Tow-Behind Engine Boosts Pulling Power Of Tractor

Tow-Behind Engine Boosts Pulling Power Of Tractor ENGINES Engines 21-6-29 Two British farmers increased the amount of tillage work they can do in one pass by building a tow-behind power cart they fitted with a 150 hp Cummins engine.They pull the pto-engaged power cart behind their 110 hp Case-IH Maxxum. Michael and Dan Schwier, who farm 450 acres of mostly heavy clay soil, came up with the idea as a way to get their wheat and rape-seed planted in a timely manner. The Maxxum could not handle both a culti-packer and the large power harrow that they use. They cannibalized a home-built Paraplow to hold the cart. A length of 18 by 10-in. thick-walled box tubing was used for the main frame, which is fitted with a nose section for hitching to the drawbar. The main frame doubles as a 13.6-gal. reserve fuel tank that tops the main fuel tank every time the cart is raised. The main frame is fitted with two outriggers and axle trailing arms. Arms have a bushed pivot at one end and Dynadrive transporter stub axles fitted with combine tires on the other. Lift is provided by a pair of hydraulic cylinders with 2-ft. stroke mounted on one end of the top link framework and to the axle unit on the other. The Schwiers used a gearbox out of an old Case-IH Axial Flow combine to reverse direction of the driveshaft. The gearbox mounts between the cart's chassis uprights. "I run the motor at 1,700 rpm's," notes Michael Schwier. The Maxxum tractor is fitted with duals so it can pull the rig on the Schwiers' steepest ground. Traveling 5 mph, the rig covers 4 to 5 acres per hour. "For about $9,000 it's really revolutionizing our drilling operation," Schwier says. "We've never been able to produce seedbeds like these before." (Farmers Weekly).

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