Ag Uses for Off-Road Vehicles

At a recent Polaris event in Greenbush, Minnesota, D.K. Farms highlighted the different ways they use ATVs and UTVs to complete farm work more quickly and efficiently. “In the late 1990s we began using ATVs for crop scouting,” says Brandon Kuznia, D.K. Farms. Now the farm is using ATVs, Rangers, and a RZR in some innovative ways.

Most farming operations choose hard-working UTVs over pure performance side-by-sides. While D.K. Farms has several Rangers and ATVs, they also have one RZR, but it’s not just for fun. The team has a GPS system attached to the top of the RZR and uses the machine to create field boundaries and mark A/B lines. By using the RZR instead of a tractor, they cut back on costs, reduce compaction, and save precious planting time by marking the guidance lines early.

It was a wet summer in northern Minnesota with flooding that threatened communities and damaged crops – making it clear why farmers in the area use the wheels found on this ATV. These narrow, trenching wheels are used to create trenches that lead water out of the field into ditches. The trenching wheels are an aftermarket product provided by the Minnesota retailer Trench Wheels.

D.K. Farms is a massive farming operation in northern Minnesota that grows sugar beets, wheat, soybeans, and corn. To save on costs, the farm installs all of their own tiling with the help of a Ranger crew cab. “We have a crew model so we can load up four or five guys, our equipment, and get to the field we need to tile,” says Kuznia.

At the Polaris event, the company demonstrated the capabilities of the Brutus HD PTO with a finishing mower, which features a wide side discharge deflector to safely and evenly disperse clippings, durable anti-scalp wheels, and blade rotation indicators. The Brutus HD PTO is compatible with PTO and hydraulically controlled front attachments.

With a sprayer in the back of your UTV, you can spray smaller, hard-to-reach areas and can better maneuver around corners. Polaris offers a 60-gallon boomless utility sprayer kit that easily mounts into the rear cargo box.

The Sportsman Ace was designed to be an entry-level, fun-to-drive ATV. While it certainly is a blast to drive around the farm, it is also a hard-working machine. The Ace can tow up to 1,500 pounds.