What is a good ATV or Utility vehicle for a disabled person? My father has severe arthritis in his knees and in his hips, uses a walker and those battery powered carts to get around. Here in michigan, disabled people can hunt from vehicles with a permit. So what we are looking for is something that meets the following.

1) Brakes and Gas should be hand levers. Foot pedals or controls are out of the question, unless there is a lot of leg room.
2) Must be easy to get in in out of. A 4 wheeler where you have to lift your legs over the seat is not an option.
3) Must be comfortable for a big guy. He is 6'1" and about 300 lbs. Remember, his hips and kness do not work well so what might be good for a normal 6'1" guy with normal mobility, may not work for him. Leg room is a must for long sits in the woods.
4) Need it to be able to go where any other ATV will go. Currently we have an Argo 8x8. That thing will go anywhere. But he cant get in an out of it anymore. Obviously this is 4th on the list, and I don't expect it to be abel to do what the argo can do, but it should be able to go through what any other ATV in its class will. Basically, we want the power, and suspension of the modern "go anywhere" utilty vehicles.

I've look into the Polaris Rangers, and Yamaha Rhino, but they just dont offer enough legroom. They would probably be ok with a bit more leg room and hand operated gas and brake levers. Does anyone know of a good Utility vehicle that would meet the needs? Are there any kits out there to change the foot pedals to hand levers?

Any help would be appreciated.

 

take a look at the new arctic cat prowler they are based upon the same priniple as the rhino and ranger. i dunno if they offer the legroom you are looking for but i guess it is worth a try and i am sure you can rig up hand controls for accelerator and brake. hope you come up with something cause it is a wonderful thing to give a handicapped person the gift to be able to hunt.

 

Have you looked Kawasaki's Mule lineup? If he could somehow use the foot throttle, he could use his left hand to operate the hand brake to slow or stop. Plus, their top speed isn't all that much.

 

I know that you said that a rhino is too small, but I have a friend who has one converted to hand controles because he is also disabled. I think that there are kits on the market, I will ask him who did his.

 

i know a guy who uses a Gator to hunt out of (amongst other things)

he is paralyzed from the waste down

not sure how he has it rigged,,,but he does quite well

john deere gator lineup

 

My taxidermist is paralyzed from the waist down due to an accident. He has converted his atv to be a deer stand. It is really cool. He drives into the brush, hops up on a seat he made on the rear rack and he has 12volt motors that pull camo material up to hide him. It also doubles as a shooting rail.

 

try a small or maybe mid size 4x4 pickup, you could get an older one for cheap.they sell universal hand controls for trucks. that should be easy to get into with plenty of leg room

 

maybe like a bombardier quest 650 they have the seat not all the way to the gaw tank mayeb that would work?

 

I would say the bombardier would be a great machine. The quest or a Traxter if you can find one. They have the step through design so you don't have to put your leg over the seat to get on. John Deere is a bombardier in green skin, I think they call it the Buck?

 

hey you might want to look into a kuboto hydrostatic drive might be the set up your looking for .