Late Season Bean Buggy Runs Between Rows

Late season bean buggy runs between rows MISCELLANEOUS EQUIPMENT Miscellaneous 15-1-3 Once a mature soybean crop's canopy starts spreading across rows it's hard to get into the field with most bean buggies. But Alvin Koller, LeSueur, Minn., built narrow 9-ft. long rig that'll slip between 30-in. rows even when beans are hip high, gently lifting and parting even the viniest crops as it goes. Koller says he's happy with his weed-control program, which includes pre-plant incorporated Treflan and post-emergent Basagran but he doesn't like to let even a handful of buttonweeds or cockleburs go to seed. He built the rig from scratch, using sheet metal for the rounding, sloped front snout. A single 8-in. dia. pneumatic tire mounts up under the front end. Two 24-in. dia. steel wheels with 2-in. wide flat rims, which he had custom-fabricated at a local shop, mount side-by-side at the rear underneath the drivers seat. A 5-hp. Briggs & Stratton engine also mounts under the seat. It chain-drives the rear wheels through a 120:1 gearbox connected to a worm gear drive. Top speed is 3 to 3 1/2 mph. A "lever clutch" located by the steering T-bar puts the engine in and out of gear by raising and lowering the engine on a locking cam. The floor of the bean rig is just 3 in. off the ground making it easy to hop on and off when Koller spots a patch of weeds that are out of reach. Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Alvin Koller, 229 Regency Rd., LeSueur, Minn. 56058 (ph 612 665-2468).

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