Trash-Clearing Row Crop Cultivator

Trash-Clearing Row Crop Cultivator CULTIVATORS Cultivators (58C) 19-6-23 Iowa farmer Dave Peterson wasn't happy with the Hiniker 5000 4-row cultivator he was using so he built his own "do-it-all", trash-clearing cultivator out of a Blu-Jet caddy, an Orthman guidance system, and the original Hiniker cultivator. "It really murders weeds and makes the original cultivator more lethal," says Peterson, of Lake Mills. He bought a new Blu-Jet 3-pt. caddy for $3,600 and mounted the Hiniker cultivator on back of it. He bolted a short length of toolbar onto the caddy tongue to hold the Orthman guidance sensor. He used 4 by 6-in. steel tubing to build another toolbar that mounts on the caddy ahead of the cultivator. He then removed the cultivator's disc hillers and mounted them on the toolbar. Rubber boat trailer tires on the toolbar serve as gauge wheels. A set of International chisel plow sweeps mounts on another toolbar - behind the disc hillers but ahead of the cultivator - made out of 4-in. sq. tubing. A big Orthman coulter helps steer the entire rig. He made brackets to mount the saddle tanks from the sides of his tractor on top of the caddy. He also removed the liquid fertilizer tank from the front of the tractor and mounted it ahead of the saddle tanks. "Moving the disc hillers up front away from the sweeps really improves trash clearance. I didn't plug it up once last summer," says Peterson, who farms on ridges. "An-other advantage is that I have a much better view of the disc hillers. They run close to the row and do a good job, along with the extra chisel sweeps, of uprooting weeds. The original cultivator sweeps at the back are insurance. One problem with the original cultivator was that big weeds. next to the row often survived because the sweeps couldn't get close enough to the row to slice off the roots. "I had been making separate applications of fertilizer and herbicide. By carrying the tractor-mounted tanks on the cultivator I save two field passes. I plant corn and soy-beans in alternate 4-row strips so I mounted spray hoods on front of the unit to keep herbicide from drifting onto the adjacent crop. "It's real handy to use because I don't have to mount any pumps or tanks or hook up any hoses or electrical wiring because it's completely self-contained. Both the fertilizer and spray pumps are chain-driven by a hydraulic motor. Another advantage is that I have great visibility ahead of the tractor. I use a Deere 8430 200 hp tractor to pull it. It pulls hard, but the biggest problem is getting enough traction. When the tractor broke down last summer I rented a Deere 4840. It had enough power but not enough traction. "One problem with the original cultivator was that if the disc hillers hit a rock they would often break. The toolbar that supports the disc hillers now is spring-loaded so it flexes up to cushion the impact." Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Dave Peterson, Box 84A, Lake Mills, Iowa 50450 (ph 515 592- 9262).

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