They're not new, but they are proliferating. The market for utility vehicles continues to grow due to both new and faithful customers.

Henry Meyer might be the prototypical utility vehicle buyer. He was first drawn to buy a John Deere Gator 10 years ago. With a diversified farm near Owensville, Mo., Meyer figured the vehicle would fit a variety of tasks. He was right. Now on his third Gator, Meyer has a powerful testimonial: "If I sold the Gator, I'd have to sell the farm."

Sure, that may be an exaggeration, but Meyer is serious about his much-used utility vehicle. "I use it every day," he said.

Meyer's farm is a sign of the times. When his father was still living, they had 5,000 layer hens. But the poultry industry changed. They sold out. A few years ago, when the hog market was on its way to historically low prices, Meyer and his family looked into the tea leaves, watched market conditions and noted the national herd size. They decided it would be a good move to get out of the business. In selling, they hit part of a downward trend, but they managed to sell their herd prior to the capital-bleeding 8-cent hog market. Their hog buildings are full again--this time on a contract-growing basis.

Meanwhile, they're in the process of increasing the size of their cattle herd. They're 3 years into a management-intensive grazing program. Part of building the herd is to phase out some marginal row-crop ground and depend more on grass and purchased livestock feed.

The changes--especially the move to management-intensive grazing--takes Meyer and his son Doug, who farms with him, into more pastures, along more fences and through more trees and brush.

"That's one reason we got it," he said. "We've got 400 acres of woods with fence. A tractor won't make it through, and neither will a truck. They just won't go through it."

Meyer said that the utility vehicle is a critical tool when it comes to building fence or sub-dividing pasture paddocks. He has built a wire-rolling device, including a small tow-behind cart, for building barbed-wire fence. For quick installation of electric polywire, Meyer built a rolling spool. Thrown in back of the ATV, along with a portable electric drill, his innovations compose a fully automated fencing rig.

"We calve 100 percent on pasture," said Meyer. "With the Gator, we can load the stuff we need to work cattle. During calving, checking them is an everyday routine. This way we can find the new calves and work them. We already have anything we need."

For other chores, like hauling wood, Meyer says the dump bed of the Gator is a handy option.

"It'll dump about 600 pounds, no problem," he said. "And getting around in the woods is no problem. It will just about climb a tree."

The ATV family tree
It's no surprise that utility vehicles and ATVs have become so popular on U.S. farms. Their history can be traced to Japan, where the ATV was first used as a vehicle that allowed farmers to travel mountainous areas in the region's rainy seasons. The three-wheeled ATV was so deft in traversing muddy and nearly impassable roads that it soon gained enough popularity to seep into a recreational market. That's when the Japanese, specifically the folks at Honda, put an eye on North America as a possible sales venue.

Of course, most can remember the initial wave of ATVs. They were squat, three-wheel versions of what we call four-wheelers today. The famous model, the one that really primed the farm and recreational markets in the United States, was the Honda 90, a 7-horsepower scamper that cost about $600.

Since then, ATV manufacturers saw that recreation and utility were similar but divergent markets. As recreational machines got super suspensions and souped up motors, machines geared toward the utility market came with heavier torque transmissions, bigger and better cooled-motors and plenty of decks and racks to haul things. Ultimately, these improvements graduated from the four-wheeler to a unique class of small utility vehicle. Some have four wheels, some have six, but the telling trait of the vehicle class is they have big payloads, good mobility and offer plenty of accessories.

Marc Tullemans, product manager for the Ranger line of utility vehicle from Polaris, said when it comes to the ag market, accessories will be important.

"Accessories will sell the Ranger," he said. "We're working on a full line of ag-type accessories."

A quick look at any major manufacturer's catalog or a host of after-market vendors shows that Tullemans is on to something. You can buy everything from snow blades and spray rigs that turn your utility vehicle into a mini tractor, to full regalia camouflage that helps put you and your vehicle in the best hunting spots.

For their part, the Meyers built their own accessories (like the fencing tools). To keep warm in the winter and to keep brush from scratching them, they built a cab out of square tube metal and Plexiglas.

Something that can be so useful to so many farmers should be on every farm, right? Maybe. Entry price for the utility vehicle is about $6,000. Go 4x4 or even 6x6 and the price can creep up toward $10,000.

"They're expensive," said Meyer. "But we use it for a multitude of things. The one in the driveway is a year and a half old. It's got 900 hours on it."