"Lift And Throw" Pull-Type Ditcher

"Lift And Throw" Pull-Type Ditcher TILING MACHINES Tiling Machines 23-6-28 "It pulls easier than any other ditcher on the market without getting dirt on the tractor," says Edwin Erickson Sr. who developed the "Eagle Ditcher" with his son Edwin Jr. The Milnor, N. Dak. farmers showed the ditcher for the first time at the recent Big Iron farm show in Fargo, N. Dak. The two-wheeled machine isn't equipped with a big rotating cutting wheel. Instead, it uses a 4-ft. wide cutting blade that lifts dirt and drops it onto a pto-driven flywheel. Both the cutting blade and flywheel are mounted at an angle toward the front of the machine. A hydraulic-driven beater, mounted above the blade, feeds the dirt evenly onto the flywheel, which uses four steel poly-lined paddles to fling the dirt out. A 4-ft. wide rubber deflector on back helps direct the dirt. A pair of hydraulic cylinders are used to raise or lower the machine. "It does a nice, neat job and works great for cleaning existing ditches and for making terraces," says Edwin Sr. "It's designed to slice through the dirt instead of beating it up like ditchers equipped with rotating wheels, which greatly reduces horsepower requirements. It takes only a 100 hp tractor to pull it whereas comparable ditchers require a minimum of 140 hp. The blade can cut anywhere from 1 to 9 in. deep. You can cut 2 to 5 in. deep at speeds of 2 to 4 mph. By changing the position of a pair of steel pins on the hitch you can increase or decrease the cutting depth of the blade. "The flywheel spreads the dirt 50 to 75 ft. out. It throws the dirt out at an angle toward the back without going up in the air and ending up on the tractor. The flywheel can be driven by either a 540 or 1,000 pto gearbox." Sells for about $10,000. Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Erickson Mfg., 13946 86th St. S.E., Milnor, N. Dak. 58060 (ph 701 427-5843).

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