gator, i love it on the land, got the big tyres, nice dry cab, (but no heater), road legal, but no RFL as it's agricultural, great for throwing stuff in the back, but too high for dog to jump in. Hate the doors, the way they open, wondering if I could take drivers door off for summer, takes some getting used to going to right door, (LH drive).
Slow on road, 23mph max, apparently there is a delimiter that can be taken off/sdjusted?
No gears and braking system takes a bit of getting used to, going downhill you have to have confidence in low acceleration to act as brake. Rear towbar is a bit annoying being under the back, short bar on little trailer so I can't use it.
Over winter I have been going and collecting haylage bales, probably on limit of weight, but 2 of us could tip back to roll bale out.
Landy was a dream, dad had series 2 and I loved it, but not into the maintenence.

[Foobar]

As it happens I found a nice Kubota RTV900, which should be arriving this week.  5 years old but ex-council (used at the cemeteries so hasn't had a hard life at all!!), very good condition, full cab and heater, road legal.  I am looking forward to reporting back

[sandspider]

  I have (luckily) found a subaru specialist who says he can keep it going for how ever long I want ...

Hi there

Do you mind if I ask who and where the Subaru specialist is? I have an oldish Legacy and we're hopefully moving to South Wales in the near future...

As for your original question I'd recommend a Jimny! But I see you've got something already... 

[Foobar]

Sure thing - David Coe Garage Services, Gorseinon, Swansea.   A quick google will find you their phone/address etc.  Very nice chap, very reasonable prices and very knowledgeable about Subarus.