Self-Propelled Sprayer Result Of Combine Breakdown

Self-Propelled Sprayer Result Of Combine Breakdown COMBINES Conversions 27-4-32 Steve Kizer was harvesting corn with his 7700 Deere combine last fall when the feederhouse auger snapped on one end. Everything up front twisted out of shape before he could get it shut down. When his Deere dealer wouldn't take the old 7700 in trade for a newer 7720, he wasn't surprised. "It had more than 5,000 hours and it was going to cost $3,000 to fix the problems in the feederhouse. We bought the 7720 so we could finish harvest. The dealer told us to take the 7700 to a junk yard," Kizer says. But Kizer had other ideas because the engine and drive train were still in good shape. Then last winter, he stripped it down, leaving the engine and cab in place, and turned it into a self-propelled sprayer like others he'd seen over the years in FARM SHOW. "The conversion took about two months, working on and off," he says. To make a 60-ft. boom, Kizer bought some new steel tubing and salvaged more from a couple of Glencoe field cultivators that had long since been retired. He used 2-in. square tubing for the center section, which is just wider than the combine itself, and added folding wings on the sides of the center section, which he made from 1 1/2-in. square tubing. He used hinges from the folding wings on the Glencoe field cultivators on the wings so they can fold back alongside the combine. The boom is positioned so it tilts forward as it's raised. Then, it folds hydraulically up and back over the tops of the tires on the drive axle. Kizer relocated the fuel tank directly behind the cab.Behind that, he built a frame from parts of the old field cultivator toolbar to hold the 1,000-gal. tank he'd bought for the sprayer. He also built a catwalk along the side to give him easier access to the tank. A ladder up the back lets him get on the catwalk from the ground and also gives him access to the cab. Where the fuel tank had been, he mounted a new Hypro sprayer pump. "It's driven by the same hydraulics that powered the variable speed header reel, so I can use the reel speed control to control the sprayer pump speed," he says." I can change spray pressure by speeding up or slowing down the pump. And there's a butterfly valve in the spray pressure line that gives me a second way to vary pressure to the nozzles." He divided the nozzles on the boom into three sections, and he has a controller in the combine cab that allows him to turn any of the three on or off independently of the others. He bought new controllers for the sprayer. "We also added a 25-gal. Richway Foam Marker, that we picked up at an auction for $60," he continues. "It was only 2 years old and works great." The outer 6 ft. on each end of the boom are fastened on with a hinge so they can flex. "On each end of the boom, we added an wheel from an old garden tiller," he continues. "In a hilly field or if you hit a hole, the boom flexes up and the wheel rolls, protecting the boom, nozzles and foamer." On his new boom, he installed nozzles that allow him to use lower volumes. "We can cut volume down to just 10 gal. per acre and still get good coverage.With a 1,000-gal. tank at 10 gal. an acre, I can cover close to 100 acres before I have to stop and refill," he says. With his old sprayer, he had a 500-gal. tank and was applying 20 to 25 gal. per acre, so he was spraying only 20 to 25 acres per fill. With all the new and salvaged parts he used, Kizer figures his self propelled sprayer only cost him about $2,000. He didn't waste the good parts left from the old 7700, either."During the winter, I bought a newer model 7700 at a farm sale for $1,300. It was in pretty good shape, but needed parts we already had.I've put the two together, so I had two combines to use this fall," he says. Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Steve Kizer, 4400 Idle Rd., Urbana, Ohio 73078 (ph 937 362-4533; email: kizerfarms@ hotmail.com).

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