Modified Tillage Tools Leave More Surface Residue

Modified Tillage Tools Leave More Surface Residue TILLAGE EUIPMENT Tillage Equipment 22-2-28 An Ohio farmer modified three tillage tools to help him maintain 35 percent residue cover requirements on 230 acres of highly erodible land. "I first converted my Deere 1610 13-shank (15-in.) chisel plow to wider spacings for better trash clearance," says John L. Parker, McCutchenville, Ohio. "I removed six of the shanks and respaced the remaining seven on 22 in. spacings. I replaced the original 3 1/2 in. wide straight shovels on the shanks with 2 1/2-in. twisted shovels. Then I added seven Yetter high residue coulters on front of the toolbar. I use the chisel plow in the fall, which leaves a nice mulch over win-ter. In spring, I use my high-clearance Krause field cultivator or Krause disk on the ground. The combination of fall chiseling and spring cultivating or disking leaves me with 35 per-cent residue levels. I made the conversion for about $850 including the Yetter coulters. "I sidedress corn on 30-in. rows, injecting 15 to 20 gpa of 28 percent liquid nitrogen between the row. Rather than run the risk of having to wait for a rental unit from my fertilizer distributor, I built my own 5-row unit from a toolbar off an old anhydrous applicator. Now I know I can get into the field at the optimum time. "I mounted five shanks off the chisel plow (above) on the toolbar and fitted them with heavy-duty liquid fertilizer knives. I use an orifice in each line to regulate rate and centrifugal pto-driven pump to get the proper pressure. My Ford 5200 is equipped with a 110-gal. saddle tank on front for application. Cost of plumbing the unit was about $300. Cost to rent a sidedresser is $2.50 per acre, so I figure it took me only 120 acres to pay for the plumbing of the unit. "I also use a Lely bridge hitch with a Lely Roterra pulled behind my tractor to wipe out tracks, level fields and incorporate pre-plant herbicides in front of my 12 1/2-ft. (7-in.) IH 5100 drill. The rig saves me a trip because I no longer need to pull my 21-ft. Krause field cultivator between pre-plant herbicide application and planting. "First, I took the pto-driven gearbox and all working fingers off the Roterra and re-placed them with Danish tine shanks and spike shovels. Next, I adapted the drill to fit the hitch by removing the outside brackets from the tongue and bolting the hitch frame to the inside drill frame, then rebolting the outside brackets to the hitch frame. The Lely bracket seems made for my Ford 8600. The drill/Roterra combo turns just as short as a drill hooked to a tractor because the pivot point is still on top of the drawbar and axle. I can turn so short that the hitch will be at the side of the tractor, so turning is no problem. The rig does a good job incorporating herbicides for drilling beans. I paid only $200 for the Roterra and hitch which I use on 225 acres of soybeans and 100 acres of fall-sowed wheat every year. The hitch detaches easily, with four bolts in about 5 minutes, so you can still pull drill by itself with the tractor." Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, John L. Parker, 8868 Twp. Hwy. 18, McCutchenville, Ohio 44844-9718 (ph 419 396-3785).

To read the rest of this story, download this issue below or click here to register with your account number.