I’m planning on getting a golf cart next week, and I’m trying to figure out which one is better…I’ve rented gas carts before and years ago I drove electric ones…
Gas ones are noisy
Electric aren’t but I wonder about sneaking up on horses accidentally…I would obviously be careful with that…but I wonder if being quieter would be better than a noisy gas cart.
I am mostly going to use the cart at shows…
Opinions?
Thanks!
We have an electric EZGO Workhorse (has the utility dumpbed on the back). I love it for zipping quietly around the farm carrying equipment or carting me back and forth, it’s great for moving hay bales, etc. The one thing it is NOT good for, and a gas would be better, is pulling the drag. Pulling the drag saps the batteries fast. Everything else I do with it, it seems to last forever on a charge. The drag, big hills, and cold temps zap the batteries. Using the drag is the only thing I want to do with it that I’m unhappy about using it. Also, if you have a hilly farm, you might not want electric as the gas has more power.
The quiet is great for people and for horses.
I have the gas version (EZGo Sport II with dumpbed), mostly so I don’t have to remember to plug it in. Too many other things to plug in (iPhone, iPad, Eartek) that tend to get forgotten, so go dead. The golfcart seems to go forever on a tank!
The horses don’t seem to mind the sound, I even lead them out to the pasture with it when I’m feeling really lazy. And when I can’t find my Jack Russell, the sound of the golfcart brings him running because he loves to go for rides! (As the bumper sticker says, Dog is my copilot!)
We have had both on our farm. The electric ones my husband uses for hunting. He gets them with a lift kit and knobby tires to be able to go over the trails better. We had the gas one for farm chores.
If you have hills or will be transporting heavy stuff or plan on using it to pull heavy things…the electric is not the best option. The batteries are expensive to replace and seem to need replacing too often, even with proper care.
The gas cart we had was awesome (it is now living off the main farm at a new piece of land we bought). It only made noise if you were pressing the gas pedal, if it was “idling” the engine shut down. That one also had a lift kit and knobby tires to be able to go over more varied terrain.
The current farm chore vehicle is a Kubota UTV. Fast and powerful. Another plus to the Kubota is that it has great suspension. I wish it had a feature similar to the gas golf cart in that the engine shut down when it was idling. I find that for many farm chores you are moving from point A to B, to C, to… with short stops in between to attend to the job. It is hard on the starter and battery for the Kubota to turn it on and off, but a pain to have to listen to the engine.
Our electric EZ-GO is 15 years old and still going! I prefer electric because there are no exhaust fumes when I drive it through the barn. Our uses are relatively light duty; pull carts of feed or hay between the barns, mount a sprayer on the back and spray weeds, carry tools and posts for fence work.
Electric is fine of just driving around and carrying people and some light weight stuff on it. But the heavier the load the quicker the batteries will be drained. Especially if you have hilly terrain. If the batteries go “flat” when out and about you have to tow it back to the charger. It’s a lot easier to go and get a gallon of gas and bring it to the cart than towing the cart to the gas pump.
I bought a Yamaha G-16 used 10 years ago. It came with the lift kit and all terrain tires, roof, and windshield. I paid around $2,000 for it and it ran “strong”. I purchased the flip down platform/back seat which was an easy “bolt on” and a “weather” enclosure with doors. The doors are easily taken off and on.
I also modified, “MacGyvered” how it starts and turns off from the way it is set up for Golf use. Where the the engine turns off every time you “let off” the gas pedal when you get out to do stuff briefly. Which happens a lot with farm use. I found the constant starting of the engine many times on any given day drains the battery quickly. Because it is not driven long enough in between to charge the battery. I still have to charge the battery every once in a while.
I by-passed that set up with an off-on switch and a foot starter switch. Like what were used in older tractors. So now it just idles when I get out.
This thing is a work horse on my 100+ acre farm. In the winter I load it with as many as 6+ bales of hay, over 200++ lbs of hay, and 75 lbs of feed. Hauls fine even in as much as 6" of snow. Deeper snow I just plow out a path with my tractor. Which I would do no matter what I was using.
After about 7 years of heavy use the engine started to get “weak” and burning oil. I took it out, very easy to do and set to a rebuilder in NC. Around $650 including shipping. Other than that it has been a pretty easy “keeper”. Only needing minor repairs. Anything needed can be ordered on line and or lots of “bolt on” stuff to be had. After 10 years of use I need to replace the rear heavy duty shocks and springs. I replaced 2 tires also. Considering the amount of use and abuse it has been a very good investment and a big work saver. In the end a big bang for the buck. A “gator” type farm utility would “run stronger” but there is a big price difference.
My cart has a very good muffler and it is not noisy at all. Much quieter than a lawn mower. They are made for the “peace and quiet” of a golf course. To the horses it is the sound of the “dinner bell” they all come running at feeding time. But hardly lift their heads at any other times of the day when driving around the farm.
