THE LAST winter caught out many hill farmers who found themselves unable to get out to the hill to look after their livestock because of the extreme weather conditions, so a new adaptation of the Polaris Ranger might just be the answer.

Strathaven-based ATV specialist, AY Morton, originally designed this conversion of the Polaris Ranger to show off the capabilities of the machine to the Scottish Ambulance Service, which already has Morton-branded conversions for its commitment to mountain rescue operations.

The idea has moved on from that and now the machines have a much wider use through the Hazardous Area Response Team (HART) programme – a collaboration between the Ambulance Service Association and the Department of Health – which has rolled out the special qualities of this Scottish designed ATV to 12 locations around the UK.

AY Morton has now supplied 16 Polaris 6x6 emergency utility vehicles across the UK with three of these in Scotland and 13 across England and Wales, including supplying ‘ambulance HART’.

The tracked version also looks to have great possiblities on extreme hill farming situations, or for fencing and other estate maintenance work.

It’s not a cheap option, but then the experience of the extreme conditions last winter showed that if feed could be got to stock, then they would likely have survived.

A basic side-by-side Ranger 6 x 6 costs £10,699, plus VAT, while the Mattracks conversion (which is only available through AY Morton) cost £5890. Polaris has its own tracks for its 4 x 4 ATVs, but does not have ones to fit the 6 x 6.

The workhorse 6 x 6 version of the Polaris Ranger has a 40hp, 760cc petrol engine and a payload of 907kg (it will also tow the same load) and seats three people in side-by-side fashion.

Down the size scale, the latest addition to the Polaris Ranger line-up is the 400, which has an economical 455cc engine giving 29hp and a payload of 226kg. It will also tow half a tonne.

Priced at £6199, plus VAT, it brings the benefits of side-by-side ATV down to a quad-bike price. National Farmers Union Scotland members also receive a 5% special discount on the Ranger 400.

Sharing the same chassis is an electric version, the Ranger EV, which has a 30hp electric motor and a large battery pack which gives a 35-45 mile range and up to 25mph top speed

Polaris reckons on a full two hours of riding time between charges and the 48-volt AC induction motor provides the performance, with low maintenance and charged using a standard socket.