My husband and I are trying to decide if an ATV with implements would suffice for us. We have about 7 acres of land, mostly wooded in the southeast. About one to one and half acres is cleared.

We will have a small garden that will need to be broken up, a long driveway to grade once or twice a year and will need to use something similar to a box blade to smooth out some areas. We realize that it takes longer to do this work with an ATV, but that's ok. We have read the topics here and feel much better about going this route. I would love to hear from anyone that uses only their ATV.

Thanks,
Cindy

 

I would say to go for the ATV because you can use it for work but you can also have some fun with it. Plus in the end you will be getting off cheaper than buying a tractor and implements.

 

An ATV makes a poor tractor. They have their place and can do some jobs marginally well in certain situations, but make no mistake they are not by any stretch of the imagination a tractor. They can be extremely useful for doing ground work in areas where you can't take a tractor or doing the very light types of chores one would do with a garden tractor but they can't replace a more conventional tractor.

Another thing to consider is that the attachments and implements for ATVs to do plowing, grading, discing, cultivating and all the other sorts of tractor type of work are extremely expensive. Many times they're more expensive than their full size counterparts. They are also many times of questionable utility and construction for their intended usage.

Look at it this way. For the price of an ATV, an implement system, implements and attachments you could buy a used tractor and attachments and do a much better job.

You should be able to find a small tractor fairly reasonable. The implements you can often find for next to nothing just in fence rows or at auctions especially the small implements which are just what you're looking for. I recently seen a disc and plow that would be perfect for garden work sell for a grand total of 50 dollars. All they needed was perhaps a little oil on the moving parts, some rust knocked off and a coat of fresh paint.

Can you do what you propose with an ATV? Absolutely you can. Not only that but it will be a heck of a lot of fun to do it. You also have the added bonus of being able to ride the ATV after the work is over. Plus ATVs are marvelously useful tools around the farm. Once you own one you'll wonder how in the world you ever got along without one. To me they're just indispensable. So, yes you'll get the job done. It will probably end up being more expensive, more frustrating and probably end up taking longer.

Bottom line:
If you get an ATV you're going to end up needing a tractor.

If you get a tractor you're going to end up needing an ATV.

Welcome to the joys of land ownership in the country Cindy. [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img]

 

Go with a tractor with a PTO for attachments. I am in a simular situation, but I end up using my neighbors tractor for a lot of the jobs in the yard. I mainly use the 4 wheeler for towing my trailer and plowing the driveway in the winter.

 

I use my atv for more than just riding, I purchased it for fun and then started using it for other tasks. I currently have a set of 4' wide two row discs for it, a front plow, a rear plow, a dump bucket, 2 trailers, seader, sprayer and a one row plow. I grew up on a farm and miss my tractors, but so far this thing has done the job well. I am currently building a barn and the location of it is on very swampy soil, I have had 8 tandem loads of dirt come in to build the area up, a tracter would have tore the area up too much and made twice as much work and I did have to rent a small excavator for the ditches and did not want to rent a high flotation skid steer loader, I stuck with the atv and to spread each tandem load of dirt level and smooth it took an average of four hours. Yes twice as long as a tractor, but it was fine with me. Dragging the driveway it is a lot more maneuverable, it also pulls the one row plow great, as the plow will go down to 18" after a few modifications and I use it for small electrical runs. The implements are not as tough though, be good to own a small welder.

 

If you are not using it for a comercial operation then I would just use an atv that will attach the implements to it. For a smaller operation a couple of acres, you could till and plow a small field(large garden) [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img] relativly easily.

I have used tractors on a large garden in the past(located on about seven acres, about 1/2 acre garden) and even with a small tractor it is almost too big. I use my old 250 atv to drag a smaller box blade around, have used it with a wagon to tow large piles of the state plant (rocks [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-wink.gif[/img] ). I know a log of people that plow in the winter with them and if I were to get more snow I would invest in one myself.

 

I just updated a few pictures on my page that shows me using a box blade and plow i made for my quad.
Deerkiller

 

<div class="FTQUOTE"><begin quote>Originally posted by: Deerkiller

I just updated a few pictures on my page that shows me using a box blade and plow i made for my quad.

Deerkiller</end quote></div>

Hey Deerkiller,

Those are great pics of your plows and disk. Did you make them from scratch or modified some existing impliments? I have a pull behind disk, but would like to do the same thing you are doing with yours. Anyway, great use of the polaris.

 

<div class="FTQUOTE"><begin quote>Originally posted by: Deerkiller

I just updated a few pictures on my page that shows me using a box blade and plow i made for my quad.

Deerkiller</end quote></div>

Hey Deerkiller,

Also, did you make a food plot for your deer hunting this last year and how did you do hunting?

 

around here little tractors are expensive used or new so i think the atv will be fine and more fun. but the implements can be expensive and youll need a decent sized atv that can pull hard a 4x4 would be the best,st have fun and good luck keep and eye on your bargan finders and local auctions.