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(If your subscription is current, click here to Login or Register.)2007 - Volume #31, Issue #4, Page #43
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"No Plug" Strip-Till System Uses Coulters To Work Zones
Row crop farmers looking for a new method of handling strip-tillage, seedbed preparation, and fertilizer application at the same time have a new implement to consider. Mini-Warrior row units from Environmental Tillage Systems (ETS) of Faribault, Minn., use a single 20-in. 8-wave coulter to create zones 4 to 6 in. deep..........
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No Plug Strip-Till System Uses Coulters To Work Zones PLANTERS Planters Row crop farmers looking for a new method of handling strip-tillage seedbed preparation and fertilizer application at the same time have a new implement to consider Mini-Warrior row units from Environmental Tillage Systems ETS of Faribault Minn use a single 20-in 8-wave coulter to create zones 4 to 6 in deep and 7 to 9 in wide Two 24-in containment coulters trail the wavy coulter and roll the churning soil into a 2 to 4-in high berm that s ready for planting within a few hours Liquid or dry fertilizer can be placed in front of or behind the main coulter
Unlike most strip-till machines that use a mole knife disk-shaped closing coulters and crumbling devices the Mini-Warrior has no cutting knife and just three moving parts: the single wavy coulter and the two saber tooth containment coulters The coulters are kept in the ground by a single 10-in pneumatic spring that provides 400 lbs of down pressure For tougher conditions twin bags can be used to provide about 800 lbs of down pressure A hydraulic-powered compressor supplies the air pressure which can be regulated from 5 to 80 lbs at the tractor seat to match soil conditions
Each row unit operates independently on the toolbar and maintains constant down pressure says Mark Bauer of ETS who adapted the design from his popular Soil WarriorÖ row units see Vol 30 No 2 Operating depth is controlled by various settings on the containment coulter mounting arms Each row unit has 18 in of vertical travel to ride up and over obstructions in the row All three coulters mount on oil bath spindles which don t require greasing We built these row units to be simple efficient and very durable Each row unit weighs about 280 lbs and has brackets to mount on a 7 by 7 frame
The Mini-Warrior was used on several thousand acres of spring seedbed in Iowa and Wisconsin last spring Both of the producers using the new row units adapted them especially for their farming operations
Ronnie Treinen of Lodi Wisconsin mounted 8 Mini-Warrior row units on a 24-ft 7 by 7 Yetter bar with lift assist wheels spacing the units 36 in on center A rear hitch pulled his fertilizer cart I was able to run this zoning machine in corn stubble bean stubble alfalfa ground and pasture making just one pass before my planter said Treinen I did about 600 acres this spring running 8 miles an hour applying dry fertilizer in the same pass The zones were perfect to plant into the fertilizer was well incorporated and my crop came up with great emergence he added
Treinen was especially pleased with how the Mini-Warrior row units handled rocky ground and tough conditions I went over some of the zones twice because of tough compaction but otherwise everything was a single pass and plant I never had to stop while covering all those acres and never had a breakdown These row units worked great and saved me a huge amount of time and fuel With the mole knife machine that I used in the past I would have to fix 20 to 30 shear bolts a day
On a much larger scale Mini-Warrior row units were used on a 36-row machine by Mike Hermanson of Story City Iowa Hermanson purchased a 60-ft Houck bar built by Wil-Rich Manufacturing of Wahpeton N Dak The huge folding rig has a 1 600-gal liquid fertilizer tank and rides on 24-in tracks Hermanson mounted 34 Mini-Warrior row units on 20-in centers skipping two rows for the wheel tramlines He pulled the rig with a Deere 9400T at speeds ranging from 7 to 9 mph
Using RTK guidance Hermanson s cousin Nick did spring tillage on about 3 500 acres of corn and soybean stubble in 2007 applying 70 units of 32 percent N in front of the wavy coulter The RTK let us till and fertilize the same zones that we placed in the fall of 2006 with the Soil Warrior said Hermanson That machine however was only a third the sizeà 12 row units on a 20-ft bar
Hermanson s Mini-Warrior machine was able to cover nearly 50 acres an hour on the large central Iowa fields Two 36-row planters followed the Mini-Warrior one set up for planting into soybean ground and another set up to apply additional nitrogen for corn on corn
We had real good conditions for about a week then got dumped on with a 4 to 5-in rain that shut us down for 10 days Hermanson related The newly planted corn emerged evenly after the hard rains and there was no washing in the zones Some of our heavier ground was real wet after those rains but we were able to get across those fields by running shallower he added
Hermanson said attaching the Mini-Warrior units to the large bar required considerable adjusting at first because the bar was originally designed for planter row units Once we got it dialed in the machine ran smoothly applying fertilizer and placing zones 4 to 5 in deep in last year s corn zones and in soybean stubble The only breakdown they experienced was a broken track on their last day of tilling
