Crop Mop Controls Tall Growing Weeds

Crop mop controls tall growing weeds CROPS Weed Control 13-4-25 Dale Wrosch and his son Lynn built a "Crop Mop" weed machine to "wash away" the shatter cane and other tall-growing weeds in their grain fields. The Onaga, Kan., farmers got the idea for the machine when they saw a magazine article about a similar rig built by a farmer in Illinois. They drove over to see it and brought home photographs of the machine to use in coming up with their own design. The Crop Mop has a 90-in. wide wheel-base and 54 in. of ground clearance. It's fitted with a 19-ft. wick bar (wipes seven 39-in. rows in one pass) that adjusts in height from 30 in. to 6 ft. off the ground and holds 4 gal. of chemical. It can also be angled for going over terraces and for differences in the terrain. "We used new reject steel tubing for the frame and then bought a new Cub Cadet engine for the power train," says Dale. The steering system came out of a Volkswagen "Beetle", and the hydrostatic-drive trans-mission, along with hydraulic cylinders for raising and lowering the wick wiper, were salvaged from a combine. The machine is chain-driven by the rear wheels. The men equipped the machine with Yamaha motorcycle axles and wheels by cutting down the forks to fit the legs. "The narrow tires work well because they don't knock down a lot of crop when we turn around in the middle of a field," says Dale. The Crop Mop travels at a maximum of 6 to 8 mph. Total cost of building materials was well over $2,000. Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Dale Wrosch, Rt.1, Box 170, Onaga, Kan. 66521 (ph 913 889-4329).

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