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| The
John Deere Gator 825i has superior handling
with its low center of gravity & performed
extremely well on the trails |
The suspension works very well and makes the Gator
feel more like you are driving a truck than a
side-by-side due to the long wheel base and low
center of gravity. The unit feels incredibly stable
because of this as well. In fact, we tried to
get it up on two wheels and found it to be a very
difficult task, even with the incredibly tight
turning radius of the Gator. The only drawback
to that however, is that in order to provide a
tighter turning radius, the wheels need more space
and the wheel wells actually take up a little
more than what we would have liked in the leg
room department in the cab.
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| The
John Deere Gator provides for easy vehicle
access, but lacks any leg protection &
also there is limited leg room for your
outside leg on either side of the vehicle
due to the front fenders |
The
Gator 825i received a major suspension
upgrade for 2011 with dual a-arms and
8" of travel up front & 9"
of travel in the rear, which is a 3"
increase up front & 2" increase
in the rear |
When we first saw the Gator, we thought that
maybe the brakes on this machine looked a little
small and may not work too well, but we were
very surprised by the stopping power they had.
Even at top speed, when we locked ‘em
up, the Gator stopped fairly quickly. The new
2011 brakes feature twin piston front calipers
and large front rotors and rear calipers, which
helps reduce stopping distance by over 80%.
The Gator also comes standard equipped with
a sealed wet disk parking brake that requires
no service or upkeep. The parking brake also
has a sensor on it that will beep if you try
to drive away while the parking brake in engaged.
The sensor also limits your speed if the parking
brake is on in order to keep you from burning
up the brake.
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| The
Gator XUV 825i features a large 16.4 ft3
cargo bed with removable sides & 20
tie down points to secure your cargo |
For those with work in mind, the 825i offers good
torque and has a towing capacity of 1500 lbs.
but one of the Gator’s best features is
its huge 16.4 ft3 cargo bed with a 1000 lb. capacity,
the largest of any current SxS vehicles. The bed
has 20 tie down points for securing loads and
has an automotive style tailgate latch for easy
opening. Another impressive feature of the Gator’s
bed is that with the removal of only six bolts,
you can take off the side panels of the bed and
use it as a flatbed if needed. One of the options
John Deere offers is a spray in bed liner, similar
to Rhino Lining that we would recommend for a
little extra durability in the bed.
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| The
John Deere gator features a hydraulic
tilt bed, which is a great feature especially
since the cargo bed is rated at a 1000
lb capacity, so with the flip of the switch
it can easily be unload unlike many other
vehicles with manually tilted beds. Also,
the Gator features turn signals, which
is a great added bonus for regions where
they are legal on the roads
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