Home-Built Disk, Scraper Built For $200 Apiece

2008 - Volume #32, Issue #1, Page #18

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Matt Richter couldn't justify the cost of a new tandem axle mini disk for his operation. So the Adair, Iowa, farmer built his own for only about $200. He also built a mini scraper for about the same price.
  Both implements are equipped with electric actuators and are sized to be pulled by an ATV or garden tractor. Both are wired to the vehicle's battery.
  The disk measures 40 in. wide and rides on a pair of 12-in. high wheels off a riding mower. It's painted Deere green and yellow.
  He started with an old 10-ft. wide International Harvester disk that he found laying in the weeds. He disassembled the gangs, cut one gang off, and cut the axle shaft down to the width that he needed. The gangs and hitch are adjustable for different cutting depths. The gangs are adjusted by loosening a bolt and sliding the gangs over. The hitch is adjusted up or down by operating a turnbuckle, and side to side by pulling a pin and sliding the hitch.
  An electric actuator, salvaged from the chopper on a Deere rotary combine, is used to raise and lower the gangs. He used a length of 3/4-in. dia. pipe for the ram. The actuator rod was very thin and broke off. He beefed it up by replacing the actuator's original plastic molded nut with a coarse threaded metal nut, then welded the pipe to the actuator shaft.
  "I use it to till gardens, to fill in small ditches, and to level out cow paths. It does a good job," says Richter. "I use my Honda 500 cc, 4-WD ATV to pull it. The ATV has all it can do to pull it."  He built the 45-in. wide box scraper mostly from scrap material that he already had. The wear bar is off the snow blade he had been using with his ATV. The actuator that's used to lift the blade was ordered from Northern Tool and Equipment.
  "I use it to scrape our driveway and to do general dirt scraping work. It works nice," says Richter. "I use my Deere GT 235 18 hp tractor to pull it. It works better behind a medium-sized garden tractor like this than it would behind an ATV because the tractor has a tighter turning radius. The switches that operate the actuator came from our local auto parts store."
  Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Matt Richter, 701 Cedar St., Adair, Iowa 50002 (ph 641 740-0402).

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Home-Built Disk, Scraper Built For $200 Apiece TILLAGE EUIPMENT Disks (18) 32-1-18 Matt Richter couldn't justify the cost of a new tandem axle mini disk for his operation. So the Adair, Iowa, farmer built his own for only about $200. He also built a mini scraper for about the same price. Both implements are equipped with electric actuators and are sized to be pulled by an ATV or garden tractor. Both are wired to the vehicle's battery. The disk measures 40 in. wide and rides on a pair of 12-in. high wheels off a riding mower. It's painted Deere green and yellow. He started with an old 10-ft. wide International Harvester disk that he found laying in the weeds. He disassembled the gangs, cut one gang off, and cut the axle shaft down to the width that he needed. The gangs and hitch are adjustable for different cutting depths. The gangs are adjusted by loosening a bolt and sliding the gangs over. The hitch is adjusted up or down by operating a turnbuckle, and side to side by pulling a pin and sliding the hitch. An electric actuator, salvaged from the chopper on a Deere rotary combine, is used to raise and lower the gangs. He used a length of 3/4-in. dia. pipe for the ram. The actuator rod was very thin and broke off. He beefed it up by replacing the actuator's original plastic molded nut with a coarse threaded metal nut, then welded the pipe to the actuator shaft. "I use it to till gardens, to fill in small ditches, and to level out cow paths. It does a good job," says Richter. "I use my Honda 500 cc, 4-WD ATV to pull it. The ATV has all it can do to pull it." He built the 45-in. wide box scraper mostly from scrap material that he already had. The wear bar is off the snow blade he had been using with his ATV. The actuator that's used to lift the blade was ordered from Northern Tool and Equipment. "I use it to scrape our driveway and to do general dirt scraping work. It works nice," says Richter. "I use my Deere GT 235 18 hp tractor to pull it. It works better behind a medium-sized garden tractor like this than it would behind an ATV because the tractor has a tighter turning radius. The switches that operate the actuator came from our local auto parts store." Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Matt Richter, 701 Cedar St., Adair, Iowa 50002 (ph 641 740-0402).

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