An electric cart would not suite for most farm uses IMO and experience. It does not have near the power. Batteries only have so many charging cycles before replacing. And cost about the same as a rebuilt engine but won’t last as long. The electric motors are not really designed and built for farm use also.
One caveat when it comes to starting in temps below 20. A bit annoying until I figured out what the problem was. If anyone has this problem with theirs let me know and I will explain the “trick”.
Whatever you decide, do not buy a John Deere gator XUV 550.
Thank everyone… I should have said in my original post that I have now edited, that it will mostly be for horse shows… At home we are mostly flat and only have 5 acres… I usually drag my ring with our new holland tractor so… If I were to get a more utility style like a gator or something like that, then gas would be the way to go for more power.
But for horse show purposes… Would it be better to be moist or quiet…
My mother in law just bought a EZ Go gas golf cart. It has a lift kit on it and bigger tires as it will be used for horse shows and camping trips. It is really quiet and honestly does not make much more noise than a battery cart (she used to rent battery golf carts at horse shows all the time, but was so surprised on how quiet this gas one really is). The gas is also much lighter to travel with and cheaper than replacing batteries.
Yamaha is a very loud cart. Most others are not as loud. If you use a battery tender not just the charger you get much longer battery life and way less maintenance.
For what you want I think battery is the way I would go.
I was a believer in gas till my father got an electric and he lives in the Villages where you get to really compare both types
People are trying to go electric with cars so I think for transportation electric makes sense.
[QUOTE=Jim R;8168827]
Yamaha is a very loud cart. Most others are not as loud. If you use a battery tender not just the charger you get much longer battery life and way less maintenance.
For what you want I think battery is the way I would go.
I was a believer in gas till my father got an electric and he lives in the Villages where you get to really compare both types
People are trying to go electric with cars so I think for transportation electric makes sense.[/QUOTE]
My gas Yamaha as is not loud at all. People comment all the time on how quiet it is.
Now that the OP has stated the intended purpose. I agree electric is fine.
The main thing to keep in mind when buying a used electric is how many “hours” it has on the batteries. As I said in my previous comment batteries have a planned obsolesces. They only have so many charging cycles.
A new battery pack can be quite expensive.
Have had both electric and gas carts - currently have the E-Z Go Workhorse Gas and love it.
The one thing I can guarantee you is that when the batteries go dead in an electric you will be at the absolute farthest point from wherever you need to get to.
Before buying electric check to see how much the batteries will cost to replace and on average how many hours of life are in each set of batteries.
As Gumtree said, if buying a used cart, beware that you may have to buy new batteries sooner than latter…and they are EXPENSIVE.
To prolong the life of your batteries, keep them filled with water. Distilled water is best.
[QUOTE=jawa;8169639]
Before buying electric check to see how much the batteries will cost to replace and on average how many hours of life are in each set of batteries.
As Gumtree said, if buying a used cart, beware that you may have to buy new batteries sooner than latter…and they are EXPENSIVE.
To prolong the life of your batteries, keep them filled with water. Distilled water is best.[/QUOTE]
We have an electric, Club Car…I love it, but when we need new batteries…$100 x 8 batteries…eek!! Our terminals need frequent replacing due to corrosion. I don’t know if that is common elsewhere.
no golf carts here, so can’t give much info on them.
We have a ‘fleet’ of gas utility vehicles (UTV, ATV, dirtbikes, etc) and none of them bother any of the horses here. They usually come running to the gate if they hear one, assuming it’s dinner time…even if they just ate 20 minutes ago.
[QUOTE=mattv;8173678]
no golf carts here, so can’t give much info on them.
We have a ‘fleet’ of gas utility vehicles (UTV, ATV, dirtbikes, etc) and none of them bother any of the horses here. They usually come running to the gate if they hear one, assuming it’s dinner time…even if they just ate 20 minutes ago.[/QUOTE]
Simply an ATV here, but it handles snow, hills, dragging arena, hauling hay, but it does not keep you dry.
Check with the horseshows you will be attending. Some don’t allow electric carts because they don’t want you plugging in to their electric source.
[QUOTE=Veronica23682368;8168548]
Thank everyone… I should have said in my original post that I have now edited, that it will mostly be for horse shows… At home we are mostly flat and only have 5 acres… I usually drag my ring with our new holland tractor so… If I were to get a more utility style like a gator or something like that, then gas would be the way to go for more power.
But for horse show purposes… Would it be better to be moist or quiet…[/QUOTE]
Then go gas…you never can count on a place where you can recharge the battery on an electric cart.
I have a gas cart at home. It’s not noisy so I’m not sure what people are talking about.
Spam reported.
Spammers, buy an advertising spot, like honest people do.
Don’t scam advertising in random posts.
That reflects very badly on your business ethics!
as a note the fertilizer plant explosion in West, Texas has been thought to have been caused by a gas power golf cart stored in the building
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