Add-On School Bus Seat For ATV's
With about 8,500 acres, Howell Farms of Diamondale, Mich., uses a lot of big equipment. Every year they attend the Farm Progress Show to check out new equipment and watch it working in the field. To help them see how the machines perform, they haul four Yamaha ATV's to the show - each one equipped with a school bus seat on back that faces backward. The add-on seat has room for two people, allowing the ATV to haul three people at a time. The seat mounts on top of the ATV's rear rack.
Several of the farm's employees attend the show, hauling the ATV's in an enclosed snowmobile trailer.
"The add-on seats make it easy for us to get around the various demonstration fields surrounding the show," says inventor Larry Seifert. "A big advantage is that the driver can run right beside the combine as it goes down the field and watch how well the header cuts, how the chopper is performing, etc. Today's big equipment goes so fast that you can't keep up with it if you walk.
"The two extra riders have foot rests and hold onto a handle at each side of the seat. It's a lot softer ride than if they sat on the ATV's front or rear racks. With the bus seat on, the driver is somewhat cramped. However, the seat is back far enough that he doesn't bang his head or shoulders on it. The only improvement would be to cut the seat down so that it wasn't so high. The bus seat can be quickly removed by taking out four bolts."
To make the conversion, Seifert cut off a vertical rack designed to keep cargo from falling off the back side of the horizontal rack. He used existing holes under the rack to bolt the seat on. He used 2-in. wide, 1/4-in. thick flat stock to make a frame for each side of the seat. The footrest is removeable from the frame and consists of a length of 1-in. dia. conduit, which in turn supports a section of stair tread material. A bar behind the stair tread material keeps the rider from getting his foot caught in the ATV's tires. To remove the seat the operator simply flips the seat up and removes four bolts.
To counter balance the weight of the two add-on riders, they mount 80 lbs. of weights on front of the ATV. The weights are held on by hose clamps.
Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Larry Seifert, Howell Farms, Box 387, 9200 Bridge Hwy., Diamondale, Mich. 48821 (ph 517 646-6491).
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Add-On School Bus Seat For ATV's AG WORLD 25-6-22 With about 8,500 acres, Howell Farms of Diamondale, Mich., uses a lot of big equipment. Every year they attend the Farm Progress Show to check out new equipment and watch it working in the field. To help them see how the machines perform, they haul four Yamaha ATV's to the show - each one equipped with a school bus seat on back that faces backward. The add-on seat has room for two people, allowing the ATV to haul three people at a time. The seat mounts on top of the ATV's rear rack.
Several of the farm's employees attend the show, hauling the ATV's in an enclosed snowmobile trailer.
"The add-on seats make it easy for us to get around the various demonstration fields surrounding the show," says inventor Larry Seifert. "A big advantage is that the driver can run right beside the combine as it goes down the field and watch how well the header cuts, how the chopper is performing, etc. Today's big equipment goes so fast that you can't keep up with it if you walk.
"The two extra riders have foot rests and hold onto a handle at each side of the seat. It's a lot softer ride than if they sat on the ATV's front or rear racks. With the bus seat on, the driver is somewhat cramped. However, the seat is back far enough that he doesn't bang his head or shoulders on it. The only improvement would be to cut the seat down so that it wasn't so high. The bus seat can be quickly removed by taking out four bolts."
To make the conversion, Seifert cut off a vertical rack designed to keep cargo from falling off the back side of the horizontal rack. He used existing holes under the rack to bolt the seat on. He used 2-in. wide, 1/4-in. thick flat stock to make a frame for each side of the seat. The footrest is removeable from the frame and consists of a length of 1-in. dia. conduit, which in turn supports a section of stair tread material. A bar behind the stair tread material keeps the rider from getting his foot caught in the ATV's tires. To remove the seat the operator simply flips the seat up and removes four bolts.
To counter balance the weight of the two add-on riders, they mount 80 lbs. of weights on front of the ATV. The weights are held on by hose clamps.
Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Larry Seifert, Howell Farms, Box 387, 9200 Bridge Hwy., Diamondale, Mich. 48821 (ph 517 646-6491).
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