Pruning Platform Mounts On UTV

Pruning Platform Mounts On UTV CROPS Miscellaneous One day last winter my dad said he was getting too old to prune the tops of apple trees in his orchard by standing on a ladder with a chainsaw and loppers So he got the idea of mounting a metal rack on top of one of my old pickups After some thought the idea was shelved because a full-size 2-WD pickup would be too awkward to move around in the orchard     Later that year I got a hand-me-down 1993 Kawasaki Mule 4-WD utility vehicle from my father-in-law and we decided to try building a rack on that     The Mule came equipped with a roll cage and tube bumper on front so we started there Dad made two T-shaped pieces out of pipe that slide over each side of the bumper and are used to attach the rack’s front support They allow the rack to hinge forward for removal     We used galvanized pipe to build the rack’s main frame The floor is made from 2 pieces of pallet rack screen that we bought new It’s made from heavy gauge wire and was inexpensive Twigs leaves and sawdust fall through the floor We reinforced the wire with some light-duty fence posts in order to make the floor more rigid     The top railing is made of 1-in square tubing I cut square holes in the pipes to slide the railings in then welded them in place Four U-bolt clamps attach the rack to the UTV’s roll cage Two pieces of pvc clamped onto the railing act as “holsters” to hold a chainsaw and loppers     The stairs on back of the rack were made out of metal grates that I bought at an auction The stair’s bottom two steps slide into the Mule’s receiver hitch Two old 100-lb cylinder heads placed on back of the bed help counterbalance the weight of the rack on front giving the rear wheels a little more traction     The rack’s platform is about 3 1/2 ft wide by 8 ft long and 6 ft off the ground It allows a 6-ft tall person to easily reach up to 15 ft high and have room to move around without worrying about balancing on a ladder The rack also comes in handy for cleaning gutters on our house and shed     Contact: FARM SHOW Followup John Kocur 4869 178th Ave Carlisle Iowa 50047 ph 515 229-7537; cf307aaa@gmail com

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