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ATV-Mounted "Feeder" Stops Prairie Dogs
Anyone who's had problems with prairie dogs will be interested in this new ATV-mounted prairie dog "feeder". It's designed to kill prairie dogs by dropping a precisely measured portion of poisoned grain into their burrows.    "It's easy to use. All you have to do is push a button," says inventor Harold Yutzy, Arvada, Colorado.
    The unit bolts onto the ATV's carrying rack and operates off the ATV battery. It consists of a 5-gal. poly hopper with an 8-in. dia. fill lid on top and a slide at the bottom that's operated by a small electric motor (Yutzy uses rear windshield wiper motors off old Dodge and Ford vans). The motor opens and closes a metal slide, which dispenses 1/4 cup of poisoned grain into a 2-in. dia. poly tube that sticks out to the side. An ABS adapter screws onto a metal pipe nipple that's welded to the bottom of the feeder, and a length of 2-in. plastic pipe fits onto the nipple.
    The unit weighs just 29 lbs. when empty.
    "It takes all the work out of putting poison into the burrows and is easy to operate and also quiet. There's very little waste," says Yutzy.""It works well with either Rozol or Zinc phosphide, or with any kind of treated grain. It doesn't work well with any powder or ground-up material.
    "Included with the feeder are one adapter, two 45 degree elbows, and about 20 in. of ABS pipe. An old radiator hose or bicycle tube could also be used to extend the tube. We recommend not extending the outlet too close to the ground because rough terrain might damage it."
    Prairie dogs are a real problem in some areas, says Yutzy.""In some cases they'll eat the grass so short that there isn't enough left to hold the soil in place, leading to severe wind erosion. One custom applicator used 800 hoppers full of poisoned grain, with about 250 servings per hopper.
    "My son and I mounted the first ones we built on our pickup's bumper, and in two days, with two pickups, we covered 7,000 prairie dog holes. However, most people prefer the ATV-mounted models because ATV's are more maneuverable. Some of my customers have even mounted two hoppers on front of their ATV. That way they can deliver poison to either side of the machine without having to do as much driving."
       Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Austin Zink, PD Feeders, LLC, Iliff, Colorado 80736 (cell ph 303 621-5967).


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2006 - Volume #30, Issue #6