Polaris Crew Ranger
Ray (Hawkeye) Sedorchuk
Recently we were invited to a Spring Turkey hunt with Polaris, Mossy Oak, Browning, and Winchester arms. The invited was extended as a cooperative hunt taking place at the Turley Ranch in Oklahoma. Outdoor writers from all over North America were invited with the intent to hunt turkey and use the sponsored products. Contributors included Polaris supplying the new Ranger Crew 4x4, Mossy Oak supplying camouflage clothing for the hunt, and Browning and Winchester supplying firearms and ammunition.
The Turley Ranch consists of 12,000 acres, mostly prairie land with low lying slues and valleys. The vast land rises up to what the locals call red hills, here most of the wildlife retreats for the daylight hours. The high red hills offer a sight vantage point keeping predators at bay. As night falls many of the animals make their way down into the valleys for the night as these areas furnish most of the greenery including most of the trees in the area. As for the Turkeys, they need to roost in these few trees that exist in the low land. The birds fly up into the trees and spend the nights high in the tree-tops safe from coyotes and other predators.
As hunters our mission was simple, wake early before the Turkeys woke and travel into the areas Turkeys would roost and arrive before first light.
The Oklahoma prairie opens up just outside the front door of the Turley lodge, here quite, dependable transportation is needed. Polaris’s new Crew Ranger is just what we needed to transport several hunters and their gear to hunting locations. The Crew Ranger is built to carry six passengers including the driver. I’ve personally been a big fan of the Polaris Ranger and now that Polaris offers a Multi-passenger Ranger consumers have the most versatile off-road vehicle available. The ATV segmented market has been building toward UTVs for the last few years, riders have found that riding with friends and family can be more enjoyable in a side by side vehicle. The standard ATV is great for sport riding and personal riding experiences but nothing fits a landowner, farmer, rancher or family better than a Polaris Ranger. The standard pick-up has pretty much disappeared, now extended cabs and crew cabs are the sought after vehicles. Polaris has grasped the crew idea and came up with a six passenger full size 4x4 Ranger. The Crew Ranger has all the features found in any of the full size Rangers only now a rummy second seat has been incorporated.
The new Crew Ranger is powered by a strong 700 Twin EFI engine. Top speed has been reduced on the Crew because of the multi-passenger seating and longer wheelbase. Now the Crew hits a top speed of 44-mph reduced from 55 mph. Most features have stayed the same, the Electronic fuel injection, All Wheel drive, and the on demand four wheel drive. The fully independent suspension offers 9 inches of wheel travel and 11 inches of ground clearance. The payload capacity is set at 750 pounds, 1,000 pound rear dump box capacity, and a towing capacity of 2,000 pounds. Now that’s one hard working, hauling piece of machinery. Polaris is quite proud of the Ranger and how the Crew style Ranger has broadened its ability. Seems the real world asks more and more of all terrain vehicles, it takes almost a crystal ball to tell what the industry will need in the future. Polaris has stayed an industry leader and somehow keeps the Ranger far in front of people’s needs and the competition.
The Ranger Crew uses a stretched version of the original Ranger 4x4 frame, incorporations include the engine and transmission kept rearward. The front seat now has a large under-seat storage area and the under rear seat houses the engine transmission area. I was worried that the Crew Ranger was designed with to much weight rear-ward but all testing indicated a firm cornering and well balanced control. The front under-seat storage houses a plastic 39 gallon container with a 100lb storage capacity and let’s not forget the rear seat also offers an under-seat side storage area with a 29 gallon plastic container limited to 25lbs.
The days of Honda monopolizing the key durability phrase are over as Polaris’s Ranger line has come a long way in problem free operation and durability. Polaris engineers have come up with a great engine configuration in both the 500cc single cylinder and the twin cylinder 700cc engine, both are fuel injected and can be counted on for years of trouble free operation. Over the years Polaris has worked out any issues and now leads the way in many segments, such as the practical side by side vehicle. Many of the side by side vehicles offered by other manufacturers are built more for sporty riding than real world activities such as hunting, ranching, and farming.
Many of the side by side vehicles in today’s market are limited by how many passengers they can carry, the size of the rear utility box and how much weight it can carry, and the over-all off-road traction and ability. Polaris’s Ranger line leads in all these categories, even their standard Ranger can carry three riders in main seating and now the Crew leads with a total of six occupants. The Ranger offers a large dumping utility box with a complete system of accessories known as the Lock & Ride system. Here the standard Ranger rear utility dump box accepts a variety of Lock & Ride accessories, including cargo boxes, tool racks, gun scabbards and cabs, it is easy to transform the Ranger for any job. The Lock & Ride system works with a series of
holes in the cargo box in which tooling with rubber locking plugs are fit and locked in place for work, play, or function.
Actual Use:
Our Turkey hunt in Oklahoma went great, the Ranger Crew transported hunters and gear throughout the 12,000 acre Turley Ranch. On any given morning the Ranger would transport hunters into the field quietly and efficiently. We used the Ranger Crew to haul our gear into the hunting areas and to haul our game out. Oklahoma’s rolling prairie land was dotted with high red-hills and deep canyons, the Ranger Crew was at home here and supplied comfortable travel.
Personally, I liked the Ranger Crew’s ride. Longer wheel base models give a smooth comfortable ride, the Crew could take a full load of hunters and gear and still operate as it should. Six riders and their gear adds plenty of weight to a vehicle but the beefed up Crew’s independent suspension handled well with a full load or with just a few occupants. I’m personally giving the Ranger Crew the thumbs up and if you need a real diversified work-horse vehicle for any real-world means look at the Crew, it’s the only alterative to a full size crew style pick-up.