ATV Implements

[Radar78]

I’m in the process of building a riding arena and I’m looking for an inexpensive and easy way to keep the ground worked. Does anyone have any experience with the small cultivators and discs that are made for ATV’s? I’m wondering if they would do a decent job and if my little 450 Kodiak would be able to handle one without tearing the dam thing in half.

 

[sirkdev]

My girls ride a lot, rodeo etc and I have never seen one of those setups. I know my 660 grizzly sometimes struggles pulling harrows depending on ground conditions. In my opinion for your circumstance I would be looking at a rototiller unless you could borrow your neighbours tractor of course...Still need harrows for daily cleanup.

 

[Radar78]

My girls ride a lot, rodeo etc and I have never seen one of those setups. I know my 660 grizzly sometimes struggles pulling harrows depending on ground conditions. In my opinion for your circumstance I would be looking at a rototiller unless you could borrow your neighbours tractor of course...Still need harrows for daily cleanup.

Thanks for the advice. I do have an old 4020 and a little 10 foot cultivator but I was just kinda hoping something like I mentioned above would work simply because it would be easier to just hook on and whip around with the quad. That and my oldest (who’s 10) could work it quick with the quad before she rides.

 

[sirkdev]

Sounds like your all set then. Going back to the rototiller idea I think it would work better than the groomer. The tow behinds for atv’s work pretty good I’ve heard.

 

[rgashkei]

I used to help out at a riding arena. I used to cultivate it about every 5-6 weeks, in between just used harrows from Peavey Mart behind quad every day. Since I left she got an arena drag, but they are not cheap and quad will not pull. I used a rototiller on the tractor once and didn't work at all. That second picture of the cultivator would probably work pretty good but would be a hard pull on sand. After cultivating the honda 500 4x4 would have a hard time even pulling the harrows, lose traction.

 

[sirkdev]

May I ask why the rototiller didn't work out for you? I was thinking like a 6" depth or so then harrow but have never tried it. I like the original posters idea for sure about downsizing equipment if it can be done.

 

[Cdnfireman]

I’d be really cautious trying to use a quad for this service, particularly one with a CVT. An older gear driven Yamaha or Honda would be better but either way it’s gonna be hard on the drivetrain.

 

[imdoo'n]

how long do you have to do this rototilling? how big is the arena? with the rototiller you are talking about it is 33 inches wide, you'll be a month. there is a reason you don't see them being used other in garden use and you will see very few at that. lol.

 

[rgashkei]

It was a 6' old Ford one on 3ph. Problem was the sand is so hard that it would not dig in at all. The levelers that are on the outside would just sit on top of the sand. I had borrowed it from my dad to do a big garden plot, worked fine ripping up the sod but would just bounce on the sand.
Tried many things over the years and Cultivator once a month and harrow in between worked the best. She now has an arena drag for the ATV but still needs to be cultivated a few times a year.
Keep in mind this is a commercial barn, probably 10-15 riders a day.
Also makes a difference on the sand you have, this stuff packed pretty easy for some reason. Have seen other barns that the sand stays loose all the time with no issues.