Mini Implements For ATV's

Mini Implements For ATV's ATV'S ATV'S 34-3-42 Three things stand out with Clearbrook Implements for ATV's and lawn tractors - the capability to move implements up and down, heavy-duty quality, and a unique patent-pending Main Frame System, which makes it easy to mount different implements. "Our equipment is built to farm equipment standards," says Craig Van Kooten, who co-owns the Sumas, Wash., business with Brian Johnston. "I live on 5 acres and was sick and tired of buying lightweight box store implements every two years. I like to buy something once and that's it. We build our small implements like they were big equipment." The impetus for the business came four years ago, when a neighbor with 4 acres needed an aerator he could pull behind an ATV. He wanted to be able to lift it when he drove over his asphalt driveway and other hardscape areas. Van Kooten and Johnston used a winch and pulleys to make Johnston's aerator lift and lower. "Once we lifted it, we thought, æWhy can't we do that with other implements?'" Van Kooten says. After many prototypes they came up with the Main Frame, a 120-lb., schedule 40 tube steel frame that can be moved like a wheelbarrow and rolled over the top of implements. It attaches easily with four latch pins, and it locks with spring-loaded handles. An on-board gel battery powers a Warner Linear actuator to raise and lower the implement. The frame hitches to an ATV with a hitch pin. The partners expect to offer up to 20 implements, and so far have an aerator, roller, box blade, rubber blade, thatcher and harrow. Customers include hobby farmers; golf course, park and trail maintenance workers; landscapers and others who don't want to invest in a tractor. "Since we've been traveling we're learning all kinds of applications in wine country and orchards. Calf growers like the slurry (rubber) blade," Van Kooten says. "It appeals to anyone with small acreage." He notes that Clearbrook implements may help men sell their wives on the idea that a new ATV can be useful and not just a toy. The implements only require ATVs with a minimum of a 250 cc engine, except for the harrow, which requires about 500 cc. The implements are built to last and powder-coated. The main frame sells for $1,495 (MSRP) and implements range from $465 for the rubber blade to $795 for the harrow. Besides the 42-in. wide implements, Clearbrook offers a 5-ft. box blade and 6-ft. thatcher for UTV's. Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Clearbrook Implements, 9318 Swanson Rd., Sumas, Wash. 98295 (ph 360 988-5054; www.clearbrookimplement.com).

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