We’ve ridden our share of utility side-by-sides over the years … but rarely in these vehicles’ “natural” habitat or to do any sort of “real” work.
Oh sure, we’ve thrown a few hay bales in the back of a utility side-by-side or loaded them on a trailer and pulled them around a field for that perfect photo op. Or loaded wood or rocks in a cargo bed only to dump them back out, again for that perfect photo op.
We’re writers after all, not farmers or ranchers or utility workers or construction workers—the folks who really put utility (and rec/utility) vehicles through the paces.
While we didn’t exactly turn over a new leaf this spring and suddenly start to put a utility side-by-side through the work wringer, we did tag along with someone who showed us just how vital a piece of equipment his Can-Am Defender is in his ranching operation.
We met Blair Patton on his ranch—Agency Springs Ranch—a few miles north of the small town of Choteau, MT, this spring and rode shotgun all day as he worked on his ranch. Patton’s work routine was anything but routine as he was all over his nearly 800-acre (784 acres to be exact) ranch, completing task after task that showed the versatility and value of his 2016 Defender.
Two Pieces
“It’s (Defender) an integral part of my operation,” Patton said. “I have two pieces of equipment that I consider are must haves on my ranch: my tractor and my Can-Am.”
Lest anyone think our day in this part of northwest Montana was “staged” to show the virtues of the Defender, it wasn’t. We reached out to Patton and asked to spend some time on his 120-head cattle ranch to see how he uses his Defender. He agreed and we watched Patton use his Defender to accomplish all sorts of jobs and tasks.
And, he pointed out, “I’m not a Can-Am fan boy.”
Staged it wasn’t.
It was good for us to see a utility side-by-side—in this case the Defender HD10—in a real world situation. And while it could have been any number of utility vehicles we watched put through its paces that day, it was Patton’s vehicle of choice. He said he researched side-by-sides for months prior to purchasing his Defender, including test driving a couple of competitor brands. In the end, he settled on the Defender and Patton is now entering his third season using this side-by-side.
As the day wore on, Patton would repeatedly say something like, “This is where the Can-Am has an advantage over my pickup,” or “I couldn’t do that very easily in a pickup.”
At the day’s end, as we visited about all the things he accomplished that day, he said, “Can you do most of the things we did with a pickup? Yes, but not everything. And it’s easier to get in and out of than a pickup.”
