Why Gators Are a Year-Round Workhorse on Tennessee Horse Farms
9/23/2025
Have you ever seen a Gator on a horse farm? No, we’re not talking about the scaly, green, dinosaur-like creatures commonly found in Florida; we’re talking about John Deere Gator UTVs!
Gators are versatile machines that are useful on both a farm and a homestead, but they’re especially useful for horse farms in Tennessee.
Let’s take a closer look at why Gators are the ultimate workhorse for your Tennessee horse farm.
Spring is usually a busy season for horse farms, when you start the winter thaw and focus on maintenance tasks that were put off during the cold.
Spring is prime time for inspecting and repairing horse farm fencing, especially after a potentially damaging winter season. Depending on how many acres you own and how much fencing covers those acres, you’re going to be covering a lot of ground. That’s why a Gator UTV is so vital for fence repair. Gators can haul fence posts, wire, tools, posthole diggers, and other materials for you. You can cover larger distances in less time when you use a Gator. Plus, they’re great for inspecting your fence lines, allowing you to cover great distances faster than walking.
As horses transition to pasture from the long winter, it’s important that they have plenty of feed and hay available. Gators are great for transporting small square hay bales, grain, or supplement bags to various places in your field. If you have a hitch on your Gator, you can also pull a small trailer that allows you to carry even more bales, feed bags, and more.
When summer arrives, you want to be able to quickly and easily transport necessary supplies to your horse pastures.
Tennessee gets hot in the summer, so it’s important to always give your horses access to fresh, clean water. Sometimes, it’s not possible to fill troughs with water from a nearby water source, so water transportation becomes a necessity. With a Gator, you can transport water using a water tank that attaches to the back of your Gator for easy transportation. You can also transport watering supplies, such as hoses and pumps, with a Gator.
Noticing a lot of brush around your land this season? It may be time for a good mowing! Your compact tractor is going to be your main brush clearer with a rotary cutter attachment, but your Gator can be a nice sidekick when it comes to brush clearing. Gators can transport secondary mowing equipment – such as weed trimmers, leaf blowers, edgers, and even fuel cans – around your land, saving you time and energy.
Fall is when the temperature and the leaves begin to change, but it’s also a great time to change your routines with the help of a Gator!
Fall hay cutting requires moving heavy hay bales from fields to storage. Modern UTVs, like Gators, can handle heavy loads with impressive cargo capacities of 1,000+ pounds, making them perfect for transporting hay bales. Save your time (and your back!) with a tough Gator UTV.
Manure management is a dirty job, but someone has to do it. Fall manure cleanup of paddocks and stalls requires frequent trips, but you can save hours of time with a Gator. The power dump bed feature on many Gator models makes this task much easier for regular waste removal, transportation, and storage. You can also use the Gator’s hitch to haul a small manure trailer if you don’t want to get your Gator bed dirty.
Winter is when everything slows down and hibernates for the long, cold season, but that doesn’t mean the work is finished.
Snow and ice, although not common in all of Tennessee, can still occur and can really hinder your work around the horse farm. Gators can be equipped with snow blades and salt spreaders to keep essential farm roads and pathways clear for safety. Although Tennessee Tractor doesn’t carry snow blades or salt spreader attachments, we do offer plenty of Gator models that are compatible with many of these attachments. Just ask us which Gators would be best if you regularly handle snow and ice in the winter.
Just like humans, horses get cold in the winter and would love nothing more than to be wrapped up in a warm blanket or quilt! Winter horse care can require frequent trips to fields with blankets and additional bedding materials like hay. A Gator is a great way to transport these materials to your horse stalls and keep your four-legged friends warm during the bitter cold.
At Tennessee Tractor, we always keep a good stock of John Deere Gators because we know how important they are to our horse farm community. These UTVs are workhorses that work just as hard as you do, all year long.
If you’re ready for a new Gator, then stop by one of our many West Tennessee locations. Our team would be happy to educate you on all the things a Gator can do for you!