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He Knifes In Liquid Fertilizer Behind ATV
Fred Moore grows only about 1/4 acre of sweet corn on his small acreage, yet he knifes in liquid fertilizer just like bigger farmers do. He uses a home-built, single knife applicator that he pulls behind his 4-WD Polaris Sportsman ATV.
"It lets me apply fertilizer exactly where it does the most good. I tried it
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He Knifes In Liquid Fertilizer Behind ATV ATV'S ATV'S 32-5-18 Fred Moore grows only about 1/4 acre of sweet corn on his small acreage, yet he knifes in liquid fertilizer just like bigger farmers do. He uses a home-built, single knife applicator that he pulls behind his 4-WD Polaris Sportsman ATV.
"It lets me apply fertilizer exactly where it does the most good. I tried it for the first time last spring, and my sweet corn has never looked better," says Moore.
He bought the applicator knife at Tractor Supply Co. and bolted it onto one side of a frame made from steel tubing. The frame bolts onto the ATV's hitch.
Fertilizer is stored in a 25-gal. tank mounted on back of the ATV. An electric pump feeds a plastic tube that runs down behind the knife. The fertilizer is injected about 17 in. from the row and directly behind the ATV's left rear wheel. A spring-release lever off an old drag section is used to raise and lower the knife.
"I was surprised at how well it works. The 4-wheeler really pulls it nice," says Moore. "Three days after I applied the fertilizer the corn really started growing, and when I harvested it, I think it actually tasted a little sweeter. I also used the knife on some pumpkins. The only limitation is that I can't use it when the corn is more than 8 in. tall or the ATV will knock the plants over."
Moore says he had been broadcasting dry fertilizer in the spring before he planted. However, he says liquid fertilizer is cheaper and he can apply it where it does the most good. "I run the knife about six inches deep and apply fertilizer at a rate of 55 gallons per acre. I already had the ATV-mounted tank and pump, which I had been using with a boom to spray herbicides. I can still put the boom back on to spray herbicides."
To get the knife to penetrate the ground, he has to set it down and then back up onto it, and then drive forward. "Even though there's no hydraulic downpressure it hasn't been a problem," says Moore.
As for the cost, "I paid $15 for the knife. I already had the tank and pump. My total cost was less than $100."
Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Fred Moore, 814 Cove Road, Wales, Michigan 48027 (ph 810 392-7207).
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