Can a pickup do what a smaller ATV can do? Certainly the small ATV has slipped into a rather large niche. The Kawasaki Mule and the long growing line of competitors now make up a class of vehicles that people a few years ago didn't even dream that they needed. Now it seems that these vehicles are everywhere. Here are ways older options may work just as well.
Until the invention of the Kawasaki Mule and similar vehicles, what did people ride? How could you do maintenance work or farm and construction work without an ATV? Well there were and still are other options, much cheaper ones too.
Atv
One viable option for many uses is the small pickup truck. By that I don't mean the used mini-trucks which cannot be street licensed. I mean small conventional pickups. These are rather recent inventions too. Only since the late 1960's did this class of vehicle make an appearance in the US market. At that point Toyota, Datsun/Nissan, Mazda and Mitsubishi all brought in trucks made in Japan. Then the US auto makers brought out their versions.
The Japanese trucks were in general built to work and were small but heavy duty. Many of these older Japanese trucks are still on the job. The earlier versions of the trucks tended to be cheap, no-frills, work type trucks. As time passed, all the small trucks evolved into larger vehicles with more options and more car-like features. That's good if you need a pickup to use as a car, but not so good if you want a cheap work vehicle.
If you can find an older small truck that has been cared for, you have a strong alternative to an expensive ATV. Now granted, the pickups will be hard to find in 4 wheel drive but not impossible. Of course in most cases 4 wheel drive is seldom if ever needed anyway.
What you get with pickups includes several advantages over the ATV.
You get a street legal vehicle useful for any kind of work. That includes hauling feed or fertilizer as well as use just like any car. What's more, you don't have to haul it to the shop with a trailer. In addition, often maintenance work on a pickup costs you less than work on an ATV.
Don't forget the weather-proof pickup cabin which may just include a fully functioning heater and maybe even an air-conditioner. Imagine that.
Then, in addition, some older pickups came with virtually bullet-proof engines and transmissions that hold up for decades and cost little to keep going.
Don't forget the difference in price either. A good used small pickup may cost only a small fraction of what you pay for a new ATV. You skip the depreciation cost and get a vehicle that does most of what the ATV does plus does a lot of other things far better than a little ATV.
A Small Pickup Or an ATV?
What do bikes and pickups have in common? Carry your bikes in clutter-free style with the right truck bed bike rack.
Get a bicycle hitch rack to protect expensive bikes and your truck bed paint too.
