Mini Ditcher For ATV's

Mini Ditcher For ATV's ATV'S ATV'S 17-6-6 'Works great for digging or cleaning out small furrow irrigation ditches and can also be used to drain small wet spots in fields," says Ron Heward, Shirley Basin, Wyo., who made a mini "ditcher" that he pulls behind his ATV. Heward used 2-in. dia. steel pipe and scrap iron to build the frame which mounts on a pair of 7.50 by 16 wheels off an old dump rake. A 2-in. dia. ball hitch mounts in front. He used pieces of 4 by 3-in. angle iron to make a V-shaped digger that's 10 in. wide and 8 in. high. It's welded to a shank that's raised and lowered by a hand-cranked threaded shaft. "I use it mostly to clean out lateral ditches in our hay meadows, but I can also use it to make new ditches," says Heward, who's used the ditcher for two years with no problems. "I had been cleaning out ditches with a shovel. However, I can clean more in 30 min. with my ATV ditcher than I could in two days with a shovel. Next time I would mount ATV tires on the ditcher to minimize wheel tracks. The size of the ditch it makes depends on ground conditions. In soft ground it'll make a ditch that's 10 in. wide and 8 in. deep. "I didn't want to use tractor-pulled ditchers because often our meadows are so wet and soft that a tractor would make deep wheel tracks. My only out-of-pocket expense was $9 for the ball hitch." Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Ron Heward, 7E Ranch, Shirley Basin, Wyoming 82615 (ph 307 356-4612).

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