I've posted many pics on here over the years of my old camo'ed Club Car on dove shoots, etc. In April of '23 I had taken it to shoot sporting clays and, when I returned home, had left it on my trailer (not a good idea in retrospect). A couple weeks later I realized the whole rig had been stolen from behind my farm shop. I had used that old thing hard for over 20 years on the farm checking irrigation systems, shooting sporting clays and doves. It was never recovered but I had farm owner's insurance that paid me $2800 for it and the trailer. Small consolation, but better than nothing I reasoned. I went looking for another one and found that the prices of the things and skyrocketed over the years. I considered a small Polaris Ranger but we were still looking at over $10K and I was just too tight to put that much in one. At the time they weren't even taking orders for the little ones anyway. The big, four door enclosed ones with a/c and heat were selling like hotcakes, at $38K+ a pop. I was beginning to think this deal was going to end up stinging my checkbook badly.

So, I waited, watched classified ads, and hung on to my insurance money. Fast forward to this past June, 14 months later. While in a field doing work I saw a Ranger sitting in an abandoned equipment field on a neighbor's property. I asked him what was wrong with it and he said it had run hot, wouldn't crank, and might even be locked up. I asked if I could take a closer look at at and he said fine. I checked the motor and it wasn't locked up, and had some compression. I bought it from him for $500, knowing I was taking a bit of a gamble. Turned out it needed a head gasket, a fuel pump and a water pump. Tires were worn out on it and the seat was in tatters, but looked pretty fair otherwise. For another $500 we got it running like a top. I found a set of almost new tires and upgraded wheels for $400 and bought them. I put it to work last week checking irrigation systems and doing spraying of food plots and overgrown areas on the farm.

Takeaway is .......... for half of what I received from the insurance claim I'm in a much faster, more powerful, and better riding UTV than any golf cart could ever be. Everything works on it, lights, gauges, speedo, and she runs cool as a cucumber. Still got the other $1400 to find a seat and seat back, and a trailer. Some days you get the bear, and some days the bear gets you. I got the bear this time.

I''ve always loved to try to make lemonade out of a lemon. Not a Cadillac, but a big step up from the old Club Car.

[Linked Image from jpgbox.com]

May God bless America and those who defend her.