Steel-Wheeled Bean Buggy

Steel-Wheeled Bean Buggy SPRAYING Bean Buggies 18-2-9 "Some of my neighbors have needled me about `going Amish', but the steel wheels of this weeder are just the thing for working drilled beans," says Paul Pierce, Sullivan, Ill., who designed the self-propelled bean walker to minimize crop damage. It's got a hydraulically-driven 15-in. rubber wheel at center and two narrow steel wheels on back. Pierce says you can see little damage from the rubber tire but absolutely no damage from the steel wheels. Pierce made the 26 l/2-in. dia. steel wheels himself using conventional car wheel hubs and axles. He made the spokes and rims out of flat iron and flat steel rod. "In the field you can't tell they're steel. On the driveway or on the road, you can really hear them." One unique feature of the hydrostatically-driven bran weeder is that 10gal. of hydraulic oil is stored in the 7 by 7-in. sq. piece of steel tubing that makes up the backbone of the rig's frame. "With this volume of oil, it doesn't overheat so natural air cooling is sufficient," Pierce says. A 7-hp. gas motor direct-drives a hydraulic pump. The home-built A-frame suspension in front is cushioned by motorcycle springs. The seat came out of a Dodge car. Contact: FARM SHOW Followup,Paul Pierce, Sullivan, Ill. 61951 (ph 217 752-6728).

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