UTVUnderground's 2011 John Deere Gator **EXCLUSIVE**

[JoeyD23]

The NEW 2011 John Deere Gator 825ci

Well we have just added one more UTV to the UTVUnderground stable thanks in part to John Deere. UTVUnderground along with John Deere will be performing a year long term review on this new machine so we will hard to keep this thread updated with feedback and information surrounding the new Gator 825ci.

While I havent yet taken the new Gator out to play I have noticed a few really cool things about the machine just in messing with it here at the Magnum Offroad shop. First was the extremly smooth peddle, meaning the throttle response is very smooth when applying the gas where most UTV's seem to really feel "jumpy".

When sitting in the Gator you still do have that work vehicle feel, it doesn't feel really like a sport UTV but when looking around the machine you see some DNA emerging that this Gator isn't your grandaddy's John Deere of Old.

The Gator sports an independent suspension all the way around and supporting the IRS is a full set of FOX 2.0 Remote Resovoir adjustable shocks! I was super excited when I spotted those baby's underneath.

The Gator also has a total of 6 lights on the front all pre wired into a nice switch bank on the dash. This thing should have no probelm seeing the trails! Also located on the front end of the Gator in between all of the lights is a WARN winch. The Gator comes with a remote winch cable that plugs into a factory wired harness located in the glove box.

One of the coolest features of the Gator and a first atleast that I have seen on the market is the power dump bed. With a flip of a button you can dump your bed and retract it with ease! The bed extends a long way to an almost verticle position. In addition to the LARGE utlity bed I noticed that it has Tie Hooks in each corener, the bed sides look to be removable, the rear bumper also has steps built in for easy access, and the bed itself is rhino lined with a heavy duty rubber mat over the top of it.

One of the other features I noticed is in addition to the push button 4wd switch is the un lockable rear differential. This would provide those driving on city streets a much better feeling UTV when making turns.

The other notable features is the 12v receptacles both on the dash and in the center console glove box, cup holders, removable guard behind the head rests from the roll cage, and the MAXXIS Big Horn Tires! The 825ci Gator is a 3 cylinder motor that runs on pump gas and is conviniently located just behind the front seats and under the bed with tons of access for easy service. It also sports a CVT Transmission.

I cant wait to go out and log some time on this bad boy.

 

[JoeyD23]

 

[Darryl89]

I'm glad John Deere came thru for ya Joey...

Take it out on a really rough course and see how the throttle stability and smoothness of suspension is compared to others... let me know what you think...

 

[LSRGreg]

love the ruler on the tail gate! haha. Let us know how it drives joey!

 

[Goodtimes]

Gator , Gator , Gator

 

[JoeyD23]

Here is an awesome long term review being done on the Gator 825 XUV by our good buddy Jon CROWDOG Crowley at UTVGuide.net

Gator 825i XUV long term review

 

[JoeyD23]

Took the John Deere on a trip around our 14 acres​

I had a blast today playing with the new John Deere Gator 825i XUV. I tossed my little boy Enzo into the front seat with me and took a small cruise around our 14 acres here in Valley Center, CA. While I have been here now for almost 2 months I have had little time to go explore and see all the property has to offer.

The view from the top of the property. Thats our house hidden at the bottom. The oak tress you see below the house will be where the future track will go.​

My father in law purchased this property almost 8 years ago. Its a cool property that we were super lucky to be able to move too and into a 3 year old home he had built and now passed on to me and my wife. The property has 2 natural springs on it, one that flows into a man made pond and another that runs into a good size creek at the bottom of the property. Most of the property is planted out with drought tolerant plants that my father in law farms and sells to local nurseries. All the water used to irrigate comes from our natural springs, the water is clean enough to drink! The rest of the property is filled with large natural oaks, avacado trees, and differet types of citrus trees including oranges and lemons. One of the other cool things on the property is a small quartz mine that my kids love to go dig in to pull out some beautiful looking rocks. Some of which could probably be sold off, but for now we collect them, wash them, and place them in a flower bed we have for decoration.

Part of the quartz mine. The kids love playing in it!​

I took the John Deere down to a 3-4 acre meadow we have at the bottom of our property. I have plans of a track going in down here but after experiencing its serenity I will have a hard time cutting in dirt trails to rip around in. Whats cool is the trakc would be completely hidden by large oak trees. It will take some hard labor and creativity to lay out a good track but in time we will have something that we can spin some laps off on and test our suspension set ups with.

