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He Uses "Super Hopper" All Year Long
Fill center pivot wheel ruts in alfalfa fields with sand. Fill grain drill hoppers at planting. Haul grain from the field at harvest.
You can do all that and more with the gooseneck cart built by Keith Kisling of Burlington, Okla.
"Anyone who has pivot irrigation for alfalfa knows how much trouble irrig
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He Uses "Super Hopper" All Year Long LIVESTOCK Feeding Equipment 28-2-40 Fill center pivot wheel ruts in alfalfa fields with sand. Fill grain drill hoppers at planting. Haul grain from the field at harvest.
You can do all that and more with the gooseneck cart built by Keith Kisling of Burlington, Okla.
"Anyone who has pivot irrigation for alfalfa knows how much trouble irrigation tracks are," explains Kisling. He realized that with a little work on his grain cart, he could fill ruts with sand without disturbing the alfalfa on either side. Its design, with all four sides sloping to the center trap, made it ideal.
"The two-axle grain cart had a manual arm lever on the trap gate," explains Kisling. "We revamped the linkage and put a hydraulic cylinder on it so we could open and close the gate from the tractor or pickup cab."
The cylinder needed to have a long reach, but not much pressure, so he took one off an old Wilrich plow. Kisling then built a 12-in. deep, horseshoe-shaped drag out of flat iron and mounted it around the gate. He also reinforced the gate itself and the brackets it is mounted on.
"My drag is 12 in. deep, but the proper size depends on the height of the gate from the ground," explains Kisling. "I wanted it to leave a ridge of sand about 4 in. above the surface of the field. Even after I drive over it with a tractor wheel to pack it in, it leaves a ridge. As the sprinkler comes overhead, the water will run off it instead of back down the track valley."
Kisling also reinforced the fifth wheel hitch he had previously installed for safer use with a pickup.
This past summer he ran 12 semi-loads of sand through the cart.
Altering the grain cart for use as a seed cart for filling grain drills was simple. It required installing a 4-in. by 12-ft. auger through a hole cut in the hopper. A flex hose on the end makes filling the drill easy. When not used for seed, the auger is pulled out and the hole covered.
"I think it has saved me $5,000 per year on farm operating expenses," estimates Kisling. "The cart was worth about $500 and the hydraulic cylinder about $50. The metal was worth about $50 and the auger about $100."
Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Keith Kisling, RR 1, Box 65, Burlington Okla. 73722 (ph 580 431-2542; email: kislingfarms@sctelcom.net).
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