Farms & Farm Machinery #385

UTV/ATV REVIEWS
No frills, not water-friendly, but
Landboss’s diesel-powered
1100D LE UTV is a can-do machine,
Barry Ashenhurst wrote in this
2019 review
1
2
3
4
5
Heavy hitter
None of the diesel UTVs are what you call sporty – and
since everyone else was going bigger, it made sense for
Landboss to do the same.
So after releasing the Perkins-powered diesel 800 a few years
ago, the new LE model is pushed along by Kubota’s D1105-E3B,
a naturally aspirated three-cylinder diesel with a capacity of
1,123cc.
The Australian version of this engine pushes out 24.8hp
(18.4kW) – a good 21 per cent more torque than the Perkins
manages to push out – enabling it to tow up to 800kg, to carry
up to 500kg and giving it a top speed of 60km/h, which is pretty
typical of diesel powered UTVs.
It also gets uprated steering rack bearings, steel side-steps,
stronger brakes, a 4,500lb (2,040kg) winch, and a roof kit. All
this comes as standard equipment, plus a two-year parts and
labour warranty.
Landboss says the LE is a commercial spec with no frills.
It’s built for work and nothing else. It has no recreational
pretensions; no niceties and no ‘cross-over’. It does have these
odd little ‘kick-down’ doors though, a safety device designed to
prevent the driver or passenger sticking their leg out the side of
the machine. These little door thingies also double as a barrier to
anything that wants to trundle across the floor and jump out of
the truck.
Five-stud, 14-inch (35.6cm) steel wheels are a little unusual, but
again, Landboss claims this is a result of heavier than average
bearing carrier engineering.
We liked the gas-assisted tray lift and that the sides are
dropdown and detachable.
With a claimed dry weight of 700kg the LE is heavier than
some comparable machines but the company says this
is justified by the LE s solid engineering and built-to-last
parts.
Driving the LE holds no surprises if you’ve driven a diesel UTV.
60km/h won’t excite you but that’s the top speed of most dieselpowered
workhorses like this one.
In-cab controls are well laid out but in our opinion the cab is a
little squeezy for those on the bigger side.
The handbrake lever is in a weird place too, on the left of the
driver’s seat where it tends to slide up your shorts when you
enter the vehicle.
It’s worth remembering that no handbrake on these devices
will hold a vehicle on a slope if not properly adjusted. The
LE handbrake cable had a bit of slack in it and wouldn’t hold
the machine on even a gentle rise. Without a Park slot in the
transmission, the handbrake is all you have, so look after it.
There are no cupholders and no storage space apart from
a small glovebox in the cab. If you intend to use the vehicle
on-road under conditional rego there are mirrors, indicators
and a horn.
Our test specimen had no CV-joint protection – you can get
CV guards if you need them – and in rocky terrain you will – but
they’re not standard. A windscreen is also an optional extra.
The machine uses the ubiquitous CVTech transmission from
Canada. It has a selectable 2WD/4WD setup and diff locks front
and rear. With the diff locks zeroed you have one-wheel drive or
what most of us call as ‘turf mode’.
Transmission toggle switches are on the dash right in front of
you so you can’t get lost. The gear selector is a large vertical
lever to the left of the driver and operates in an H-L-N-R pattern.
We found the selector mechanism very smooth; a surprise
since some modern UTV selectors don’t know where the gears
went or how to find ‘em.
Part of our test course runs through water, quite a lot
of it actually, and this proved too much for the Landboss
transmission, which lost contact with reality half way across the
Brisbane River at Fernvale. Mind you, this is not unusual – we
often run the machines through water deeper than hub height.
Some get through and some don’t. The Landboss didn’t.
The Kubota diesel makes as much noise as any diesel engine in
a small vehicle, loudish, and there’s not much you can do about
it, while the coil-over shocks do a reasonable job of absorbing
trail shocks. The power steering is nicely calibrated too so the
overall driving experience is pleasant enough once you get used
to the diesel music.
What you’re getting here is a short haul tow-and-carry machine
the suppliers say is built for hard yakka, day in, day out.
So don’t look for fancy bits; there aren’t any.
1. Landboss says the no-frills machine
was built to tow and carry
2. The steel tray has detachable sides
3. Indicators, mirrors and a horn are
standard gear. So are front and rear
tow hitches
4. The Kubota engine develops 24.8hp
5. Transmission toggle switches are on
the dash right in front of you
Landboss 1100D Kubota
Engine
24.8hp (18.5kW), 3 cyl,
Kubota diesel
Cap
1123cc
Bore & stroke 78mm x 78.4mm
Compresion ratio 24:1
Max torque 72NM @ 3,000rpm
Trans
CVTech High / Low
/ Neutral / Reverse,
2WD/ 4WD, front & rear
differential locks
Front/rear brakes Hydraulic discs
Parking brake Handbrake
Steering
Electronic power
steering (EPS)
Front/rear susp Dual A-Arms, coil-over
shocks
Front/rear tyres 26x9x14 / 26x11x14
Wheels Front 14×9 Rear 14×11
Steel 5 stud
L/W/H 3,018mm / 1,520mm /
1,905mm
Wheelbase 1,930mm
Ground clearance 240mm
Dry weight 700kg
Fuel cap
35 litres
Cargo box cap 500kg
Cargo box dim 1,020mm / 1,470mm /
400mm
Towing cap 800kg
Warranty 2 years parts & labour
$11,000
TA1025552
$21,995
TA863648
$7,800
TA979336
$7,249
DIY793599
2014 JOHN DEERE GATOR XUV855D. Bullbar,
half doors, half windscreen. • TAS 03 6111 4725
KIOTI MECHRON 2230.3 seats, power steering,
500kg cargo capacity. • VIC 03 9998 4818
TORO WORKMAN TIPPER ELECTRIC UTE. 48
volt charger, 500kg payload. • WA 08 9343 1144
Crossfire 250GT. Winch, roof , windscreen
standard, 250cc. H/L range. • NSW 02 8783 8411
THE TRACTOR YOU WANT IS NOW EASIER TO FIND TradeFarmMachinery.com.au 57