Side-by-sides are pretty much go-anywhere vehicles. Neither rain, nor snow, nor dark of night can stop them, at least with the right driver behind the wheel and proper gear.
But that's not always the case.
There are instances where even the capabilities of the best side-by-sides and best drivers can be stopped. Deep mud, bogs, sand, and heavy backcountry brush can all be impediments to these machines. You can, of course, modify your UTV to better handle these situations, but nothing works perfectly all the time.
But do you know what never gets stuck or stopped in its tracks? A tank. And that's seemingly why Polaris, maker of the Ranger and RZR UTVs, has patented a UTV tank. Or as the company calls it, a "Tracked All-Terrain Vehicle."
Now, UTVs have had accessory tracks for a while, but they've been the sort that attaches to the vehicle's hubs. And because they were more of an afterthought, they're prone to break and tend to make the UTVs somewhat hard to handle.
But there's no hub connection here. While the patent's drawings make it look like the cabin of Polaris' two-passenger Ranger UTVs, things quickly go off the rails as the vehicle utilizes a water-proof hull design and two sets of tank-like tracks as propulsion.
And indeed, it is waterproof, as sccording to the patent disclosure, "More particularly, vehicle 10 is configured for both land and amphibious operation. In the case of amphibious operation, the waterline of the vehicle with a capacity load would be represented by line 26, as best shown in Fig. 3." And the design in present form could support up to "1,600 kg" of payload, but the patent goes on to further state that this figure could be increased.
The front of the tracked Polaris has a deck not unlike the rear deck of a Ranger or RZR, and features elevated lights, a tow hitch, and two tow hooks. The rear features an almost identical setup, and the patent states that the two tow bars would be rated between "500-1,000 lbs" each.
Furthermore, the whole thing is powered by a "twin-cylinder engine," which could be the same one from Polaris' RZR family, and connected to the tracks via a CVT. That's supported by the patent disclosure, too, as it says "In one embodiment, vehicle 10 may be configured to travel at speeds of approximately 50 mph during land operation." Few engines probably could handle the weight and torque required for this machine's operation.
It also has snorkels.
But, obviously, the party pieces are the tracks themselves, as they encompass the entirety of the vehicle's sides. Seriously, it looks like a mini tank or even a civilian version of that insane Ripsaw tank that the DoD was trying out.
That's all we know and can glean from the patent itself, as there are few other specs on suspension setups, horsepower and torque, and when, if ever, the Polaris tank UTV will ever see the light of day. There is mention of skid steer-like controls, which could mean that there are separate pedals for the left and right tracks, but we're not sure without see further patent drawings.
Honestly, though, I really hope this comes to fruition as this thing looks like a riot and I hope Polaris brings it to market.
But what do you all think? Would you rock a tank UTV? I definitely would.
