For a long time I dreamed of growing flowers on our small farm in North Texas. But then life and the pandemic prevailed and the dream slipped away. Last year, though, I decided to dig in and was quickly reminded just how much work it can be. I needed a helper.
While it wasn’t want I imagined, I’m pretty sure the addition of the Polaris Ranger XP 1000 Northstar Ultimate made my flowers grow faster and look prettier. Or maybe it’s just that it lightened the load enough that they seemed more robust.
Our farm is small enough that we normally use a wagon or wheelbarrow to move heavy things like soil and firewood. But having a 4WD utility-terrain vehicle, or UTV, made things so much easier. It is versatile, has a huge number of helpful of features, is easy to use, and it made farm chores (almost) a pleasure.
Who doesn’t love a sturdy farmhand who won’t argue, take sick days, or need Tylenol for backaches? This is what made my experience with the Polaris so eye-opening.
This story is 100% human researched and written based on actual first-person knowledge, extensive experience and expertise on the subject of cars and trucks. Additionally, Polaris provided the Ranger 1000 for this review.
The Polaris Ranger XP UTV Can Do Pretty Much Anything
Anyone who takes the Polaris Ranger XP 1000 off-road will tell you all about its AWD system that automatically engages 4×4 when needed, or how the winch on the front can get you out of a pinch when you need it.
They’ll probably also go on and on about the different drive modes for performance, every day and super rough conditions, or the on-board trail navigation system.
But on the farm, the things that matter are: how much can it haul, and can it make our daily chores easier? The Polaris Ranger was happy to address all of the concerns and more, making it a favorite on the Mueller farm.
Read: ATVs and Off-Road Vehicles Are a Ton of Fun. And Dangerous. These Are Our Safety Musts
The Polaris Ranger XP Comes at a Worthy Cost
Starting at $32,999, the 2025 Polaris Ranger XP 1000 NorthStar Ultimate comes in 3-seat and 6-seat configurations and 6 color combos. The Polaris Pursuit Camo has a real outdoorsy look to it that makes it feel at home on the farm, whereas some of the bright color combos look like they belong out on a trail.
If you are considering trail riding—and I promise you, if you have kids, they will beg trail ride!—the Ranger can be outfitted with a light bar, spare tire mount, and mudguards. It looks pretty sweet that way, too.
For us, the Landowner package or Farm and Ranch edition would be a better fit – I could see us using the lightbar a lot on these long dark evenings when we still have so much to accomplish and not enough daylight hours to do it all.
Standard features for Polaris Ranger XP include:
- Factory-Installed Heating & Air Conditioning System
- Pro Shield Cab System
- 29″, 8-Ply Pro Armor X-Terrain Tires with 14″ Ground Clearance
- Polaris HD 4,500-Lb. Winch with Synthetic Rope, Autostop & Wireless Remote
- 82 HP ProStar Engine
- USB Charge Port & Battery Charge Port
- 2,500-Lb. Towing Capacity & 1,000-Lb. Box Capacity
- ULTIMATE TRIM INCLUDES:
- Full Glass Tip-Out Windshield & Powered Front Windows
- 7″ Display, Powered by RIDE COMMAND, with Factory Rear Camera
- JBL Trail Pro 2000 Audio
Other Tasks Are Made Easier by the Polaris Ranger XP, Too
Dirt, mulch and fertilizer aside, there are other jobs that could use a sturdy hand, too. But with a 1,000 lb. bed capacity, it was easy. And, I never had to worry about how much firewood I put in the back of this UTV. I stacked two rows deep, all the way up to the cab window and it didn’t phase the Polaris Ranger a bit. And the bed is so much bigger than it appears in photos.
In the weeks that we had it, I also used the Polaris Ranger XP’s bed to haul animal feed, straw bales, a big harvest of melons, peppers, and flowers, and then I used the bed and tailgate area as a workbench for seeding flowers for spring.
My favorite feature of the Polaris Ranger is that the bed is the perfect height for easy loading and unloading, or to use as a workspace. We may not have had many heavy-duty jobs to accomplish this month, but I lost count of the number of times I appreciated this mobile bench of sorts.
And of course, getting all my supplies from the house to the shop or field was super easy with its little but mighty truck bed.
Trucking Around the Farm was Comfortable and Simple
Comfort makes a big difference when you’re working hard and we found the Polaris Ranger’s bench-style seating easy to slide in and out of. And the seats had plenty of cushioning for rides around uneven grounds.
Everyone on the Mueller farm enjoyed being in either the driver’s seat or the passenger’s seat. The comfort, ease of entry and exit, and intuitive features made climbing in after working hard a very welcomed relief.
But maybe I liked driving a closed-in UTV with real doors and a windshield the most. It it was so nice to be out of the wind and to be able to enjoy my music via Bluetooth on the JBL sound system.
And then, leave the doors open to pipe music into the garden. I’m sure an afternoon of Red Clay Strays makes my garden all the prettier!
