Giant 3-Pt. Ripper Brings Up Subsoil

Giant 3-Pt. Ripper Brings Up Subsoil SUBSOILERS Subsoilers (58n) 33-2-18 Brenden Janssen, Vega, Alberta, farms in an area where there are many big pockets of low-quality peat soil. To improve soil quality, he designed and built a 3-pt. ripper designed to bring ribbons of clay subsoil up to the soil surface. A disk or chisel plow is later used to work in the clay. The 3-pt. ripper is equipped with a slightly curved shank that measures 7 ft. long by 8 in. wide. The shank pivots at the top, and its angle can be adjusted on-the-go by extending or retracting a pair of 20-in. long, 4-in. dia. hydraulic cylinders. The shank's angle controls the amount of subsoil that's brought up. "It curls up the subsoil similar to the way a hand plane shaves wood," says Janssen. "A conventional 3-pt. ripper shatters the subsoil but doesn't bring it up. The shank can reach down to 4 ft. Once the subsoil reaches the top it falls off the shank to one side, spreading out over a 4-ft. wide area. By retracting the cylinders and moving the shank farther back, it can be used like a conventional ripper to break up hardpan. The shank can also be used to dig out large rocks. "I've been making different models since 1992, with from one to five shanks." The ripper's main frame is built from 7 by 7 by 1/2-in. wall tubing. The shank itself pivots on an 8-in. dia. pin made from 3/4-in. thick, heavy wall pipe. A 1-in. shear pin protects the shank. The machine sets on a pair of built-in, flip-up stands when not in use. By pulling two pins, the rear part of the stand can be swung up and over onto the front part of the machine. Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Brenden Janssen, P.O. Box 75, Vega, Alberta, Canada T0G 2H0 (ph 780 674-5920; tubalcaintechnologies.com).

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