With the success of Mini-Warrior units in these applications Bauer said the company is moving ahead with production for 2008 delivery We think these row units prepare an ideal seedbed before planting and can apply liquid or dry fertilizer We don t use row cleaners because the cutting action of the wavy coulters tears residue apart and provides a real decent zone Bauer added that the Mini-Warrior can be used to condition existing zones and also to place new zones in previously unworked fields with lighter soil
Contact: FARM SHOW Followup Environmental Tillage Systems 16936 Cannon City Blvd Fairbault Minn 55021 ph 507 332-2231; www soilwarrior com
Unlike most strip-till machines that use a mole knife disk-shaped closing coulters and crumbling devices the Mini-Warrior has no cutting knife and just three moving parts: the single wavy coulter and the two saber tooth containment coulters The coulters are kept in the ground by a single 10-in pneumatic spring that provides 400 lbs of down pressure For tougher conditions twin bags can be used to provide about 800 lbs of down pressure A hydraulic-powered compressor supplies the air pressure which can be regulated from 5 to 80 lbs at the tractor seat to match soil conditions
Each row unit operates independently on the toolbar and maintains constant down pressure says Mark Bauer of ETS who adapted the design from his popular Soil WarriorÖ row units see Vol 30 No 2 Operating depth is controlled by various settings on the containment coulter mounting arms Each row unit has 18 in of vertical travel to ride up and over obstructions in the row All three coulters mount on oil bath spindles which don t require greasing We built these row units to be simple efficient and very durable Each row unit weighs about 280 lbs and has brackets to mount on a 7 by 7 frame
The Mini-Warrior was used on several thousand acres of spring seedbed in Iowa and Wisconsin last spring Both of the producers using the new row units adapted them especially for their farming operations
Ronnie Treinen of Lodi Wisconsin mounted 8 Mini-Warrior row units on a 24-ft 7 by 7 Yetter bar with lift assist wheels spacing the units 36 in on center A rear hitch pulled his fertilizer cart I was able to run this zoning machine in corn stubble bean stubble alfalfa ground and pasture making just one pass before my planter said Treinen I did about 600 acres this spring running 8 miles an hour applying dry fertilizer in the same pass The zones were perfect to plant into the fertilizer was well incorporated and my crop came up with great emergence he added
Treinen was especially pleased with how the Mini-Warrior row units handled rocky ground and tough conditions I went over some of the zones twice because of tough compaction but otherwise everything was a single pass and plant I never had to stop while covering all those acres and never had a breakdown These row units worked great and saved me a huge amount of time and fuel With the mole knife machine that I used in the past I would have to fix 20 to 30 shear bolts a day
On a much larger scale Mini-Warrior row units were used on a 36-row machine by Mike Hermanson of Story City Iowa Hermanson purchased a 60-ft Houck bar built by Wil-Rich Manufacturing of Wahpeton N Dak The huge folding rig has a 1 600-gal liquid fertilizer tank and rides on 24-in tracks Hermanson mounted 34 Mini-Warrior row units on 20-in centers skipping two rows for the wheel tramlines He pulled the rig with a Deere 9400T at speeds ranging from 7 to 9 mph
Using RTK guidance Hermanson s cousin Nick did spring tillage on about 3 500 acres of corn and soybean stubble in 2007 applying 70 units of 32 percent N in front of the wavy coulter The RTK let us till and fertilize the same zones that we placed in the fall of 2006 with the Soil Warrior said Hermanson That machine however was only a third the sizeà 12 row units on a 20-ft bar
Hermanson s Mini-Warrior machine was able to cover nearly 50 acres an hour on the large central Iowa fields Two 36-row planters followed the Mini-Warrior one set up for planting into soybean ground and another set up to apply additional nitrogen for corn on corn
We had real good conditions for about a week then got dumped on with a 4 to 5-in rain that shut us down for 10 days Hermanson related The newly planted corn emerged evenly after the hard rains and there was no washing in the zones Some of our heavier ground was real wet after those rains but we were able to get across those fields by running shallower he added
Hermanson said attaching the Mini-Warrior units to the large bar required considerable adjusting at first because the bar was originally designed for planter row units Once we got it dialed in the machine ran smoothly applying fertilizer and placing zones 4 to 5 in deep in last year s corn zones and in soybean stubble The only breakdown they experienced was a broken track on their last day of tilling
With the success of Mini-Warrior units in these applications Bauer said the company is moving ahead with production for 2008 delivery We think these row units prepare an ideal seedbed before planting and can apply liquid or dry fertilizer We don t use row cleaners because the cutting action of the wavy coulters tears residue apart and provides a real decent zone Bauer added that the Mini-Warrior can be used to condition existing zones and also to place new zones in previously unworked fields with lighter soil
Contact: FARM SHOW Followup Environmental Tillage Systems 16936 Cannon City Blvd Fairbault Minn 55021 ph 507 332-2231; www soilwarrior com
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