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He Made A "Sun Roof" For His ATV
"It provides great protection from the hot mid day sun and cost only about $20 to build," says T.C. Mallett, Austin, Texas, about the sun roof that he built for his Honda 4-wheeler ATV.
The sun roof is as wide as the ATV and provides 12 to 14 in. of head room above the operator when he's seated. Mallett use
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He Made A "Sun Roof" For His ATV ATV'S ATV'S 24-4-9 "It provides great protection from the hot mid day sun and cost only about $20 to build," says T.C. Mallett, Austin, Texas, about the sun roof that he built for his Honda 4-wheeler ATV.
The sun roof is as wide as the ATV and provides 12 to 14 in. of head room above the operator when he's seated. Mallett used schedule 40 PVC to make an upright frame that bolts onto the front and rear racks on the ATV The frame is covered with a close-weave fiberglass shade cloth. The upright pieces have thin metal tubing inside them to add rigidity. Cross braces about 14 in. down from the top give the frame added strength.
To attach the front uprights, he made a U-shaped groove in the bottom of the uprights so they slip over the ATV rack. A small pin keeps each upright in place. On back he attached a pair of PVC "tees" to the ATV rack and greased them inside, then dropped the uprights into them. He also bolted a U-clamp onto each side to make the rear part of the frame more stable.
"It works great and was quick and simple to build," says Mallett. "I got the idea from looking at golf carts. I got the cloth from a friend for free, but almost any cloth or even an inexpensive tarp would work. It takes only three to five minutes to remove the entire rack."
Mallett often uses his ATV as a sprayer and mounts a 25-gal. spray tank behind the seat. The problem is that while he's bouncing around on the ATV in the field, his back gets sore from resting it against the hard plastic tank and from having no support .
To solve the problem he bought a 12-in. high lumbar support cushion from Sam's Club for $15 and attached it to the tank. The lumbar support cushion is attached to the tank with two snaps that fit into small receptacles that were already molded into the tank. He used four snaps to attach a strip of aluminum to the back of the cushion. As a result, when the cushion is attached to the tank there are just two snaps to attach.
"It has proven to be a lifesaver for my back," says Mallett. " I unsnap the cushion from the tank whenever I want to clean it or to avoid getting chemicals or water on it."
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