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Tow-Behind Liquid Fertilizer Tank
"About 10 years ago I started trying to apply all my fertilizer at planting time, using liquid fertilizer at 50 to 60 gal. per acre. That meant mounting some big saddle tanks on the tractor," says Glen Ensz, Hillsboro, Kan.
"I didn't like having those tanks on the tractor because they tied up the tractor and
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Tow-Behind Liquid Fertilizer Tank FERTILIZER APPLICATION Fertilizer Application (58f) 25-2-33 "About 10 years ago I started trying to apply all my fertilizer at planting time, using liquid fertilizer at 50 to 60 gal. per acre. That meant mounting some big saddle tanks on the tractor," says Glen Ensz, Hillsboro, Kan.
"I didn't like having those tanks on the tractor because they tied up the tractor and were a pain to take off and put on. So I built brackets to mount the saddle tanks on my planter. That worked but made the planter too heavy so I started looking for a fertilizer cart that I could pull behind. But there was nothing on the market so I set out to build something myself. It worked so well it's now on the market," says Ensz.
He built the fertilizer cart totally from scratch. It's designed to hold a 1,400-gal. cone-bottom tank, which Ensz says has a low center of gravity and keeps sloshing to a minimum. He built a drop center axle fitted with 12,000-lb. hubs and spindles. He had custom rims made and fitted them with 38-in. tractor tires.
The planter is fitted with a gooseneck bridge hitch that hooks to a ball mounted on top of the planter toolbar. He sized the cart to fit his 8-row planter so the planter could turn under it. But he ended up using his first cart behind a Deere 12-row 7100 semi mount planter and says it worked fine. The bridge hitch could be made to any length, however.
One of his main goals was to keep it simple so Ensz equipped the pump with a ground drive diaphragm pump. A small wheel runs against the side of one of the big tires. The wheel is engaged by a small hydraulic cylinder. The cylinder is plumbed into the planter's hydraulics so that when the planter is raised, the pump automatically disengages.
"I've had a lot of interest from people who've seen it. We recently took it to a small show and got a number of inquiries," notes Ensz, who sells cart for $7,895.
Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Glen Ensz, 878 û 130th, Hillsboro, Kan. 67063 (ph 316 9475727).
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