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Self-Propelled Manure Injector Built From Old Cement Truck
"Our self-propelled manure injector lets us haul manure fast and also frees up a tractor. It works great," say Joe and Jim Schieber, Caledonia, Minn., who converted an old cement truck into a 3,200 gal. self-propelled injector 8 years ago.
"Before we bujlt this rig we spread liquid manure from our 300-sow farrowto-finish hog unit on top of our fields with a 2,000-gal. honey wagon," says Joe. "But it wasn't an efficient method be-cause manure tended to remain on the soil surface instead of making its way to the root zone. We also needed a 120-hp tractor to pull the wagon. When we bought some land several miles away we needed to find a way to get manure to it without wearing out our tractor. This self-propelled rig reduces manure-hauling time and causes less damage to roads than a pull-type wagon. It also lets us head off potential odor complaints on land we own next to a major highway."
The Schiebers bought the 1966 White Freightliner truck with 60,000 miles on it for $4,500. They replaced the engine with a new 220-hp V-6 diesel. They bolted 15-ft. long, 2 by 6-in. planks to the top of the truck's frame to provide a buffer between the frame and the 3,200-gal. tank. They bolted the tank to four brackets welded to the frame. To mount the injector knives, they welded a 3-ft. long I-beam vertically on each side of the frame and cut a hole in each beam through which they mounted a 10-ft. long toolbar. They used hinge brackets to bolt four injection knives onto the bar spaced 30 in. apart. Each knife is equipped with a pair of springs which allows them to flex up and down during injection. The Schiebers can raise or lower the knives via a hydraulic cylinder that's powered by a hydraulic pump mounted on the truck's engine. The knives inject manure as deep as 12 in.
The Schiebers estimate they spent $16,000 to build the unit.
Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Joseph J. Schieber, Rt. 2, Box 14, Caledonia, Minn. 55921 (ph 507 724-2038).


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1989 - Volume #13, Issue #6