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24 Row Cultivator Helps Reduce Soil Compaction
"As far as I know it's the largest commercial row crop cultivator ever built," says "Stony" Adkins, Bath, Ill., who had Orthman Mfg., Lexington, Neb., custom-build a 24-row, 30-in. pull-type cultivator. It can be used in either conventional or no-till.
"It fits into our plans for controlling wheel traffic to red
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24 row cultivator helps reduce soil compaction CULTIVATORS Cultivators (58C) 13-6-6 "As far as I know it's the largest commercial row crop cultivator ever built," says "Stony" Adkins, Bath, Ill., who had Orthman Mfg., Lexington, Neb., custom-build a 24-row, 30-in. pull-type cultivator. It can be used in either conventional or no-till.
"It fits into our plans for controlling wheel traffic to reduce soil compaction," says Adkins, who with his son "Rocky" farms 3,250 acres, 700 of it no-till. "We already owned a 24-row planter and rotary hoe. By farming with only 60-ft. wide equipment we make just two wheel tracks out of every 24 rows or every 60 ft. and we use the same tracks every trip through the field. Using wider equipment also allows us to cover more acres with less machinery. We've cut back from four 12-row cultivators to the one 24-row cultivator and a 12-row cultivator which we use only in emergencies. We've also cut back from four Deere 4-WD tractors (two 8630s and two 8640s) to three - a 4850 with front wheel assist and two 4-WDs, a 8640 and 8960." Adkins uses the Deere 8960 to pull the 24-row cultivator. He replaced its factory tires, which were too wide for 30-in. rows, with narrower tires and moved the wheels in.
The cultivator is equipped with Orthman's automatic guidance system which consists of 6 rear-mounted stabilizer disks and front-mounted "feeler" rods that follow the crop rows. "The system works fine except when there are skips in the rows," says Stony. "We plan to install a V-blade on the planter which will make a groove in the soil for the guidance system to follow. It should increase cultivator accuracy."
Last year Adkins used a 48-ft. wide field cultivator. Next year he'll use a 60-ft. wide field cultivator which Deere is building for him. Adkins' combine is equipped with flotation tires for decreased soil compaction. Adkins harvests with a 12-row soybean head and an 8-row corn head. "Next year we'll switch to a 12-row corn head so we can further confine wheel traffic," notes Adkins.
Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Stony Adkins, RR 2, Box 19, Chandler-vine, Ill. 62627 (ph 217 458-2832).
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