Liquid Manure Injector Leaves Residue On Top

Liquid Manure Injector Leaves Residue On Top MANURE HANDLING Equipment 23-5-10 "My son Dave and I had been looking for a way to inject liquid hog manure without disturbing the soil and residue. When Yetter Mfg. came out with their new no-till coulter injector, it got our attention," says Dale Kroft, Wabash, Ind. "After thinking about it, we decided it might not be a good idea to add almost 2,000 lbs. of weight to the back of our old honey wagon. We decided to make a pull-behind applicator. We had an old DMI pull-type chisel plow that wasn't being used anymore so we decided to use it as a carrier. "We bought six Yetter units, mounted them on a 7-in. square tube, and bolted the tube to the back of the chisel plow frame. We put on a distributor box, a 3-in. hose to each row unit, and a 6-in. flex hose from the honey wagon. We ran a heavy-duty hitch from the front of the honey wagon to the rear and added some hydraulic lines with quick couplers at the rear so we can unhook the applicator in less than 2 minutes. "The cost of the applicator, including the 6 units, the steel, the chisel plow, distributor box, hoses, hydraulics, and labor, was right at $8,500. "The way this applicator is built, it actually puts weight on the rear of the honey wagon when in transport position. The bar and units can be removed as there was very little welding done to the chisel frame. We could put a 3-pt. hitch on the bar and use it as a mounted unit for a dragline or use the wheeled frame as a chisel plow again. "We used the applicator last fall on about 100 acres and were very satisfied with the job it did. It buried most of the liquid. It also left most of the residue on top of the ground. It also pulls easy. We didn't have to work the ground in the spring to plant corn. "There are some things we don't particularly like. It is stretched out 15 ft. farther to the rear than a mounted unit and it puts a lot of weight on the chisel frame, wheels and bearings. Even though the bar and units weigh 2,000 lbs., we had to add front end weights to make the units penetrate the hard ground. "All in all, this applicator is doing what it should by not disturbing the soil and not polluting the water and air for our family and neighbors." Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Dave & Dale Kroft, Kroft Maple Leaf Farms, Inc., 3355 S. 200 E., Wabash, Ind. 46992 (ph 219 563-5553).

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