Does anybody use a 4-wheeler in beekeeping

[NorthALABeeKeep]

Does anyone use a 4 wheeler (ATV) in their beekeeping operations? I am thinking about getting one and am trying to convince the wife that I could also use it in my hobby beekeeping, I have 12 hives. Any ideas that might help would be welcomed

[LMN]

Sounds like plan to get a 4 wheeler anyway.

I use one for my 10 hives. I have a front Plastic Bulb basket I keep all my bee keeping tools in. They are very handy because they are stackable, they hold about 1 bushel of what ever you want to put in them. I have a small 2 wheel trailer for the hive bodys. With 130 acres it's the best way to travel around the property where there are no roads. I have had the HONDA ATV for 3 years now an it has over 3000 miles on it, an has never been off the farm. They are many useful chores that they are good for. Tell your wife she will get a lot of use out of it if she likes to work outside. I got mine for my wife for christmas, she uses it more than I do. Good look with her.

The only difference between men & boys is the price of their toys.

[magnet-man]

When I went to visit my sister in Connecticut a place was selling Kawasaki Mules with a snowplow attachment very similar to these. http://www.essexmfg.com/Kawasaki/index.stm

They also come with out the enclosure. http://www.kawasakimule.org/kawasaki-mule-3000.htm

[Ruben]

No but if Santa Claus is good to me this year he will bring me a John Deere Gator :D

[mwjohnson]

Wow.3000 miles,and I thought everybody unhooked their Odoes. smile.gif

I like to buzz up the hill around lunchtime,and after work during swarming time.

My grizzy has a 12v outlet,if you wanna vaporize some OA.

I use mine with my brothers little brush hog to trim the road,the general area around my yard and walking trails up on the hill.

I've always wanted to make a boom,to work with the winch for loading hives on a trailer,just in a small way....

But honest,I usually use my truck,that said,I'd still give it a try.

Mark

[power napper]

Love my honda rancher. Use it constantly and quite often. We built a trailer for hauling things and is nice to haul supers and hives.
Searhing for feral bees, pickin berries, finding new bee forage spots and just plain enjoying a slow ride through the timber roads and pipelines.

[clintonbemrose]

I have been using a John Deere Gator for 8 years. It is like a small pick up truck and I installed a trailer hitch and can cary just about anything I would need. This winter I plan to build a swiviling lift on the back to pick up and load heavy suppers/hivebodies.
Clint

[heartbeat]

check this out! it even has hydraulic attachments for the front(forks,bucket,blade,broom,mower,etc)
comes in street legal version, too

http://www.bobcat.com/bobcat4x4/features.html

[peggjam]

I use a mule, and it works great for moving hives into remote locations. I can set hives in areas that trucks, and therefore thieves, can't get to, and proably couldn't even find. It's great, I love it. I have the 3010 model.

[Sundance]

I have an late 80's vintage Suzuki 4WD
250cc that just won't stop. I keep eyeballing
the new stuff and always come back to the
ol' Suzuki that never let's me down. It is
used a lot. I spray, drag a harrow, haul wood,
tend bees, hunt, etc.

I have been investigating a new side by side
because they just look more sensible. The
Mule like Peggjam had get rave reviews and
has an industrial grade motor.

But the Polaris Ranger 6 X 6 tempts me the
most by far. If I could only afford one!

[buz]

heartbeat--Where's the manue spreader attachment for that cat? Do they make a seed spreader?
With only three acres and a bit of that boulders, well my wife would wantto know if it was bee powered.
Peace.

[BULLSEYE BILL]

I have a John Deere Gator HPX high performance. I love it! It's faster, has a higher clearance, and hauls more than the regular Gators, up to 1100 pounds. That's about four Kansas Whitetail deer. I traded one of my Harleys for it, not a bad trade for me or the JD dealership.

I also just finished making a syrup trailer to pull behind it. ;)

[heartbeat]

buzz, i know a guy that distills alcohol from honey to use as fuel(he claims!), but the 'cat i looked at had a diesel engine.

[Maine_Beekeeper]

I also have the John Deere Gator 4 wheel version HPX (higher clearance)with dump body and a winch.
I don't know what I'd do without it. Load it up full of equipment and go. Great for moving around hives! we use it all the time. Goes pretty much over or up anything in low gear.
Not for "four wheelin'", though- it isn't a go fast. Really it is for working around the yard - love that dump body!
Husband calls it my "big city fancy gasoline powered wheelbarrow."

[tracy]

I have a six wheeler called the MAX. I am in the process of making trailers out of 4x4 pallets. I will put hives on the little trailers and move them around with the MAX. If I get enough hives I will use my 16ft trailer to transport my mini trailers around.

[Patersmith]

Anybody able to list these on their taxes for farm/business? I'll be getting something this year and the thought just popped in my head.

[magnet-man]

The CPA in me says they are deductible if used for business purposes.

If these things could be made street legal, I would purchase a Mule to go to and from work in.

[ December 06, 2006, 06:38 AM: Message edited by: magnet-man ]

[jlyon]

I have never had a good excuse to buy one but tis the season for tax planning and with good ole section 179 hmmmmmmm.

[kensfarm]

I use my New Holland Boomer tractor.. the Front End Loader holds everything I need when going down to the hives. I also use it to feed the steers every morning.. this morning it was only 16 F.

[peggjam]

We farm exempted our mule. It is used for farm use, and hunting/trapping. Little else, as it is not as fast as the plain old fourwheelers.

[Ruben]

Does anyone have the Kubota version of the Gator? I saw one in the newspaper and it looked nice.

[Joel]

We use a timberwolf extensively (when I say we I mean my 16 yr old son with me running behind. We can get 6-8 singles on at a time depending on weight. We load hives and equipment onto the trailers, use it to access yards when we don't want to tear up someones wet ground but have bee work to do, access yards in snow, Haul full honey supers, plow paths into yards in winter and our almost verticle driveway as well as take long rides on summers eves to relieve the stress. It often goes south to unload hives although my son has often been seen headed for the swamps as soon as the work is done. We also haul firewood, mail, massive flagstone for my wife's many stone projects and once in a while it helps pull a truck or Jeep out of a bad situation.

Feel free to itemize these uses and embellish them any way you see fit to get yourself a new toy, um, I mean tool! ;)

[MadBowbee]

I've used a big packing house's 4-wheelers one year to get to my bees in the middle of their cherry orchards. It was to wet to get to them, so I'd bungy two nucs on back and go in, make divides and come back to the truck. I love my dirtbike better though, you can take it to the mountains and ride after checking bees. You can go so many more places with it.

[Ronnie Elliott]

In Texas the law said you can drive your 4-wheeler without license plates if you stay within 20-miles of your farm. All we need is a whip antenna with a flag, helmet, and I think turn signals. I don't have any of those things, but it would be a good idea. I do go over to my friends farm 4-miles away, and I'm only 6-miles from town.

[Troutsqueezer]

I use a Yamaha Kodiak ATV. The front and rear racks hold a variety of tool boxes, chests, etc. I have multiple trailers and sprayers for it.

While the Gators and similar small truck thingies work well, one thing they don't do as well is allow you to lean into a dirt road corner, hit the throttle, spin the rear wheels and kick up all sorts of dust and rocks behind you all the while accelerating down the road with the wind blowing your hair back as the adrenaline rushes.

Two different experiences. Both do well for bee hives. One can be more exciting than the other in my opinion. If you like slow and safe all the time, maybe not choose the 4 wheeler ATV then.

Upon second thought, maybe there are those of you who do squirrel around in those Gators...