Ramblings from the Trail Crew: Our Latest Addition

Diane Phalen & Ben Peck bringing the as yet unnamed UTV home

As if we had enough room at the barn, we just acquired 35 more horses to keep us company. Wilbur and Oatey aren’t too keen on sharing their pastures, but these new guys don’t eat much grass. Matter of fact, they all live in one stall and get out only a couple of times a week.

If you knew how long it took for us to get these horses, you wouldn’t be so upset at their claustrophobic treatment! We ordered them 7 months ago, were promised them in February, March, and April, and finally welcomed their arrival at the end of May. Ok, so Honda was having supply issues and our Pioneer 520 took forever to get across the pond, but we are happy she finally made it to bring our SMGA Trail Crew into the 21st century.

The UTV on Kermit’s lift

The 520cc fuel injected engine is about 35 horses and will be joining a stable of volunteers “long in the tooth.” For those of you that have heard this expression but are unaware of its origin, when a horse ages, its teeth literally get longer. For this reason, domestic horses need to have their teeth ”floated” or ground down by a veterinarian so they can chew efficiently. Wild horses grind their teeth down naturally through grit, sand, and small rocks in their daily foraging habits. But, I digress.

Vroom, vroom! Susan and Larry Hanson imagine taking her–and yes, it’s a “her”–out for a spin.

This new all-terrain 4-wheel drive side by side boasts an automatic transmission with manual override paddle shifters. Sexy hunh? And did I say it was red? This may change, but it was the only color available at the time it was ordered. Finally, it has a tilt bed and 1000 lb. towing capacity. We are in the process of building a custom roof rack and getting a winch, pull behind trailer, and skid plates to round out the package. (Todd is so excited to move boulders with this thing he can hardly contain himself!)

The reason we waited so long for this particular model was its marginal footprint. At 50” wide, it is one of narrowest UTVs on the market. This will allow us to maneuver on most of our single- track trails and get our tools and materials out there farther and faster. It will fit on the hydraulic lift of our work truck or in the bed of a full-sized pickup. Most UTV side by side models are too wide for our purposes.  This one, however, is just right.

We are well aware that mechanized equipment scares wildlife and that a noisy natural area is something no one wants. We will use this machine judiciously, and you won’t see us racing anywhere. It’s just another tool to help us be more efficient in the few hours we work each week.

This Pioneer will be trail ready soon, so look for us in the natural areas where we will be able to get so much more done…with a few more horses.

Written by Scott Henize, Trail Crew member, former SMGA Board member, and keeper of Wilbur and Oatey.