We have plenty of water on the property to use to wet down the dirt once we do cut in a small test track​

In all I cant wait to do more here. The John Deere has already been used a ton around the house. My father in law has cut up a ton of wood and hauled it with the large electronic dump bed. I wil try and get some good pics of it in action but for now enjoy some cool pics of it on the "The Ranch".

Down here in the meadow we have a horse corral that may have to be moved for the track, moved not taken down, my daughter cant wait to have a horse of her own!

We found an old row boat on the property, dont ask me how it got here.....hahah

Parked down by the corral

Great views from up here​

 

[LSRGreg]

Amazing property Joey! Hell of a score man! How far of a drive do you have for your closest amentities?

G-

 

[JoeyD23]

Thanks Greg. Really not that far. I am about a mile in on a dirt road from the black top so it takes about 5 minutes or so to get form my house just to the main rd. At the end of the dirt road is an awesome little country store that is owned by a family who also owns a large organic farm. You can see it in the pics, its the nicely groomed place across the valley in the pic with my house in it. They have fresh coffee, fruits, vegetables, mmuffins, and stuff like that.

So then from the house to like the first real store you are about 15 minutes away. There is a small market that sells everything you pretty much want as far as amenities, snacks, milk, bread, eggs, etc etc etc. The first real grocery store which is located in Escondido is about 25 minutes. I live about a 15 minute drive to Hwy 15. So although I am in the country I am really still very close to the city in the grand scheme of things. It takes me about 30 minutes to get to my office at Magnum offroad in San Marcos which is the heart of North County San Diego to put it in perspective.

 

[LSRGreg]

Nice man! Way cool. Sounds like a great set up.

 

[JoeyD23]

This thing is so awesome. We have been using the Gator all over the place at home. My wife used the winch the other day to pull an old Jet Ski out (didnt get pictures) and we use it almost daily to bring firewood up to our house. The electronic dump bed is sooo clutch!

 

[Darryl89]

Glad you're liking the Gator Joey. I've sold a bunch of the new XUV's, both gas and diesel. They are being used from plowing snow at schools, to running natural gas pipeline routes to spray for weeds and inspecting the lines. The customers that have them swear by them thru and thru. One industrial customer liked the first one he bought so well, he came back and bought 2 more.

When it comes to work, the John Deeres can't be beat. I challenge you and Jon C. to take these and do some pull tests, 4WD obstacle tests and such with the other brands out there... you will be amazed...

 

[micky]

Joey,
What are the taxes like on property like that in California(roughly)? It's a beautiful spot! Here in NY I have a 1,600sqft house on some acreage but the taxes have quadrupled in the last 9 years to 16k a year. NY is crazy!
Mike

 

[JoeyD23]

Well we got the Gator back yesterday. We took it to AA Equipment in Escondido for a full routine maintenance and they did a wonderful job. So far the John Deere is awesome. The electric dump bed and winch have been extremely useful for us around the ranch and I have even had the opportunity to play with the adjustable Fox shocks to get it set up where I like it. Next step is to get his bad boy out into the desert and run it hard.

 

[JoeyD23]

Out working with the Gator today. Awesome day to enjoy the utv for what it is which is an awesome all around machine. This is the ultimate utv for large property's.

 

[JoeyD23]

I had the chance to play with the adjustable Fox shocks today while out running around the ranch. I backed the compression out about 5 clicks all the way around and it made a huge difference. I primarily just cruise this thing so I realize now that while it rode good it was really stiff so I felt all the bumps. Now with it softer it rolls through the rough at low speed super smooth!!

The more I drive the Gator the more I like it!!! Now I just need to get it out and see how it does in more aggressive riding!

 

[JoeyD23]

Used the warn winch on our 2011 John Deere Gator XUV to yank out a lemon tree to give to our friends. It worked amazing. The winch is an option on your Gator. Anyone who knows winches knows that WARN is the best.

 

[JoeyD23]

Well our John Deere Gator is going off to UTVUnderground sponsors AA Equipment today for service. This thing kicks ass!!!! Big thanks to AA Equipment for driving up and picking it up. These guys are top notch.

 

[JoeyD23]

The more I drive the Gator the more I like it. It's now fully broken in and it runs like a champ. Definitely the moat robust UTV there is. These Fox Shocks are dialed in also!!!

 

[JoeyD23]

Dan Fernandez aka OffRoadSwapMeet and I were getting down the other day with the Gator out at the UTVUnderground compound! Let me tell you, this thing does not fail to impress me ever. Electronic dump-bed is CLUTCH when hauling around debris like we were in this photo!