"I built a loader for my 4-WD ATV so I could use it to move dirt and snow. It can raise a 250-lb. load up to 4 ft. high. Really comes in handy," says Adam Roerick,Tolna, N. Dak.

The first-of-its-kind ATV loader is equipped with a 42-in. wide, 16-in. high bucket that's just wider than the wheels of Roerick'sYamaha 350 Terra Pro. The bucket is raised or lowered by a 2 1/2-in. dia., 3-ft. long hydraulic cylinder thats mounted on a bracket between the ATV's front wheels. The cylinder is powered by a pto-driven hydraulic pump (salvaged from an old swather) that's mounted on the pto in back. Roerick uses a control valve bolted onto the bottom of the ATV's foot peg to operate the cylinder. A rope trip is used to dump the bucket.

"It raises high enough to dump into a pickup bed," says Roerick. "I push down with my heel to raise the bucket and down with my toe to lower it. I can adjust pins on the loader arms to lock the bucket in three different positions-level with the ground, 1 in. above the ground, or with the bucket's cutting edge in a vertical position for scraper work. I can quickly replace the bucket with a 4-ft. wide blade by removing four pins from the loader arms.

"I also use the bucket for spraying by bolting a 10-ft. long boom on the front edge of the bucket. Putting the boom in front lets me spray weeds before the wheels run over them. I also use a 50-ft long hose hooked to a 30-gal. tank on back to spot spray."

Roerick made the bucket out of a steel 40-gal. water pressure tank, cutting it apart lengthwise and welding on added material to beef up the cutting edge.