Talk to me about quad bikes or similar please

myheartinahoofbeat

myheartinahoofbeat

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I have just moved to a house with 10 acres. I'm currently using my suburban ride on mower with a trailer to poo pick, move hay etc.( don't laugh) As well as it is doing, I don't think it's going to be man enough when we get deeper in to winter and deeper into mud, I'm also not sure I would be able to get a roller for it to pull. What do you all use instead? I'm thinking about having it customised to work as an ATV and getting the blades taken off,anyone done this?
 
myheartinahoofbeat said:
I have just moved to a house with 10 acres. I'm currently using my suburban ride on mower with a trailer to poo pick, move hay etc.( don't laugh) As well as it is doing, I don't think it's going to be man enough when we get deeper in to winter and deeper into mud, I'm also not sure I would be able to get a roller for it to pull. What do you all use instead? I'm thinking about having it customised to work as an ATV and getting the blades taken off,anyone done this?
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We took the mowing deck off. Worked very well and no problem doing this.
However these very small machines don't have 4WD, don't cope on mud very well and are not safe on slopes (if you have any slopes)
What you get depends on money!! :D
If you are able to put money to it then a compact tractor. That is what we got. It is 4wd, pulls a roller and harrows and has a tipping box on the back you can put dung in. We had the grass pattern tyres taken off and replaced with tractor pattern tyres. It copes with mud easily and, unlike our full size tractor, it leaves a very light footprint on the grass. For that reason we use it for just about everything we do on the fields.

Th advantage of a tractor is that is has PTO so you can run say a topper or similar.

Some others have chosen old tractors eg old fergies, david Browns etc

We still have our mower which has a box on the back and is the best motorised wheelbarrow ever.
I guess your ride on has hydrostatic drive. That is available on compact tractors, ours, a New Holland, is hydro drive., and that is it's best feature. It makes driving so easy.
 
What do you plan to use it for? I have 18 acres and mainly use my wheelbarrow and pull along cart. I just use my car (4x4) to harrow. I take a vehicle on the land as little as possible to avoid compaction. My horses live out. I have haylage delivered in summer and stacked in the field and then it's just a short trip with the pull along cart to put hay in the feeder. I use sheep hay racks on wheels.
 
paddy555 said:
We took the mowing deck off. Worked very well and no problem doing this.
However these very small machines don't have 4WD, don't cope on mud very well and are not safe on slopes (if you have any slopes)
What you get depends on money!! :D
If you are able to put money to it then a compact tractor. That is what we got. It is 4wd, pulls a roller and harrows and has a tipping box on the back you can put dung in. We had the grass pattern tyres taken off and replaced with tractor pattern tyres. It copes with mud easily and, unlike our full size tractor, it leaves a very light footprint on the grass. For that reason we use it for just about everything we do on the fields.

Th advantage of a tractor is that is has PTO so you can run say a topper or similar.

Some others have chosen old tractors eg old fergies, david Browns etc

We still have our mower which has a box on the back and is the best motorised wheelbarrow ever.
I guess your ride on has hydrostatic drive. That is available on compact tractors, ours, a New Holland, is hydro drive., and that is it's best feature. It makes driving so easy.
Click to expand...
Interesting. Luckily I don't have any slopes but I don't think it will cope with mud very well. Hadn't considered a tractor but I'm off to research it now.
 
Sprig said:
What do you plan to use it for? I have 18 acres and mainly use my wheelbarrow and pull along cart. I just use my car (4x4) to harrow. I take a vehicle on the land as little as possible to avoid compaction. My horses live out. I have haylage delivered in summer and stacked in the field and then it's just a short trip with the pull along cart to put hay in the feeder. I use sheep hay racks on wheels.
Click to expand...
I will use if for poo picking the biggest fields mainly and odd jobs like rolling gateways, harrowing etc.Never thought of using the Range Rover to pull a harrow or roller. What a good idea!
 
I have a Kawasaki mule. It’s great and I use it for poo picking as the back tips. I carry hay, logs, fencing equipment in it. It’s 4 wheel drive so can get up the muck heap and through muddy gate ways. It’s old so didn’t cost much but it makes life so much easier!
 
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I have a 2009 Kawasaki quad bike which I use every day. I have a hydraulic tipping trailer which I hitch up every day and go round the winter yards and pick up the droppings. In summer I have a poo Hoover which it pulls. I have a topper, and a draze that i use in summer/dry weather
I also have a trailer that I can pick up and move around a large round bale of haylage.
We do keep it in our integral garage , would not be happy with it in a barn
 
teddypops said:
I have a Kawasaki mule. It’s great and I use it for poo picking as the back tips. I carry hay, logs, fencing equipment in it. It’s 4 wheel drive so can get up the muck heap and through muddy gate ways. It’s old so didn’t cost much but it makes life so much easier!
Click to expand...
I'm hoping to upgrade to a mule next year ?
 
We have a Kawasaki mule and it's great as mentioned above. Can use it for everything and more practical than a quad. We got ours second hand about 3 years ago and don't know what we'd do without it. I use it for all the horsey stuff and my husband uses it around the place for gardening, building works etc etc. Not too expensive second hand.
 
I have a honda fourtrax 350 - a fab reliable 4x4 quad and have had it for over 10 yrs. The one thing I couldn't do without on the yard and use if for everything - over the years I have invested in a roller, harrow, trailer and topper attachments, so can maintain the fields without any help. It is also invaluable for lugging hay and water about, and marks the fields far less than a tractor or 4x4.

It coped well when I lived on a small hill farm (approx 20 acres), and now with only a couple of acres, has a slightly easier life!
 
I have a quad - can't even remember what make it is but it is so useful. Mainly used poo picking and levelling ménage but useful when clearing hedge cuttings etc. It is a magnet for thieves, we keep it bolted to a ground anchor in the garage. Hard to get serviced as people have stopped doing it as they get broken into if they have quads on site (doesn't need much servicing). I like the idea of a SORN 4x4 - but if it needs a garage to fix something how do you get it there? Quad can go in the horse box.
 
myheartinahoofbeat said:
I have just moved to a house with 10 acres. I'm currently using my suburban ride on mower with a trailer to poo pick, move hay etc.( don't laugh) As well as it is doing, I don't think it's going to be man enough when we get deeper in to winter and deeper into mud, I'm also not sure I would be able to get a roller for it to pull. What do you all use instead? I'm thinking about having it customised to work as an ATV and getting the blades taken off,anyone done this?
Click to expand...
I have a small Kubota 5110 which i use to poo pick, then again our fields are not as big as yours
 
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