Pulling implements with an ATV

[HCJtractor]

I have a Polaris 550 4 wheeler. I see many people pulling light implements with similar ATVs. Specifically, I was thinking of pulling a drag harrow, say 6 or 7 feet wide and perhaps weighing 150 pounds. My question is does this harm or accelerate wear of the transmission? I also worry about the light tubular frame and potentially damaging it. Does anyone commonly do this and if so, does it break down the 4 wheeler. Any advice? What are your comfortable limits?

I’m not talking about the bigger side by sides you see now. They are bigger and more powerful.

 

[atsah]

I pulled a 48 inch motorized Bush hog with my grizzly 660 cutting three acres of fields for 5 years without any issues. ATVs are tough.. I also beat the tar out of it plowing snow with tire chains on all four tires.

 

[oosik]

I pull a homemade "drag" with my Polaris 500 ATP(all terrain pickup). Made of wood - roughly 4' x 6' - good for breaking clods, smoothing out shallow trenches, leveling out entire plowed area. Compared to several other things I do with my ATP - pulling this drag is easy stuff.Example - I pull my big 'ol farm wagon around the property(empty) and get it situated - lot easier and more maneuverable than with the tractor.View attachment 570802View attachment 570803


My Polaris ATP is 2002. So I've been doing this for 16 years now and have not had to replace even the drive belt. These units are a lot tougher than people give them credit for. By the time my drive belt wears out - I will need a new ATV.

 

[Gov23]

I have also pulled a 4 ft drag after seed was applied to food plots with my Honda Rancher 350. You can feel it back there but no problems. I have also pushed snow and used it hard since 2004 and never had to do any repairs. None. I may have just jinxed myself ��

 

[js5020]

I use my atv's for small tractors all the time, plowing snow, pulling trailers, pulling other stuff. My go to atv is an old Arctic Cat 300 4x4 5spd manual auto clutch, 15 forward speeds and 3 reverse. Currently one of the newer Cat 500xt eps is hooked to a 5x10 trailer and loaded full of wood from tearing out old raised garden beds,,, I needed another tractor and the real tractors were being used so its a job the atv can do. Use common sense, low gear and you'll be fine. Atv's are pretty tough we are avid trail riders if they can withstand the punishment of off roading using them as a garden tractor isn't going to hurt anything.

 

[oosik]

That's OK - Gov23. I just knocked on wood for the both of us. I got a really tough trail I ride at least four times a year. All the way around my property - checking fence line. There are two areas so steep, so deep - I can't even get to them riding the ATP. I walk over - say a little prayer - look down and hope that short section of fence needs no repair.

 

[tornadowatchranch]

Make sure you use low gear if you have it. I would also recommend to drive around for a bit to warm the belt and sheaves prior to dragging.

 

[ArlyA]

You folks don't really drag all that much......

 

[atsah]

Nice little groomer, our trails are 14ft wide so we use monster groomers..

 

[oosik]

We get enough snow here, usually, that my ATP is of little use other than on my driveway. Its just not heavy enough to break thru and get traction. That's OK - if for some very unusual reason I have to to out on the property - in the winter - I always have the tractor.

 

[ArlyA]

HCJtractor, Its likely your 550 will do fine. Whenever you pull something that demands more power, your transmission will wear faster. But hopefully it will not break or last significant less long for you. I posted that photo just to show that some folks do tow implements requiring a large percent of the engines total HP. Hope that helps.

I have a Polaris 550 4 wheeler. I see many people pulling light implements with similar ATVs. Specifically, I was thinking of pulling a drag harrow, say 6 or 7 feet wide and perhaps weighing 150 pounds. My question is does this harm or accelerate wear of the transmission? I also worry about the light tubular frame and potentially damaging it. Does anyone commonly do this and if so, does it break down the 4 wheeler. Any advice? What are your comfortable limits?

I’m not talking about the bigger side by sides you see now. They are bigger and more powerful.

 

[atsah]

We get enough snow here, usually, that my ATP is of little use other than on my driveway. Its just not heavy enough to break thru and get traction. That's OK - if for some very unusual reason I have to to out on the property - in the winter - I always have the tractor.

You must be in pretty deep, are you off grid?

 

[oosik]

Well - atsah - I DO have commercial power, but that's it. Telephone is via cell- when it works. And internet is via HughesNet - TV via Dish. I do not have access to any shape or form of land line service of any kind - other than electric. It takes about a foot and a half and my Polaris ATP sort of flounders. Does not have sufficient weight to push down - get traction - drive forward and break thru the snow. Even though it has 4WD it high centers on the depth of the snow.

