Kubota RTV-X1110 – tried and tested by Liam Bell for Keeping the Balance
Utility vehicles are indispensable workhorses for a shoot, and in the winter months, the pick-up truck is often left in the yard while the UTV is used every day, mainly because of its light tread in wet conditions.
When I was offered the opportunity to try out the latest Kubota RTV-X1110, I was keen to see how it performed. We look for a machine that will stand up to this heavy workload, and while it’s impossible to assess what a vehicle is like in a week’s trial, the RTV looks durable and well-made. It’s also nice and compact, useful for work in tighter woodland areas as well as helping to reduce the overall weight and thus its footprint.
Woodland tracks and field gateways quickly get rutted in winter so its 257mm ground clearance is an advantage and the RTV I tested performed very well on this sort of terrain; the height of the loading bay is a little more than some others, but it’s not so high as to be a problem when lifting bags of feed into the back.
On a shoot day, our utility vehicle will be in constant use, and its value for carrying goods can’t be overstated. Carting feed to moving birds and relocating hoppers, we use them for anything and everything. The hydraulic tip on the bed of this one would be particularly useful for emptying loose materials, and also allows easy access to the service points underneath.
Lots of attention to detail has gone into the design, from the safety switch in the driver’s seat that prevents the engine being started unless you are in place, to the grille protecting the radiator from dust and debris, which slides out easily for cleaning. There is also a reversing beeper which could be useful in a busy yard but which feels slightly superfluous in a quiet wood.
Performance wise, the 24hp diesel engine gives plenty of torque, so even if the RTV is steady up a greasy slope, it keeps plugging away to the top. The low centre of gravity means that it felt very stable on our hills, and the hydrostatic transmission, which allows the engine braking to kick in when descents start to get a bit interesting did exactly as expected. A really useful additional safety measure.
It went most places in 2wd, worked well in 4wd in the wet spots, and only once did I have to use low-range and that was when it was fully loaded. There is also a diff-lock if you do find yourself in trouble, but thankfully I didn’t need it.
The pay-off for its determined slogging is that it can feel a bit flat on the tarmac; it’s in the rough stuff that the RTV comes into its own, and there’s plenty of power if you need to tow a trailer. That said, you feel safe and stable at road speeds. Our demonstrator was fitted with seriously grippy ATV tyres; if you are doing a lot of road work you might want more of a hybrid.
It came in the popular camo and is also available in Kubota orange; I also got the added comfort of a full cab, which is spacious and quiet. Door assist is useful, but if I was specifying from scratch I might prefer half doors or at least an opening window.
A serious bonus is the option to extend the two-year warranty – Kubota’s own scheme, so much easier than a third party contract – to five years. We generally only keep a UTV for two years, but this could make a keeping a machine longer more viable when you factor in the cost of parts.