XG-850 Sidekick Now On Kubota Website

I think there would be some interest if Kubota offered their exact diesel lineup but with the option of a Kubota gasoline engine. Kubota's gas engines, from what I understand, use the same block as the diesel counterpart. This way, you could still have all of the benefits of a hydro trans, hydraulic dump and steering, etc. The new Sidekick's main benefit is speed, which they couldn't get out of a hydro transmission. But, with the Sidekick, you also lose the hydraulic dump and steering and have to settle for electric substitutes, which aren't appealing in many cases.
 
dang emissions regs probably prohibit us from such a nice set up as a Gasoline RTV. we are lucky that the same regs haven't ruined our beloved diesels. although if one could get their hands on such an engine the transfer would be straight forward"i would think"
 
For me personally the beat all, and I havent seen one on the market yet would be basically the x1100 cab, IE heat, ac, windshield wiper, water tight... on a unit that can hit 50mph!
 
aurthuritis said:
on my X1100C i usually run full throttle for hours at a time either in high or low doesn't matter. my engine temp and hydro temp never exceed operating temp unless the radiator gets plugged and that doesn't happen very often. so i would say that the RTV is designed like a tractor to run all out for extended periods of time. on another note the X1100C has a huge oil cooler for the Hydrostat and the fan runs off of the front of the engine so the transmission probably runs the coolest when all out but i haven't tested that for sure. all i know is running it hard and loaded doesn't overheat the hydro.
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agreed, they can run and run. No problem with running the trails. For some of the hills you might need more aggressive tires but I know RTV's have run the Hatfield and McCoy trails in WV. No problem.

Alaskanassasin said:
For me personally the beat all, and I havent seen one on the market yet would be basically the x1100 cab, IE heat, ac, windshield wiper, water tight... on a unit that can hit 50mph!
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Yep, like 71 Chevelle said, those are available. Polaris, Kawasaki and Honda have offerings. From what I know Honda does not sell them off the floor that way but aftermarket folks have both hard and soft cab offerings. Heat and A/C add ons. Probably not as tight as the 1100 cab but they are getting there.

This new offering will be head to head competition with Polaris and Honda and other UTV makers. A tough market. It will be interesting to see how it does in comparison.
 
Alaskanassasin said:
I had no idea! will check that out! I have to say though the last Polaris I owned was a scrambler 500 and I spent more time working on it than riding.
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I've been die-hard Polaris all my life, but my new one has left me pretty disappointed compared to my older ones quality wise. It already has far more issues than my 2004 that I use daily and have plowed with for 8 years.
 
I Gave up on the Scrambler (every moving part on it but the engine broke) and bought a Kawasaki Brute force 750... and that was a beast, I rode it like a banshee though and the engine lost compression, twice. Switched it up and bought a Honda 700xx, Also blew the engine on that twice but it was easier to keep on the trails! My buddy still has it and rides it regularly.
Years ago I had a Polaris 580 XLT long track, man I love the sound of that triple! That was a good sled!
 
It's been minus 20 to minus 40*C here and the funny thing is my old carb'd 500 is the only Polaris of my 3 that will start. The new fuel injected one, not a chance. Even the power steering was froze when I finally did get it started.
 
I’ve had good luck so for with the Polaris sxs’ I have owned. Never a real problem or broken belt. I always use the kubota for hard work. My General 4 has 2 recall bulletins that I need to have taken care of. My rtv x1100 had a couple of recalls also. 2 different animals but we would miss the rtv the most
 
Alright alright, in the brute forces defense I rode it like a jet ski... wide open! We would trail ride, it was super dusty, super fast and I usually followed so close as to keep my head out of the dust but the machine ate it all. First rebuild was head, valves etc. the second was more involved so I sold it. Same story with the xx, I thought it would hold up better and it did but still put rings in it once and bored it .10 over on second.
Work hard and play hard!
 
We're ready for a new toy.

Barring negative user feedback, we'll be buying an XG-850 Sidekick this summer.

Owned our RTV900 since 2005 and it's been an absolute dream, zero problems. Let's hope in 13 years I'm saying the same thing about the Sidekick!
 
I would give the Kubota line up a 5 Star rating if it would redesign the shifting mechanism. JD has a 3-range tranny with forward and a reverse pedal. HST tranny. JD uses this on both big/small tractors. Also, I have a 15 year old Gravely ride on mower/ tractor that has 4 ranges with hi/ lol giving it 8 ranges. Also has one pedal for forward- reverse. However, it uses dry clutch- discs to engage and disengage to go forward or reverse. The point being, both mechanical and HST have been used successfully for years. I would venture that most if not all RTV series owners have struggled with shifting on their machines. And, to go a step further, that struggle is with the range shifter, forward/ reverse AND the 2-4WD. We all find what works best to get the beast moving... but, it shouldn't have to be that way.

So my question is, has that "quirk" been corrected on the new Sidekick?
 
Keifer said:
So my question is, has that "quirk" been corrected on the new Sidekick?
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I would guess that it had to be corrected or else the competition will eat them alive. All other UTV's in that range do not need the quirky shifting.

One reason I opted to sell my RTV 900 after I purchased the RTV 1140 was because of the shifting. I rode some back trails with my son and I could keep up, part of the time. But when we came to a hill I had to stop and shift from H to M, or sometimes L. Then once I made it up the hill I had to stop and shift back to H. This happened a lot since we were traveling hilly terrain. Very frustrating. Could not come close to keeping up with his little Honda 300 ATV.

As was asked before, yes the RTV can handle the trails, no problem. Keeping up with a group would be a challenge primarily due to stopping to shift.
 
The shifting problem is caused by the HVT system. This machine doesn't use that drive system. It's a simple belt drive system. There may be some shifting problems but they won't be associated with the HVT problems.
 
I hope Kubota can be successful with this addition. It's a totally new venture. This machine isn't an RTV as we all know them. I'm a bit apprehensive about the long term dependability.

I think Kubota should give Bordercollie one to test for a couple years. The true nature of the machine would come out quickly.
 
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