HOWEVER - with the weird weather patterns we have been having here the last 8 to 10 years - you can never predict what might happen from year to year. Last year we had a max of 6" on the ground and for a while I thought Ea WA had slipped West of the Cascades. It rained and rained and we though it would never quit. Everywhere it was a soggy nightmare.

 

[HCJtractor]

HCJtractor, Its likely your 550 will do fine. Whenever you pull something that demands more power, your transmission will wear faster. But hopefully it will not break or last significant less long for you. I posted that photo just to show that some folks do tow implements requiring a large percent of the engines total HP. Hope that helps.

Thanks. I made a 6 foot wide drag harrow out of pipe and fencing and pulled it around today. Yes, if did great.

 

[Poopdeck Pappy]

Thanks. I made a 6 foot wide drag harrow out of pipe and fencing and pulled it around today. Yes, if did great.

Got any pics? I'd love to see that home made drag harrow. I've been using an 8 foot chain link fence gate. But I tore it up this past summer, so I'm gonna have to make something soon.

 

[HCJtractor]

Yes. Here are some pix. It did pretty well. The pipe and connecting chains are very strong. The fence is the weak point. But after dragging it a few miles, the fence tore a little, but it still works. I bought a roll of scrap chain link fence so as it deteriorates severely, I can quickly replace it. The pipe is not fence post pipe but much heavier. I bought it as a scrap yard. It is 6’ x 6’

 

[Poopdeck Pappy]

That looks good. When I was using my old chain link fence gate, it was so light that it would bounce around on rough ground. So I put some old scrap tires on top of it and wired them to the chain link with baling wire.

It worked really well then, but the weight of the tires put a lot of stress on the gate frame and it eventually tore completely apart.

 

[HCJtractor]

Yes, I’d rather buy a nice heavy chain harrow, but I’m too cheap.

 

[DrRod]

I tried repeatedly to use my ATV as a tractor and failed miserably every time. Most notable was my adventures with a flail mower. I bought a commercial grade Alamo flail mower complete with the Honda red engine and it was a solid machine. But no matter what I did to raise it, strengthen it etc. the front lip would catch on a tuff of grass and it would flip resulting in a gas spill, a small fire, and the need to approach the shut off while 80 chains and knives whirled wildly.

While we can say that this is a isolated problem specific to the flail mower, the real problem is that ATVs are not built for field work. With high gearing and low torque it is very hard to keep them at a steady speed. Every turn or slight up-grade meant bogging down or pushing on the throttle and getting a surge of speed. Plus it was not all that comfortable sitting astride an ATV as opposed to the seat of a tractor or riding mower. Not to mention that it was always in the wrong gear -- and long periods of time chugging along in 1st or even 2nd made the engine run hot and sometime even foul the plug [or something] so that it ran in a buking manner [and I have a fan cooled engine]. In short, to me it was obvious that this was not the right tool for the job. So I got a small tractor and have found it to be the right tool for the job.

 

[ArlyA]

DrRod, you answered your own problem when you state "used as a tractor". ATV's are not a tractor, weighting just 750lbs so they never will be a strong towing machine. Just the same when they come with a CVT transmission they work well at towing easier pulled items. We found they did very well for towing a mower which didn't take much power to tow, we needed to go very slow, very maneuverable with great operator visibility. But for towing brush or fell trees out, was nearly impossible for it to do.

I tried repeatedly to use my ATV as a tractor and failed miserably every time. Most notable was my adventures with a flail mower. I bought a commercial grade Alamo flail mower complete with the Honda red engine and it was a solid machine. But no matter what I did to raise it, strengthen it etc. the front lip would catch on a tuff of grass and it would flip resulting in a gas spill, a small fire, and the need to approach the shut off while 80 chains and knives whirled wildly.

While we can say that this is a isolated problem specific to the flail mower, the real problem is that ATVs are not built for field work. With high gearing and low torque it is very hard to keep them at a steady speed. Every turn or slight up-grade meant bogging down or pushing on the throttle and getting a surge of speed. Plus it was not all that comfortable sitting astride an ATV as opposed to the seat of a tractor or riding mower. Not to mention that it was always in the wrong gear -- and long periods of time chugging along in 1st or even 2nd made the engine run hot and sometime even foul the plug [or something] so that it ran in a buking manner [and I have a fan cooled engine]. In short, to me it was obvious that this was not the right tool for the job. So I got a small tractor and have found it to be the right tool for the job.