Amphibious ATV Converted Into Trail-Clearing Brush Cutter

2017 - Volume #41, Issue #3, Page #29

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“I use it to clear out overhanging trees along fence lines and small trees and brush alongside trails. People are amazed at how well it works,” says Harvey Nielsen, Melfort, Sask., who converted an amphibious tracked ATV into a one-of-a-kind brush cutter.
     He started with a hydrostatic drive 1975 Cushman Trackster equipped with a 2-ft. high steel brush guard on front, and a machine-length rollbar made from 2 1/2-in. dia. pipe that has a puckboard canopy on top. Nielsen mounted an old 32-in. dia. sawmill blade about 6 ft. off the ground on one side at the back of the rollbar. The blade clears the rollbar by about 2 in. An 8 hp. Kohler engine bolted to the floor belt-drives a horizontal shaft that rotates the blade.
    Nielsen reaches behind the driver’s seat and uses a lever that’s connected to a belt idler pulley to engage the blade. As he drives slowly along, the guard on front forces bent-over small trees and brush up and onto the rollbar until they get cut by the blade and fall behind the machine and onto the ground.
    “It does a good job and is easy to use. I built it because I’m 83 years old, and at my age I need to do everything the easy way,” says Nielsen. “The rollbar will catch any bent-over trees or branches as long as they’re at least 2 ft. off the ground. The big blade cuts through 6-in. dia. tree trunks like a hot knife going through butter.”
    He says the machine came in handy three years ago when an ice storm bent lots of trees down along a 6-mile long trail leading to his hunting cabin. “I drove along cutting everything off one side of the trail, and then turned around and did the other side,” says Nielsen.
    “When I first started using the blade, I thought I’d have to ease very slowly into big logs, but I found out that I have to go at least 2 mph in order to keep big logs from binding in the saw. I can use an engine stop button if the blade happens to jam up on a log.”
    The blade’s original mounting bracket is bolted to a steel frame that bolts onto the rollbar. “It takes only about 25 min. to remove the blade and shaft,” says Nielsen.
    He admits this can be a dangerous machine, with a big blade out in the open and chips and sawdust flying everywhere. “The ATV can seat 3 people side by side, but when I’m using the saw I don’t let anyone ride with me. I also don’t want anyone close by.”
    He bought the ATV used about 20 years ago. “It was originally powered by a 2-stroke engine that was hard on gas, so I replaced it with a 20 hp Honda engine,” says Nielsen.
    He says the ATV’s T-bar steering wheel makes the machine easy to handle. “Top speed is only about 10 mph but I wouldn’t want to go any faster than that, especially on rough ground or I might get bucked out of the seat,” notes Nielsen.
    Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Harvey Nielsen, P.O. Box 1032, Melfort, Sask., Canada S0E 1A0 (ph 306 752-9253).

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Amphibious ATV Converted Into Trail-Clearing Brush Cutter ATV S “I use it to clear out overhanging trees along fence lines and small trees and brush alongside trails People are amazed at how well it works ” says Harvey Nielsen Melfort Sask who converted an amphibious tracked ATV into a one-of-a-kind brush cutter He started with a hydrostatic drive 1975 Cushman Trackster equipped with a 2-ft high steel brush guard on front and a machine-length rollbar made from 2 1/2-in dia pipe that has a puckboard canopy on top Nielsen mounted an old 32-in dia sawmill blade about 6 ft off the ground on one side at the back of the rollbar The blade clears the rollbar by about 2 in An 8 hp Kohler engine bolted to the floor belt-drives a horizontal shaft that rotates the blade Nielsen reaches behind the driver’s seat and uses a lever that’s connected to a belt idler pulley to engage the blade As he drives slowly along the guard on front forces bent-over small trees and brush up and onto the rollbar until they get cut by the blade and fall behind the machine and onto the ground “It does a good job and is easy to use I built it because I’m 83 years old and at my age I need to do everything the easy way ” says Nielsen “The rollbar will catch any bent-over trees or branches as long as they’re at least 2 ft off the ground The big blade cuts through 6-in dia tree trunks like a hot knife going through butter ” He says the machine came in handy three years ago when an ice storm bent lots of trees down along a 6-mile long trail leading to his hunting cabin “I drove along cutting everything off one side of the trail and then turned around and did the other side ” says Nielsen “When I first started using the blade I thought I’d have to ease very slowly into big logs but I found out that I have to go at least 2 mph in order to keep big logs from binding in the saw I can use an engine stop button if the blade happens to jam up on a log ” The blade’s original mounting bracket is bolted to a steel frame that bolts onto the rollbar “It takes only about 25 min to remove the blade and shaft ” says Nielsen He admits this can be a dangerous machine with a big blade out in the open and chips and sawdust flying everywhere “The ATV can seat 3 people side by side but when I’m using the saw I don’t let anyone ride with me I also don’t want anyone close by ” He bought the ATV used about 20 years ago “It was originally powered by a 2-stroke engine that was hard on gas so I replaced it with a 20 hp Honda engine ” says Nielsen He says the ATV’s T-bar steering wheel makes the machine easy to handle “Top speed is only about 10 mph but I wouldn’t want to go any faster than that especially on rough ground or I might get bucked out of the seat ” notes Nielsen Contact: FARM SHOW Followup Harvey Nielsen P O Box 1032 Melfort Sask Canada S0E 1A0 ph 306 752-9253

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