New Cultivators For Narrow Rows

New Cultivators For Narrow Rows CULTIVATORS Cultivators (58C) 2-3-12 You asked for it - cultivators that will work in soybeans or other row crops planted or drilled in narrow rows. The ,"narrowest" of new narrow row cultivators FARM SHOW has learned about is a just-introduced model from Blessant Manufacturing, Gardner, Ill. It's designed for rows as narrow as 12 in. and up to 20 in., with a choice of one to three shovels per gang. The Noble Division of Royal Industries, Sac City, Iowa, has unveiled a "mix and match" toolbar system which specifies exact model numbers to use in putting together virtually any combination you need to cultivate 9 to 19 narrow rows with 15 in. or wider spacing. "So far as I know, we're the only manufacturer that can specify a certain model gang for virtually any row width combination a farmer would need to cultivate planted or drilled soybeans, or other row crops, in rows as narrow as 15 in., and in toolbar rigs equipped to cover up to 19 rows in a single pass," says Bob Willadsen, sales representative. "Hardly a day goes by that we don't get a phone call from a farmer asking how to go about making up a cultivator for soybeans planted or drilled in narrow rows. Up to now, it's been up to the farmer or dealer to make up a cultivator. There were no guidelines and no standards, and each person had a different idea of how to get the job done." To solve the problem, Noble engineers designed units and worked up a chart which tells the farmer which Noble narrow-row Danishtype "row runner" cultivator he'll need, depending on his desired row spacing, or toolbar preference. For example, column 1 on the chart gives row spacing under the tractor (15 to 20 in.) column 2 the space required for the tractor tire (24 to 30 in.), column 3 the rear spacing outside the tractor tire (15 to 20 in.), and column 4 the number of rows between the rear tractor tires. The remaining columns refer.to the number of rows - 9 through 19 - and give the model of Noble cultivator gang to use for virtually every conceivable combination of rows and row spacings. "In short, the chart eliminates alot of guesswork. For the farmer planting soybeans or other row crops in narrow rows spaced 15 or more in. apart, our dealers can put together a toolbar cultivator to fit his exact needs," says Willadsen. For more details, contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Royal Industries, Noble Division, 515 North 16th Street, Sac City, Iowa 50583 (ph. 712-662-4731). "It'll cultivate soybeans drilled in rows as narrow as 12 in. apart," says Blessant Manufacturing of its new narrow row cultivator. It features a main frame, rubber tire gauge wheels, spring mounted rolling coulters and individual parallel-link action gangs with side to side rigidity. It's available with S-type shanks mounted on gangs, with a choice of two to seven shovels. "We reduced size of the attachment hardware and went to a slender design of the gangs to allow durable, efficient cultivation equipment to be squeezed into a spacing as narrow as 12 in.," explains John Blessant. He notes that the company's design makes it easy to tailor the cultivator to fit a particular drill or planter spacing, and to match it with the combine header. For example, with a 20 ft. combine header, 13 rows spaced 15 in. apart, plus 2 skip rows for the tractor wheels, works out just right. Cost of the Blessant narrow-row cultivator figures out to right at $285 per row. For more details, contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Blessant Manufacturing, Gardner, Ill. 60424 (ph. 815-237-8670).

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