Multi-Purpose Basket, Winch Mounted On 4-Wheeler
Rick Plunkett, Albany, Ky., mounted a home-built, multi-purpose basket on front of his 1999 Honda 230 4-wheeler sports bike. The basket supports a 12-volt winch, gun rack, fog lights, and lexan windshield.
“I bought the 4-wheeler used without a hitch or basket, but I’m a farm boy and I wanted to do more jobs with it,” says Plunkett. “I grew up as a poor country boy, and my dad’s motto always was ‘We’ve done everything for so long for so little, that we can now do anything with nothing.’”
The basket frame is made from welded-together 1-in. box tubing and attaches with 4 bolts to the 4-wheeler’s original bumper. A plastic sheet serves as the floor.
To attach the basket to the 4-wheeler, Plunkett welded a metal plate to the bottom of the basket frame and drilled holes in it. He removed the 4-wheeler’s bumper and bolted the basket on in its place, then bolted the bumper back on.
A hand crank on the 12-volt winch can be used to loosen the clutch in order to tighten or loosen the cable. “I already had the winch, which came with a bracket designed to slip over a 2-in. ball hitch. Instead, I bolted the winch to homemade brackets that I bolted to the basket frame,” says Plunkett. “It works great. I’ve used the winch to lift a deer up high in a tree and to pull a deer out of the woods. It also came in handy when I accidentally got the 4-wheeler stuck in the woods and had to winch it sideways so I could spin it around and get out.”
Boat fishing pole holders were bolted on both sides of the basket to make the gun rack, and a rubber strap is used to hold the gun down.
He bought some aftermarket, yellow-tinted car fog lights to bolt on in front of the basket. “The fog lights aren’t bright enough to drive a car at night, but they’re bright enough for a 4-wheeler,” says Plunkett. “The lights mount inside light channel iron brackets.”
The windshield is made from clear lexan and sets inside a pair of 8-in. high, L-shaped lexan brackets placed back to back that bolt onto the basket. “The windshield can be quickly taken off by removing 4 bolts,” says Plunkett.
He used 2-in. wide, 3/8-in. thick flat iron to build a bi-level hitch on back of the 4-wheeler, installing a ball on top and a drawbar underneath. “I use the ball to pull a big trailer around my yard and the drawbar to pull a smaller trailer around my garden,” says Plunkett.
Multi-Purpose Basket Winch Mounted On 4-Wheeler Rick Plunkett Albany Ky mounted a home-built multi-purpose basket on front of his 1999 Honda 230 4-wheeler sports bike The basket supports a 12-volt winch gun rack fog lights and lexan windshield “I bought the 4-wheeler used without a hitch or basket but I’m a farm boy and I wanted to do more jobs with it ” says Plunkett “I grew up as a poor country boy and my dad’s motto always was ‘We’ve done everything for so long for so little that we can now do anything with nothing ’” The basket frame is made from welded-together 1-in box tubing and attaches with 4 bolts to the 4-wheeler’s original bumper A plastic sheet serves as the floor To attach the basket to the 4-wheeler Plunkett welded a metal plate to the bottom of the basket frame and drilled holes in it He removed the 4-wheeler’s bumper and bolted the basket on in its place then bolted the bumper back on A hand crank on the 12-volt winch can be used to loosen the clutch in order to tighten or loosen the cable “I already had the winch which came with a bracket designed to slip over a 2-in ball hitch Instead I bolted the winch to homemade brackets that I bolted to the basket frame ” says Plunkett “It works great I’ve used the winch to lift a deer up high in a tree and to pull a deer out of the woods It also came in handy when I accidentally got the 4-wheeler stuck in the woods and had to winch it sideways so I could spin it around and get out ” Boat fishing pole holders were bolted on both sides of the basket to make the gun rack and a rubber strap is used to hold the gun down He bought some aftermarket yellow-tinted car fog lights to bolt on in front of the basket “The fog lights aren’t bright enough to drive a car at night but they’re bright enough for a 4-wheeler ” says Plunkett “The lights mount inside light channel iron brackets ” The windshield is made from clear lexan and sets inside a pair of 8-in high L-shaped lexan brackets placed back to back that bolt onto the basket “The windshield can be quickly taken off by removing 4 bolts ” says Plunkett He used 2-in wide 3/8-in thick flat iron to build a bi-level hitch on back of the 4-wheeler installing a ball on top and a drawbar underneath “I use the ball to pull a big trailer around my yard and the drawbar to pull a smaller trailer around my garden ” says Plunkett
