Having owned a polaris, ezgo, kawasaki and a kubota, john deere atv. All have their highs and lows.
Mechanically the polaris was like comparing a go cart to a golf cart. The polaris was clunky and not smooth. it sounded like a bucket of bolts after a few excursions. The power was nice though.
I liked the ezgo because of the gas petal start, but at the time they only offered 2 wheel drive. I would buy an ezgo again now because of the price and ease of starting and stopping. The frames and suspension are commerical duty like in their golf carts.
The kawasaki mules are good for the money, but are not as tough as the polaris, ezgo or the kubota. The suspension gets tweaked out of shape off road, and the steering was the first noticable deteriating component. I currenty do have a mule 600 for yard work, but I know better than to play around with it like my Mule 2500 a few years ago.
The kubota was nice, but the diesel was slow, I did like the power steering, but the machine is huge. It definately hauled the best with a load. But it didn't throw a rooster tail for sure.
The JD gator was the easiest to get in and out of. But the six wheel version that I had was a POS. It was a borderline go cart. WHen a load was in the back going up hills it was impossibel to turn. I havn't owned the new version though.
My buddy had a argo 8 wheeler, it was cool and everything, but when trails were cleared and stobs were left, the tires came off of the rims when you would turn on them.
I abused the hell out of all of them on my beer runs through the trails and creeks. I know now that none of them so far that I've owned are truly tough enough for alcohol induced bravery, therefore, in order to keep it dependable, don't abuse them. They are not that tough. For general trail riding, and excursions, hunting they do really great.
For the money and size, since you only request a 2 person load. Check out the Kawasaki 4x4 610. It's agile enough to keep away from damage, can carry a 500# load. And the price is reasonable.
