Home > Attachments > Ditch Diggers > ATV Trench Wheels

Standing water produced by heavy rains will destroy a good crop if not drained quickly. However, using heavy equipment to form runoff trenches creates huge ruts that can cause damage to spraying and harvest equipment.

Save your crop and convert your ATV into a ditch digging machine.

Just bolt the wheels to your ATV and drive through wet areas, making V-shaped trench tracks to drain surface water and save your crop. Track depth is partially dependent upon the weight of the vehicle and operator. "Deeper trenches can be achieved by simply retracing your tracks," advises Steve Raguse, owner of Raguse Manufacturing and designer of the Trench Wheel. Retrace tracks by driving forward or driving through wet areas then shifting into reverse and backing out. Deeper ditch tracks can also be made by driving to the right or left of original tracks, retracing with wheels on one side of the ATV.

In addition to removing excess water from fields, Trench Wheels can also contain water by storing it in the wheel tracks, allowing it to later soak outward and nourish nearby plants. Trench Wheels work great for containment of irrigation water, and enhance erosion control in hilly terrain with side-hill terracing.

Trench Wheels are ideal for dry-condition field activities such as crop inspection, pesticide application, fertilization, and rock picking. The narrow-faced wheels produce minimal crop or terrain disturbance. Whether used in wet or dry fields, the trench tracks can be easily removed with conventional tillage if desired.

Produced by Raguse Manufacturing of Wheaton, Minn., Trench Wheels are durable solid rubber wheels with zinc-plated steel hubs bolted on all-terrain vehicles in place of standard wheels and tires. The ATV is driven in fields to form narrow trench tracks, which then channel and/or drain excess water. The resulting V-shaped trenches produce little if any crop damage. The patent-pending Trench Wheels are available for all ATV models. New "Convert-a-Hub" bolt pattern plates adapt Trench Wheels to various ATV lug bolt patterns. Aggressive solid rubber lugs on the outer bead face provide traction and are self-cleaning in muddy and/or high residue conditions. The trench wheel tracks are handy markers to map out Fall ditching after harvest.

"Farmers aren't the only ones who are benefiting from the use of Trench Wheels," Raguse adds. "Recreational drivers and hunters find them well-suited for traveling in terrain where they do not want to risk a flat tire."

"Trench Wheels are equally valuable in dry crop conditions where heavy rainfall on hard, compacted soil causes standing water that must be drained or contained quickly to prevent crop loss," Raguse emphasizes. "The low cost of Trench Wheels is cheap insurance to save your crop from damage due to standing water." Buy a set of wheels; be ready when it rains.