Giant Roller Presses Rocks Underground

Giant roller presses rocks underground MISCELLANEOUS EQUIPMENT Miscellaneous 12-3-16 Twenty farmers near Ste. Rose, Man., Canada are using a giant "drum roller," partially filled with water, to push rocks beneath the soil surface and to seed grasses and forages into land recently cleared of brush. The neighboring farmers, who had previously formed a buying co-op, paid $18,000 for the drum roller, which was made by Ralph Dodge, a Lundar, Man., farmer. Made of 3/4 in. high grade steel, the roller stands 7 ft. high and 12 ft. wide. It weighs 15,000lbs. without water, 30,000lbs. when filled 2/3 full of water. The unit is surrounded by a rectangular frame made of 4 x 8 in. plated steel tubing. In field position, the tractor drawbar is connected directly to this frame. Mounted on the frame, in front of the drum, are boxes for grain seed, forage seed, and fertilizer. Behind the boxes is a tine harrow for mixing seed into the soil. The farmers pull the drum roller with a 80 - 120 hp tractor at 4 to 5 mph. The rig pushes rocks into the soil, out of sight, and covers them with a little soil at the same time. The drum roller works great for establishing pasture and forage crops, says one of the co-op members, Alfred Bretecher, Toutes-Aides, Man. "This is cow country, with stony land recently cleared of trees and brush. With all the rocks, a rock picker is too slow. The drum roller lets us `clear' rocks fast, and seed crops at the same time." According to Bretecher, farmers are using the roller to seed crops such as alfalfa, pasture grasses, and coarse grains such as rape seed and flax which are used as cattle feed. Seed and fertilizer rates are controlled by a drive wheel running off the roller. To effectively press rocks into the soil, we must use the roller on fields that are well tilled and a little moist, says Bretecher. "If the ground is too wet, we can't use the roller because mud builds up on the drum. If the soil is too dry and hard, we'll have trouble pressing the rocks in. "When soil conditions are right, how-ever, the drum roller can push down rocks the size of a basketball," says 'Bretecher. "When stones are out of sight and a little dirt covers the top of them, it's doing a good job. The difference before and after is amazing. After you've finished, you can't believe it's the same field." Once an alfalfa crop is established, the pressed-down land is workable for quite a few years before it needs to be packed again, says Bretecher. Dodge has made several similar rollers, in sizes ranging from 4 to 7 ft. in dia. and 8 to 15 ft. in length. He hires a Winnipeg manufacturer to roll the drums. For reinforcement inside the dunes, he welds in several sets of 8 x 3/8 in. steel spokes, criss crossing them vertically and horizontally. "The reinforcing rods ensure that the roller won't cave in when it hits large rocks," Dodge points out. A 4 in. shaft runs lengthwise through the roller to prevent it from "wobbling" while rolling. Inside both ends of this shaft is a 2 ft. long, 3 in. dia. stub axle, equipped with large bearings which allow the roller to turn. A 1 1/2 hp pump is used to fill the roller through a 2 in. plug. There's one plug on each end of the roller. "One plug is up, the other down so, if you ever get stuck, you can let the water out no matter what position the roller is in," notes Dodge. For transport, the unit is supported by 2 single tires in front and by 2 sets of dual tires in back, all of them 20 x 8 in. truck tires. A 10 ft. hitch connects the roller frame to the tractor drawbar. "By driving the roller over a log, you can raise the drum high enough to drop the wheels, and then lock the tires in place by inserting a 1 1/2 in. pin into the main frame," explains Dodge. Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Alfred Bretecher, Toutes-Aides, Manitoba, Canada ROL 2AO (ph 204 732-2570).

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