Cultivator-Mounted Fertilizer Applicator

Cultivator-Mounted Fertilizer Applicator CULTIVATORS Cultivators (58C) 17-6-9 "My 4-row Buffalo planter doesn't have a fertilizer attachment. The cost of adding the equipment was $2,500 so I decided to build my own applicator that would let me combine fertilization with cultivation," says Greg Plassman, Waldron, Mich. "I mounted two used fertilizer boxes off a #56 TH corn planter on the frame of my Buffalo 4-row ridge-till cultivator. I had read in a recent issue of FARM SHOW about a farmer who mounted fertilizer boxes on his cultivator and ran the metering auger with a hydraulic motor. I thought that was a good idea, but I wasn't sure how easy it would be to control the rate of flow, especially if you're changing ground speed. I thought a ground-drive would work better so that you wouldn't have to bother with hydraulics when the tractor speeds up, slows down, or stops. "I bolted together a frame to hold the IH fertilizer boxes out of 2-in. angle iron and 2-in. sq. tubing. The drive wheel assembly came off a junked Deere 694 corn planter. I used angle iron to make a bracket to attach the drive wheel on the cultivator toolbar. I had a 1-in. dia, steel shaft. welded to one end of the fertlizer metering auger. That's where I mount different size sprockets for different rates of fertilizer. The shaft runs inside a bearing - mounted on a 3/8-in. thick steel plate that bolts to the side of the box - to take wear off the auger and the fertilizer box bottom. I have three drive sprockets for different application rates - 150, 200, and 250 lbs. per acre. "The drive wheel assembly is spring-loaded to keep constant pressure on the ground. I ran #40 roller chain between the drive wheel sprocket and the sprocket on the fertilizer shaft. Rubber hoses run out the bottom of the fertilizer boxes to lengths of 2-in. dia. PVC pipe that are angled to place fertlizer directly behind the disc hillers on the cultivator. "I spent a total of $250 to build this applicator, including new sprockets and hubs, new bearing and flange, and new nuts and bolts. Everything else was bought used. I had help from my father Loren, brother Barry, and neighbor Phil Dunn. We've used it one season with good results. For corn, I applied 200-lbs. of 10-26-26 with the first cultivation and 200 lbs. of 45-0-0 with the second cultivation. For soybeans, I applied 150 lbs. of 0-15-40 with the first cultivation." Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Greg Plassman, 16550 W. Mulberry Rd., Waldron, Mich. 49288 (ph 517 286-6954).

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