2013 825i lasted 10 hours

[nick114]

I never thought I would be disappointed in a John Deere Product, but I guess the time has arrived. I just purchased a 2013 825i Gator. I have all the guards and ect, on it. I took it out on a trail and in all honestly my 2WD Honda went down it several times with no issues. The Gator quit running and the service diagnostic light came on and it would not crank. I contacted my salesman and he said he would come get it and take care of it. He called today and said the crankcase and air filter was full of water and mud. He also advised me that I would have to pay to have this repaired. I explained to him I wasn’t in any water that deep and I don’t know how this could have happen. He still explained I would have to pay for this and all other associated damage due to the water. I really don’t understand what the purpose of spending 16,100.00 on something that cannot go thru the mud and some water. I bought this thing for duck hunting, but now I am very concerned about putting it in anything wet or muddy. I have rode this trail a million times and been in deeper water on a 2wd four-wheeler with no issues. Did I miss something when I was shopping around for an ATV/UTV. I was riding with guys that were on Honda Big Red and a Can-Am and they had zero issues. I only post this as a notice to others that may be thinking about a Gator for hunting and to REALLY understand the warranty. I plan to pay for the repairs and sell it ASAP and buy a Honda.

[Charlie]

well I see your point, with my 2011 825i , once the water get over your ankles u r at risk of water going in your air intake or water in the clucth housing and then there`s the alternator may I suggest that the GATOR is not a real gator ! :lol:

[Dane]

I am sorry to hear about your troubles. If you had said the intake had come off or cracked after only 10 hours letting water into the engine I would feel very differently about your situation. Saying that you drove it into water and filled the engine and then are upset that it will not be covered under warranty makes me think you choose the wrong machine for your needs.

1. The 825 is sort of an off road dump truck. It has great capabilities as a workhorse and is a solid off road performer but it is not intended to be a deep water sport machine. Almost any ATV will be a superior vehicle in sloppy terrain. It's just physics. My Arctic Cat ATV weighs half as much as my XUV Gator and almost 1/3 the weight of your 825 and ride on the same exact tires. Care to guess which floats better over soft mud?

2. It is important to learn and know your vehicle especially if taking it off road and through mud or water. You need to look at it to see where the engine and clutches are getting their air and where they exhaust so you know how deep you can go before getting into trouble. Just because it has a John Deere logo does not mean it is snorkeled for 3' of water.

3. Perhaps a 6 or 8 wheeled amphibious vehicle would have been a better choice if you need to go through deep water when duck hunting. There would be trade offs there as well. They right rough as hell, have poor ground clearance, steering is more difficult and less precise, they are not as fast and don't have the load carrying capacity or a dump bed but it will go very well through soft mud and water.

[purplewg]

I would contact Deere customer service on this one. I do not know what kind of stuff you took it through but I have had mine in over 2 1/2 feet of water and mud with no problems. Could it be that one of the shields was broken, not installed properly, or some other such thing? I mean they can't sell you an off-road UTV and not expect you to take it off road.

[pugwash4]

we back in o8 i bought mine 850 D i had 8 hours on it i was going throught about a foot of water and slid into a set of ruts that made the water 2 feet deep and guess what happen next well i bent all 3 conneting rods. all johndeer would do for me was fix it for just under 5 grand. i didnt want them to fix it for free but they could of helped a bit and then they vod they rest of my warranty one month after i bought it. sorry to hear about your bad luck with johndeere they are a great utv for what they are ment for.

[duling]

I may be jinxing myslef right now but I have been through some serious sh^t with my gator and have had no issues whatsoever. My salesman showed me the intakes i needed to be aware of and said, "if the water is on the floorboards you are ok, if the water is covering your shoes while your feet are on the floorboards you are too deep." I have tested that limit seveal times but thusfar I haven't had any issues.

It sucks BIG TIME that JD won't back you up... I guess they are so big and rich that the lowly customer doesn't matter anymore.....

I don't know how mud could get in the intakes because the machine will high-center before getting deep enough to do damage. That i have experienced. Good luck to you friend

[purplewg]

Duling, you are soooo right. When I bought my JD tractor the dealer promised me a quart of JD green to paint the aftermarket hay spear he put on it. I have pinged him several times. Still no paint. They delivered the front hay forks with the spears in backwards. Would have poked right into the radiator. I had to fix it. Had an anti freeze leak I told him about. "Bring it back" is what I got. 40 miles one way. I tracked it down and tightened the upper hose clamp in about 20 minutes. I am not impressed with the dealers. I can only hope the product is far better.

[duling]

i grew up a farm boy and JD was the end all be all of products... Hell, in the early '90's the owner of a dealership drove the part to my dad at 10pm so that we could get our hay put up before it rained.... It wasn't until I bought my gator that i found out they are just like everybody else. Its such a shame, honesty and integrity are absent from every single company out there.... I won't even go into my feelings on Po-lair---ASS... :)

[pugwash4]

well at least in the usa the dealers have a webe sit that you can buy parts from up here in ontario canada you have to buy form a webe sit that sends it to your dearler then they call you

[MBDiagMan]

The air cleaner is very low. Make or buy a snorkel if you plan on the possibility of deep water.

It's a matter of having the right machine for the right purpose. A simple modification or buying the right machine for the purpose would have prevented this. The Kawasaki Mule, for instance, has a snorkel built into the roll bar. Quite clever, but unnecessary unless you plan on fording water.

[pugwash4]

i must say i still love my gator and over the years i have made it to my liking. i really need to find out too get some pics up :hdscrh:

[Dane]

This forum allows you to post pictures two ways. When you click on the picture icon it opens a window. The left tab lets you locate the picture on your hard drive and upload it directly to the forum. The tab on the right requires you to have your photo hosted online somewhere with a photo hosing website like Photobucket. You then copy the web address for your photo and paste in the box.

[purplewg]

Yeah, we all know Gators are useless off-road and won't go through any water. See what I mean?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i-rDU4W-c4A

[Dane]

That video shows what you can do if you know your machine.

My 550 makes it through foot deep water without trouble. I was nervous in one hole though. I was already in and feared stopping so I just motored ahead. The water was up to the headlights but because of the belly plate and body pushing the water away it only came over the center hump in the foot well area and surprisingly the water never actually touched the engine. Had I stopped I think I would have been screwed. I'm also mindful that my clutch exhaust is on the drivers side and try to keep that higher.