IT WAS their value as lightweight runabout vehicles that first attracted farmers to the idea of buying an ATV, but since then the list of jobs they are used for has expanded.

ATVs or quad bikes have become a familiar sight on many farms during the past 30 years or so, and their big attraction is still their ability to go almost anywhere on the farm with less soil damage than a tractor or a 4x4, not to mention relatively low running costs. This makes them ideal as personal transport and for jobs such as crop inspection and checking stock, but there is also a long list of equipment designed specifically to match the low power and small size of ATVs, allowing them to deal with a wide range of tasks.

Because of its small size, equipment that is designed for use with ATVs is relatively low priced, and this certainly applies to the safety helmet, an item that should be a priority for everybody that uses an ATV.

Typical ATV safety helmets are less sophisticated and less expensive than those used by motorcyclists. They also weigh less, but they offer protection from what could be a serious or even a fatal injury in an accident. With prices typically about £40-50, a safety helmet could be the best investment you ever make.

Apart from a safety helmet, the most popular item of equipment on farms with an ATV is a trailer. In grassland areas it is often a livestock trailer that can carry a small number of lambs or calves as well as doing general transport work such as carrying some bags of feed or equipment for repairing a fence. Elsewhere it is more likely to be a general-purpose trailer. Trailers that are specially designed for ATV work are carried on two or four fat, low-ground-pressure tyres that allow them to work in virtually any ground conditions without damaging the soil.

Trailers available from specialist companies such as Logic usually have bed lengths of about 140-180cm and an options list that includes loading ramps for livestock and road legal kits.

A priority for many arable farmers is a distributor for spreading slug pellets. Slug control is one of the jobs that ATVs can handle with unbeatable efficiency, often in ground conditions where a tractor would leave ruts and compaction. Pellet broadcasters suitable for mounting on the rear load rack of an ATV, and usually equipped with a small electric motor powered by the ATV’s battery, are available from several manufacturers including Martin Lishman, Stocks Ag and Quad-X. As well as slug pellets, this type of broadcaster can also be used for spreading other granular materials, and for grass seeds.

While slug pellet broadcasters can be operated by electric motors small enough to be powered by the ATV battery, most of the powered equipment available is driven by small, dedicated petrol engines. This category includes various type of mowing equipment including flail- and rotary-type grass and light scrub cutters. Examples include the 1.2m wide rotary cutter from Quad-X which is available with the choice of 11.5 or 18.0hp Briggs and Stratton engines, while Wessex Machinery Sales offers a triple rotor mower with a deck made of 5mm steel sheet and a flail mower.

The mowers are used for cutting small areas and they are part of a comprehensive range of grass maintenance machinery that is popular for equestrian establishments. The range also includes chain harrows and rollers, and there are also small-capacity trailed fertiliser spreaders that are usually ground-wheel driven, but the System 40 model from Logic is mounted on a chassis with an auxiliary petrol engine to drive the spreading mechanism. Equipment designed particularly for equestrian establishments also includes ménage graders plus droppings collectors for use in paddocks.

Sprayers are another of the popular equipment choices for ATV owners. Typically the tank is mounted on the rear load rack and supplies a boom attached to the rear of the ATV and covering a width ranging from about 2.5-3.5m. They are useful for weed control in areas such as small paddocks and around field headlands, but this type of sprayer is often used with a hand-operated lance for patch spraying, for weed control under fence lines and for tidying up weeds around yards and buildings.

The WS range of sprayers from Wessex Machinery Sales is based on a 55-litre tank with four boom width options and a three-way choice of pump capacities from 3.8-18.0 lit/min. The hand operated spraying lance is attached to 5.0m of flexible hose allowing the operator to dismount and spray weed patches further from the ATV. Logic offers a choice of spray tanks up to 270 litres and boom widths up to 3.5m.

A different approach to ATV powered weed control is to use a weed wiper. Several makes and models are available including the Rollaweed from Port Agric, which has a 2.4m wide roller covered on the outer surface with carpet. The carpet is impregnated with herbicide from a spray boom with 10 non-drip nozzles, and the chemical is transferred to the leaves of tall plants as the Rollaweed moves across the field. When the roller is removed, the boom can be used as an ordinary sprayer.

Another way to provide more work for ATVs is using the Logic System 20 attachment frame on the front of the ATV with a manually operated lift and lower system. Equipment available in the System 20 series includes a scraper blade suitable for clearing muck and slurry from small yard areas and passages, and there is also a rotary sweeper for general tidying-up duties.

More specialised equipment includes the Solway Feeders range of distributors that can be mounted on the rear load rack and are used for spreading food for game birds. Trailed feeders for delivering concentrate feed are popular for supplying pellets to out-wintered ewes. The Snacka version from Port Agric is land-wheel powered and is designed to drop small individual heaps of concentrate at about 1.8m intervals. It also includes a special cutting unit for slicing swedes and other root crops.