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Home-Built Roller Smoothes Fields
Washington handyman Alan “Hoss” Heilman used scrap metal from his junk pile, two asphalt roller drums, a couple of truck axles, and 6 months of spare time to build a dandy homemade field roller for his brother-in-law. Heilman says he looked at several manufactured rollers to see how they were made and figured he could
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Home-Built Roller Smoothes Fields TILLAGE EUIPMENT Miscellaneous Washington handyman Alan “Hoss” Heilman used scrap metal from his junk pile two asphalt roller drums a couple of truck axles and 6 months of spare time to build a dandy homemade field roller for his brother-in-law Heilman says he looked at several manufactured rollers to see how they were made and figured he could build one himself for a lot less than the cost of buying one “I started with two scrapped and gutted drums that came from a DD110 self-propelled asphalt roller ” Heilman says “The drums were 7 ft long and about 4 ft in diameter I cut one end out of each of the drums used a backhoe to stand one piece on end then set the other one on top and welded them together I knew the weight of the drum was probably enough to smooth most fields but to make sure I put in a 4-in cam lock coupler on one end of the drum so it can be filled with water ” To pull and transport the roller Heilman built a metal frame out of channel iron The frame is connected to each end of the drum on a center hub that Heilman made from parts of an old truck axle He extended the framework about 12 to 13 ft in front of the roller into a V for the hitch The frame also extends behind the roller where it mounts to a second old truck axle whose wheels carry the roller when it’s not on the ground Support beams go from the axle up and over the roller and connect to a hinged lift That device raises and lowers the roller with two 4-in hydraulic cylinders “The finished roller is about 15 ft wide and just over 20 ft long ” Heilman says “I made the straight part of the hitch long enough so the pulling tractor can turn without its rear wheels hitting the angled part of the hitch frame ” Heilman doesn’t know how much the roller weighs but he tested it on a field near his place and it easily pushed softball-sized rocks into the ground “I think it’ll work out real well to take care of dirt clods and small rocks ” Heilman says “If he needs more weight he can always add water to the drum ” Contact: FARM SHOW Followup Alan Heilman P O Box 446 Ephrata Wash
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