Look What He's Doing With Discs

Look What He's Doing With Discs DISKS Disks (58D) 8-1-21 "We tell farmers to try Roto-Spade discs on one-half of their conventional disk or disk plow. In most cases, the difference is so dramatic that the entire machine will sport Roto-Spade discs the following season," says Kevin Terlich, Australian farmer whose idea of welding 4 1/2 by 6-in. metal "spades" around the outside edge of disc blades won him "Farm Inventor of the Year" honors in Australia last year. Terlich's invention is just now going into commercial production in Australia and will soon be marketed in the U.S. and Canada. "Roto-Spades cut through heavy trash and compacted ground without losing depth," explains Terlich. "In heavy trash, they splinter straw stems, opening them up so they rot from the inside and thus decay much faster. Conventional disc blades, on the other hand, cut the stems off clean without ripping them open and it takes them much longer to decay." Roto-Spades will be available with companion discs for bolt-on installation, or as weld-on spades which can be purchased factory welded to new center discs, or separately for do-it-yourself welding to disc blades you already own. An 18 in. dia. disc requires six spades. It takes 8, 9 and 10 spades, respectively, for 22, 24 and 28 in. dia. discs. The spades, slated to retail for about $1.75 each, are positioned about 2 in. in from the outer circumference of the disc, with the bottom corners as close together as possible, and no more than 3 in. of spacing at the top of the V-space between spades. No special jig is needed to weld them on to the back side of the disc blade. Blades worn thin can be strengthened by putting a worn disc behind the "spaded" disc. Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Kevin Terlich, RMB 2, Pleasant Hills, NSW, Australia 2737 (ph 069 29644).

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