20 Ft Front Mount Roller Creates Smooth Seedbed

20 Ft Front Mount Roller Creates Smooth Seedbed TILLAGE EUIPMENT Miscellaneous 21-6-2 "Trying to maintain correct seed depth in my variable soils has always been a real problem. My 20-ft. wide front mount roller solves the problem," says Harvey Roberts of Shawboro, N.C. Roberts pushes the roller ahead of his Deere 4840 tractor as he plants wheat or soy-beans with his 20-ft. grain drill. The 18-in. dia. roller mounts on a steel frame that bolts to the sides of the tractor and is raised or lowered by a pair of hydraulic cylinders. The front part of the frame is hinged, allowing the roller to be adjusted for downpressure. A set of suitcase weights helps apply down pressure. "It rolls flat on the ground and does an outstanding job of firming up sandy soils and flattening clods in clay soils," says Roberts. "Several farmers in my area mount 12-in. dia. rollers in front of their grain drills, but my roller is too heavy for my tractor to lift the additional weight on back. One problem with a roller mounted in front of a grain drill is that it doesn't have any way of flexing whereas my front-mounted roller flexes up or down independent of the drill. It works better than pulling a roller behind a disk or chisel plow because it doesn't build up with dirt from the freshly turned soil. The roller runs in dry soil all the time so it stays clean and shiny. "To remove the roller I just remove six bolts and use a loader to lift it off the tractor. The job takes five minutes or less." Roberts says he and David Dunavant o Dunavant's Welding and Steel, Inc., are con sidering building the roller for sale. Contact: FARM SHOW Followup Harvey Roberts, Box 14, Shawboro, N.C 27973 (ph 919 336-4793) or Dunavant Welding and Steel, Inc., Box 28, Camde N.C. 27921 (ph 919 338-6533).

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