After buying an ATV last spring, Minnesota farmer Dave Madden decided that one job he wanted to do with the 4-wheeler was to pick rocks. But neither he nor his neighbors were aware of any mini picker that could be handled by the small machine.

"I looked around and found an old loader bucket, wheeels and a bunch of angle iron. After gathering everything I would need, along with a couple new parts, I welded everything together," says Madden.

The loader bucket mounts on the axle between the wheels and faces the back. It can be dumped to the back by pulling a lever on the hitch and then driving ahead.

Once he had it in the field, Madden decided to modify it so it would fit different row widths. The wheels now move in or out as needed to fit row widths from 22 to 36 in.

"One person can pick rocks quicker with this setup than two or three people with a tractor and wagon. Once full,you just push the lever to dump the load. A heavy spring helps bring the bucket back up into position. What's great about it is that you don't have to lift rocks as high as when using a conventional wagon. You also save on fuel as compared to using a tractor," points out Madden.

He uses the dump box for other jobs around the farm, such as picking up debris, gardening, mending fence, etc.