Bad Boy Buggies..Any Experience??

[Davemuzz]

I am thinking of getting one of these golf cart's on steroids....maybe next fall. I don't like or want a gas ATV for all the reasons this electric one was built. Noise\fumes\exhaust heat\ect. The terrain I would be on is hilly (Pennsylvania) but I would not be in the "mountains" of Pa. The unit would be in the woods and driven mostly on gas well roads or paths cut by our gun club's brush-hogs so we can get from point "a" to point "b".

Does anyone have one of these or know anyone that has one, and if so...what has been your experience with it?

Thanks

Dave

[30-06man]

very good carts i don't own one i just used to use one that we had for a club. they have power and good 4x4. the only thing is the price. you can have a utv or a very nice atv for $9,000. i don't know who has it now since i didn't join back this year

[markc]

Whats the run time between full charges of the batteries?   Can they be fully charged up on a gas generator?  How long does it take to charge one up?   Those are questions I would have to answer fully before I would consider one.  Having said that, I have only seen them on TV hunting shows.  I haven't seen one yet in the woods or hills where I hunt..

[Davemuzz]

Markc,

Yup! Your askin the right questions. Secondary questions such as battery life, are they maintenance free, what are the storage requirements if it sits for 3,4 or 5 months without being moved? What parts seem to break the most?

I was hoping that an owner would chime in and give me the true lowdown.

Dave

[30-06man]

the bottom of ours were covered with a skid plate so the weak point the cables would not break. the batteries life is 12hours off on driving and turning it off when not in use. you may be able to get more but that is the longest we ran ours to get max battery life. don't know about the gas generator but it should but it will use a lot of fuel running it all night. the 4wd is good. its a little harder to steer do to it. it will do the job. don't know how the hills are in your parts so i cannot answer it. it should do the job well.  the batteries will have to be replaced after years of service normally after 10 or longer years. one bad battery will run down good batteries. another good way they could improve it is make a backup gas operating system. just in case it dies or something. i know you can test drive them on a rough track at their max and even do the "tree test" where you go vertically up the tree. i would look at other options before i bought one. for $10,000 you can have a very nice desial mule or any atv. you can also have a small truck with 4wd

[Simple Man]

Save your money. Buy a used electric golf cart and fix it up. You can buy the extra heavy duty electric motors, speed control and upgrade the 36 volt systems to a 48 volt system, install a lift kit and nobby tires and get around very well, silently. You can sink about $2500 into a used cart and have a very nice golf cart that will run 25-30 mph and move around some very rough terrain.

Check out this link. It has all the information you will ever need about golf carts.
http://server1.buggiesunlimited.com/phpBB2/

[markc]

CZman, correct me please if I am wrong, but isn't the major difference between the Bad Boy Buggies and standard golf carts that the BBB has two motors?  One motor drives the front end, and the other drives the rear end?  While the standard electric golf carts uses only one drive motor?  Seems like this was the main selling point of the BBB, but I could be confusing them another brand...   Just how many batteries does the BBB use?  What do they cost?  Seems like they last a good long time, life time service I mean, but again as CZman said, you could spend alot less if your terraine doesn't require the features of the BBB.  30-06man also made a good observation tat for the cost of the BBB, you could pick up any number of gasoline or even diesel RUV's that can do much more than the electric buggy.. Just with more noise and exhaust..

[Davemuzz]

MarkC,

I "scanned" the golf cart part site that was referenced, but quite frankly, I don't have the inclination to "strip, grip, 'n rip" a E Z Go golf cart to a 4WD tree climber.

And yes, the BBB is a 4WD vehicle. The advantages of the BBB is there is no gasoline engine so you have (1) no fumes, (2) no engine noise, (3) no risk of exhaust spark in dry fields\leaves.

I would think if your "way out there" and concerned about the battery(s) running out of juice, you could always buy a small generator and throw it on the BBB and charge it while your fishing.

Dave

[30-06man]

Dave are you using it for hunting because they have a option that is not camo its all black with mud tires still 4x4. the one i was talking about was like the kubota it has a muffling exhaust and  its suspose to contain any sparks but i don't think a diesel would throw out the sparks. its a 4x4 and i believe it uses a downsized 4x4 transmission that is more like the one on a truck. i don't think i would want the ez go set up because it doesn't have all the waterproofing and skid plates. i have had one and i hit a high spot even while lifted and it ripped out wires and stopped. the bbb has skid plates installed. in my local paper they had someone who changed a $2000 ex go into something like a bbb and it costed right at $8000 without the good mud tires and without the camo and without the back seat and without the 4x4 or skid plate. the lift and putting new batteries in a 20 year old golf cart that still cost a bunch will cost you as much as a new bbb. so go with a new bbb or a 4x4 off road mule like the kubota. also look into the mini trucks they seem to be nice also

[Davemuzz]

30-06 man.....Yeah...Thanks...that's what I was thinkin. I don't want to be in some valley somewhere crossin some stream and fizzzzzzzzzzzzzzz......You know!

Dave

[30-06man]

yup especially with downed game. that would suck and you would be in between a rock and a hard place. ohh yeah you don't want the us coast guard lookin for ya when your families worried but in this sue crazy world you could sue the crap out of ez go

[Simple Man]

MarkC,

I don't know how many batteries the BBB have in them but they are probably a 48 volt system. The batteries usually run anywhere from $70 and up depending on the quality. You can buy them from Sam's club for around $67 and they are great batteries.

