Shop-Built 4-Wheeler Does The Work Of A Pickup

Shop-Built 4-Wheeler Does The Work Of A Pickup ATV'S ATV'S 26-2-28 Cross a 4-wheeler with a 4-wheel drive pickup, and you'd have something like Kent Hamiel's home-built ATV. "It works great in the hills for fencing and checking cattle," says Hamiel, a Reliance, South Dakota rancher. "We built it low to the ground, so it goes where the pickup can't. It really goes great in the mud." Hamiel and his son Bo built the 4-wheeler over the course of several years, after getting tired of constant repairs on their Kawasaki Mule. The project took time, parts from two cars, and a few new parts from town. "It was one of those things we just kept in back of the shop until we thought up what else to do with it," recalls Hamiel. The 5-ft. wide and 10-ft., 4-in. long 4-wheeler has a cab with a bench seat, power steering, heater, windshield wipers and loads of visibility. Halogen lights mount on top of the cab for checking cattle or fences at night. "Building the undercarriage was the toughest part of the job," he says. "Part of the frame came from a Chevy S-10, including the suspension for the front end. The rear end rides on leaf springs." The cab itself is made out of square tubing, sheet metal and deck plate, as is the 4 by 5-ft. box over the rear axle. The front and rear axles were also taken from the Chevy S-10, while the engine and transmission were pulled out of a Dodge Horizon. Hamiel rebuilt the transmission and turned the engine lengthwise before mounting it behind the cab. The hydrostatic steering came from a Case combine, but the windows and skid steer wheels and tires all were bought new. "I suppose we have about $5,000 in it with steel, cables, wheels, heater and all," says Hamiel. "It just kept adding up." Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Ken Hamiel, HC5 Box 1C, Reliance, S. Dak. 57569 (ph 605 473-5433).

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