Air Seeder Built From Scratch

Air Seeder built from scratch HITCHES Hitches 13-6-8 George Yungwirth, Prince Albert, Sask., built his own field cultivator-mounted air seeder, saving the cost of a new commercial air seeder and incorporating features not offered on existing commercial models. Yungwirth built a 36-in. dia., 5-in. wide pto-operated fan and mounted it on the tongue of the cultivator, which was built heavy enough to handle the extra weight because it had been designed to carry anhydrous ammonia tanks. Then he in-stalled a three-compartment tank on top of the cultivator. One compartment holds 60 bu. of seed. Each of the other two compartments hold 75 bu. of seed, or a combined total of 5 tons of fertilizer. Yungwirth pulls the unit with a Steiger Cougar 225-hp 4-WD tractor. "I built my air seeder four years ago. Back then, commercial air seeders were equipped with only one compartment so you couldn't deep band pre-blended granular fertilizer and seed at the same time," says Yungwirth. "To apply two different types of fertilizer such as nitrogen and phosphorus, you had to make two passes. Then you had to make a third pass to seed the crop. I can fill each of the two larger compartments with a different type of fertilizer and blend it on-the-go, or I can fill both compartments with pre-blended fertilizer. The result is that I can seed out of the smaller 60-bu. compartment and deep-band pre-blended fertilizer in one trip. "Another problem with commercial air seeders was that the blower fans were powered either by separate gas or diesel engines, or by orbit motors driven by the tractor's hydraulic system. The engines would develop dust and dirt problems, and many tractors suffered hydraulic pump failures. My pto-operated blower fan is far more trouble-free. Also, the hopper on commercial air seeders is mounted between the tractor and cultivator so you can't see the cultivator, or it's towed behind the cultivator where it can cause compaction. My hopper mounts right on top of the field cultivator where it doesn't cause any visibility or soil compaction problems." Yungwirth used 4 by 8-ft. sheets of 1/8-in. thick metal to build the hopper. He used the same material to build a smaller 15-bu. capacity hopper that he mounted on the tongue of the cultivator between the fan and the hopper. The small hopper is used to carry granular herbicides or fine seeds such as rape or grass. The air seeder, which rides on eight sets of dual flotation tires, is equipped with seven hydraulic cylinders. Four cylinders raise and lower the frame, two cylinders raise and fold the wings, and one cylinder raises and lowers the metering wheel. The cultivator is equipped with thirty 16-in. sweep shovels spaced 1 ft. apart. Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, George Yungwirth, RR 5, Prince Albert, Sask. Canada S6V 5R3 (ph 306 922-8353).

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