The Country Chariot Challenge

“How did we manage before?” Not quite sure whether my wife Alison’s question targeted the practicality, or was from a family farm bean counters’ perspective, I took the easy option. “We walked, used the ute, tractor and trailer, or tractor and carryall generally” was my simple answer. The financial justification for needing another farm quad bike or similar farmscape chariot generally evolved into good business sense.

As tree fruit growers in a very wet part of Queensland’s Wet Tropics, running utes and tractors around sloping country during the main harvest season of Monsoonal Summer was expensive and hard on paddocks, farm tracks and roads. We’ve found quads to be very efficient for moving people, produce and tools around all year, leaving barely a mark in even the wettest weather.
We recently faced a bit of a dilemma though, needing an upgrade for the old Honda 420 Forerunner….still going but getting a bit tired and with limited towing ability.

Options for new quads are now very limited in Australia since October 2020 when the Federal Government brought in a safety ruling that all quads sold from then on had to be factory fitted with roll over protection. This legislation was reinforced that year with 24 fatalities attributed to quad bike accident. Side by sides were seen to be ‘the go’ safety wise, however in 2024 side by sides claimed 14 lives followed by 10 on quads. The bush reality being, most people don’t wear the supplied seat belts in side by sides. The Japanese and American quad manufacturers decided the Aussie market (being only 2% globally) was far too small to mess around with the new mandatory requirements, and decided to just scrap this market. We’ve heard cases of primary producers ‘bulk buying’ their favourite size and brand quads in anticipation. We’re seeing a few of these brand new rigs showing up on Facebook marketplace etc recently at very inflated prices but still selling fast. Our region would be the best and toughest testing ground there is for farm toys, particularly in the banana industry. Long hours (I’ve heard of local Yamaha and Suzuki quads doing well over 10000 hours) in hot, wet and muddy conditions.

In our region an unwritten rule of thumb with outboard motors is if you go with any of the Japanese brand names, you’ll normally get good performance and reliability, for a long time, and find some decent resale value at the end of it. Similar parallel with quads we’ve observed. American, Korean and Chinese built quads and side by sides have been tried optimistically in farming and grazing spheres up this way for some time, but unfortunately the priceless word of mouth sales never seem to blossom from happy cockies lining up to buy another one. The cheap (and some not so cheap) farm chariots seem to win a bit of favour with weekend warriors (and probably do the job for them) but thus far haven’t handled the hard yards farm work can dish out, in the tropical north anyway. I believe things will change though, and probably before too long. One of our cherry pickers, NZ made, came with an American made petrol engine, which failed miserably far too soon. The repair bill was to be about twice the cost of a new 15hp Predator motor made in China. After many years of service, the replacement donk has never missed a beat and runs like it will see this century out. There was a time when Briggs and Stratten were the 2 most cursed names on farms, however thankfully they’re now respected for reliable, consistent quality service. It’s no doubt only a matter of time before the new quad and side by side brands build farm tough reputations. Kubota side by sides are the definite go to in these parts. And I heard a big cattle station west of here went for new Suzuki Jimnys which offer far more safety, comfort and features than side by sides similarly priced at 30k plus.

Our solution to the quad upgrade challenge? We found a Suzuki King Quad 500 on Facebook marketplace nearby. A bit of age but only 245 hours, used as a runabout for an old cane cocky, and well priced. Purrs like a kitten, proven track record, all the right bits like EFI and power steering….now a welcome addition to the fleet of 4 quads, a side by side, 3 Daihatsu Terios’s, a Suzuki Jimny and a Suzuki Sierra. Some don’t do much and it’s always good to have backups in busy times or when breakdowns happen.

At 10K second hand, our Polaris Ranger Crew Cab (Diesel) cost around the same as the five 4WDs combined. We bought the Polaris as mainly a people mover, including small group farm tours. It’s going ok but some emerging niggling issues are clearly going to mean bank balance pain and the nearest dealership is 2 hours drive away.

The little Terios trio has been the best thing since sliced bread for us in many ways. Last imported in 2005, they’re cheap to buy, mechanically exceptionally well built, very safe with doors and air bags, have a tight turning circle and ride the rough very well. Constant 4WD with a central diff lock we’ve found them to be very capable in most farm terrain. The big one is we don’t need specialist mechanical skills to fix rare failings. They’re just a common car with parts readily available online and a great Terios wrecker in Brisbane also. Two of ours are auto transmission which is easy and nimble for farm activities. Two also have aircon which still works so a blessing as summer people movers, and the roofs on all of them result in dry seats on wet days (unlike quads). My personal favourite is our purple “Wild West” branded beast. We took the back seats out and built racks into the back to carry fruit there, and on the roof as well. I’ve noticed breadfruit in particular is less marked paddock to shed carried by Terios instead of on quads (smoother ride and less vibration maybe). A tip though, if you don’t have a back window, it’s best to take the windscreen out for flowthrough ventilation. Otherwise exhaust fumes come forward into the cab of course.

On the lighter end of mechanised movement on farms is the 2 wheeled ag bike. Light. robust and nimble they’ve been around for ages. They’re probably well able to go more places than any of the four wheeled options and are well priced (roughly $3500 to $7000) through the range offered by the four reputable Japanese manufacturers. Ag bikes are cheap to run fuel wise, and perfect as an A to B farm commute, or mustering beast. Limitations are carrying capacity (though not necessarily so in third world countries) and a tendency for the rider to go topsy turvy if the front wheel follows a rut or finds its own path in soft sand, sticks etc.

Potentially the ultimate 2 wheel ride for some properties would have to be the New Zealand designed and built UBCO electric workhorse. Well tried and tested on plenty of farms now they have a drive motor in both wheels which would give plenty of traction and power to the ground in the right places. Fully battery powered with a range of about 80 kilometres per charge and endless glowing testimonials from owners, they could be the bee knees for some businesses. At a price of around $7500 they’re up there compared to traditional ag bikes, however with very few moving parts and the potential to do lunchtime surplus solar charging, energy and running costs could be tiny.

A bit outside the square, my personal favourite rural rocket is my Aventon Aventure fat tyre ebike! With the threat of joining the growing que and getting my battle-scarred knee knocked out for a high tech titanium joint, I took advice from my GP brother Steve and have given the exercise route a try. Riding the ebike as a practical part of farm activities has definitely improved my knee status (and general fitness) out of sight. After more than half a century of riding bumping, vibrating machinery hell bent on working with gravity to get body parts to boot level, the fresh air fast and almost silent travel with exercise thrown is very refreshing. And the fond flashback memories of the extended freedom the humble “pushy” gave us many decades ago as feral cane farm kids is priceless. The Aventon Aventure cost me a bit under 3K a few years back, and has been worth every cent of it. You can use just the battery drive with the trigger throttle but I generally use an assist level of 1 or 2 ( with maximum assist being 5) and pump the pedals. Mountain bike purists see the power(battery) assist as being a bit whimpish, but I know I wouldn’t use the rig much if it was purely pedal. The pedal/power assist and fat tyres are a perfect combo for our sloping country which can get a bit if rain, though even with 2 carry racks fitted I can’t use the ebike for some chores when heavy or bulky gear is needed.

“How did we ever manage without them” will probably be heard around the traps again before too long, this time when battery powered farm chariots have become the norm. Given the convenient simplicity lithium power has brought to farm life in other sectors, I for one are keen to see this progress happen. In the meantime though, I need to sort a contemporary problem in the form of stuffed rear driveshaft universal joints on my Yamaha Kodiak 450 (even good gear often has an “Achillies Heel”).

Oh the joys of micro mechanix!

Peter Salleras
Fruit Forest Farm