He Inherited "Best Buy" Soil Probe

He Inherited "Best Buy" Soil Probe MISCELLANEOUS EQUIPMENT Miscellaneous 30-2-14 When Paul Overby, Wolford, N. Dak., took over his father's farm, he inherited a soil probe his father made years ago from plans published by North Dakota State University Extension. One change Overby made was to move the 3-pt. mounted probe to the side of an IH 1066 tractor. The tractor's hydraulics power the probe, which has a cylinder with a 2-ft. stroke fastened to a piece of channel iron. A bracket fastens it to the frame high enough so that when the probe comes out, it has a 2-ft. long sample. "The probe is made out of a 2-ft. long piece of 1-in. dia. steel pipe. "Its tip was made by heating one end and shaping the pipe into a æcone' and then heat-treated to harden the edges," Overby says. A short steel shaft welds to a block of steel pinned to the clevis at the end of the cylinder piston. The probe fits into the shaft to take a sample. Dipping the probe's tip into oil helps remove the soil and doesn't contaminate the sample. If he had to make another one, Overby says he would make the cylinder longer so the probe could clear the land by a few inches. NDSU agricultural engineer Vern Hofman says he still has free plans for a soil probe he designed in Feb. 1988. Hofman says that probes made from his plans are also available from Horvick Manufacturing (www.horvick.com, ph 800 373-4084 or 701 280-2862). Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Paul Overby, Lee Farms, HC1 Box 25, Wolford, N. Dak. 58385 (ph 701 656-3654; email: lffpc@utma.com).

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