Turn Your Pickup Into A High-Rise Sprayer

Turn Your Pickup Into A High-Rise Sprayer PICKUPS Miscellaneous 22-3-44 This new æhigh boy" frame turns any pickup into a high-clearance sprayer with 45 in. of ground clearance. Invented by Spencer Dickson, the frame is powered directly off the rear wheels of the pickup. Steering, braking and other functions of the pickup still work normally. The high-boy frame is 11 ft. wide and fits 22, 30, or 36-in. rows. The high-clearance pickup has a road speed of 35 mph. Dickson built the high-clearance rig after pricing self-propelled high-boy sprayers that cost as much as $70,000. "Many farmers al-ready own a pickup sprayer or can buy one at a reasonable cost. With this rig you can use your pickup sprayer all season long with no need to buy another machine for late sea-son work," he says. Dickson says it takes only about an hour to mount a pickup on the rig. You drive it up a ramp onto the frame and anchor it with clamps over the axles. Then all four wheels are removed. A large sprocket on an adaptor plate bolts to each of the rear wheels. A smaller sprocket bolts to each of the hubs, allowing them to chain-drive the rig's large 50-in. rear tractor wheels. The steering system up front fastens with one bolt to tie rods on the high-rise frame. No modification to the pickup is necessary. Dickson says any 1/2, 3/4 or 1-ton pickup can be used to power the rig. Although it has a high center of gravity, he says the rig is stable because of the 11-ft. width, which is nearly double the standard width of a pickup. "It's a low-cost alternative to self-propelled high clearance sprayers. The large tires compared to the weight of the entire unit, and the 4:1 sprocket reduction, provide it with a lot of traction. The increased traction allows you to go through potholes rather than around them. It also has a lot of capacity. One customer used a 500-gal. tank and a 90-ft. boom that let him cover 160 acres per hour. The frame adjusts in length from 130 to 165 in. As a result it will fit most pickups, including extended cab models. The pickup's front axle is secured to the chassis with a pair of rubber cushioned mounting brackets attached to hub bolts. It allows the frame to flex over even the most severe terrain and leaves the opera-tor with a smooth and stable ride." Sells for $20,000 (Canadian). Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Hytrux Ltd., 443 North Railway St., Box 726, Killarney, Manitoba, Canada R0K 1G0 (ph 204 523-4644; fax 8124).

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