Track Filler Smoothes Ruts Left By Center Pivots

Track Filler Smoothes Ruts Left By Center Pivots IRRIGATION Acessories 24-5-4 Jim Stevenson, Wheatland, Wyoming, says he and his five sons are all really ranchers at heart. But after coming up with a way to deal with ruts in pasture land left by center pivot irrigation systems, he and his son Otis have become manufacturers. "We put together a bottom unloading wagon with a screed (a smoothing blade) from scraps we had around here," Stevenson says. The wagon is pulled directly over the track to be filled. Fill material pours from the bottom-unloading wagon into the rut. The screed scrapes down the ridges on both sides of the rut and levels fill material as the wagon passes by. "It's an incredibly simple machine," Stevenson continues. "But we found that no one had ever made anything quite like it, so we have applied for a patent on it." The OTECO Track Filler will haul up to 10 cu. yards (about 14 tons) of fill. It requires a tractor with two remote hydraulic outlets. "It has two cylinders on it," Stevenson says. "One raises and lowers the screed and the other opens and closes the hopper." The Stevensons built the running gear and box in their shop, purchasing hubs, wheels, tires, and cylinders from outside suppliers. Since they began making the Track Filler last spring, they've turned out 21 of them. Twenty are already sold. "We have the process down now so we can do about two a week," he says. "We could probably do more if we had orders." Price is $6,200, FOB Wheatland. Stevenson says they have only one dealer, and he's in Wheatland. "We've sold most of them ourselves," he adds. Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Jim Stevenson, 330 Goodrich Road, Wheatland, Wyo. 82201 (ph 307 322-3373; fax 307 322-3374).

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