If you buy a traditional electric golf cart then it will not be 4x4 but you can put a locker in the rear and it will go just about anywhere you would ever need it to. You can also buy some plating and weld up your own skid plates for very cheap. a nice suspension lift kit and tires will run you around $600, camo covering around $400, all the electric upgrades would be around $500-$1000  If a person was to sink $2500 into an older electric golf cart you would come out with a very nice and capable off road golf cart that will run a distance of about 40 miles per charge. With the right electric motor it would be a torque monster able to hand any of the hills you will come to.

I have seen a lot of older carts turned into some killer hunting machines for not much cash at all.

There is no way I would spend an extra $6500 on a BBB just to have 4x4 when a properly built electric golf cart will do just about the same job.

[30-06man]

It works at first but in a year your used golf cart will be worn slap out. Just think a golf cart was designed for smooth turf and you would have to change everything about it. Get yourself some sort of a atv or mule.

[Simple Man]

From my personal experience I will have to disagree with you 30-06man. I have seen these carts put through everything you can throw at them and come back for more year after year. They hold the annual golf cart rally close to me and it is amazing to see what these carts will go through. They will handle much more than what you give them credit for and will last the long haul. And heck, even if you do tear something up on one parts are a dime a dozen

Buy a used golf cart and fix it up. You won't be disappointed!!!

[30-06man]

Ok but i still wouldn't depend on one. I have seen too many things go wrong when I have worked on them. Some get into a creek and get water in them and fry and your stranded. You would still have to do so many modifications you could by a good used atv for that price.

[Old Syko]

Shoot, for the $2,500 CZman mentioned plus the purchase price of a used cart and no mention of the time involved, you can purchase a very capable NEW atv with a warranty rather than a Junkyard Wars creation.  There is a lot more to the Bad Boy Buggies than the mods mentioned here.  Examples:  tires, wheels, heavier drive hubs and axles, etc.  Like most other things in life, you get what you pay for.

[30-06man]

Hey I saw a small Jeep that was lifted a little and it was 4x4 with 150,000 miles for $3,000. That would be good also depending on where your going, at bass pro you can get an arctic cat 4x4 auto 400 for $5,752 that's not bad also. One of the used golf carts would be good for if you need transportation around a farm. Around here I have a kubota mule and use it instead of a golf cart due to some of the stuff I carry in it. Theirs no way a golf cart would. I don't use any atv's when I got hunting Ill use them while I am scouting that's it. The golf cart we had for the farm would go about 2miles and right at the end it wouldn't hardly go up hills. Lets just say I got $2000 for that piece of junk at the golf cart store.

[Davemuzz]

I guess we could discuss the pros 'n con's of the BBB vs a golf cart modification until the cows come home. After all, the BBB started as a modified golf cart from the original makers. But I ask this question about the BBB as I physically cannot modify anything. So, for most guys....modifying a golf cart with aftermarket stuff may look or seem to be easy, but to me it's an impossible task.

Also, the area that I would be using it, gas powered ATV's are simply not allowed. I need a special exemption to use an electric vehicle and the pluses are because there are no gas engines, fumes or heat\sparks to contend with.

So, the discussion really needs to "stick" with the BBB if possible.

Thanks

Dave

[30-06man]

sounds fine to me. I talked to the guy that has it still and he said the only problem that he has had was when he ran over some nails and busted a tire that some teenager put under the tire. Luckily he had put some of the green sealant in it and still hasn't had any problems. he said he is going to plug it though. You can go 30 miles on it he said due to the high quality batteries it has. He said to plug it up every night so it stays good and charged and if you start off it never to gun it because it will cause the batteries to lose power fast. He said never ride it at full throttle all the time because it will lose charge faster. He runs his at half batteries and has driven it in creeks and all over for 10 miles on a full charge and it got him home with no problem. It is mostly all welded. It will  be a good BBB. Get yourself on. As with anything run off of a charge never run it full throttle because it will lessen its range big time.

[30-06man]

And he has only got it stuck one time and that was in a mud race in the swap and he put it in mud up to my waste even then some rocks in the tires and the wench provided got it out easily. Now we just got the find the atv that he sank Its somewhere down there.

[BigGuy]

Dave,

For your situation, a BBB is probably the best choice. I looked at one but couldn't justify the $ when I could buy a new Polaris Ranger for the same amount of money. Make sure yours has the fixes done to waterproof the connections, they are building them differently now but if yours has not been built in the last 3-6months it may have the "old" connections and those had problems with water when crossing creeks or bogs.

There are a number of folks building electric UTVs so you might check around. Some of these are rehabilitated golf carts and some are not. I've got about $3,000 in a cart that was lifted with better tires, controller, cables, F&R switch and solenoid. Because I have the Ranger and knew I could pull it out, I've had it in places that I really didn't think it would go and have never been stopped. If you think about it, all the weight (batteries, motor, passengers) are over the drive wheels. I don't know how severe the terrain you'll be in is but you might check around to see what is available already fixed up. If you do a little reading on them, they are mechanically very simple, much more so than the Ranger or Mule.

If $ is no object an/or if you are going to be in the worst possible muck, get the BBB. They are expensive but are the best electric option out there.

Good luck on whatever you choose.

Paul

[30-06man]

All BBB are already water proofed that is one of the main selling points.

[BigGuy]

I realize that they SAY everything is waterproof but if you do a little checking on some ATV/UTV forums, a LOT of folks had problems with some of the earlier ones. As I said, they made numerous improvements to them over the last couple of years and one of them is better waterproofing of their electrics.

[30-06man]

Fact is buy the new one and you will get the best of both worlds

[Davemuzz]

I'll probably be lookin "hot 'n heavy"  in the summer of '08.

Dave

[30-06man]

Ok. I know the gun shop had a sale on them for the black friday thing the other day. They were $7500.