Field Roller Made From Oil Pipeline

2011 - Volume #35, Issue #6, Page #26

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It’s no secret that machinery costs have skyrocketed in the past few years, even for the simplest equipment like field rollers. Dassel, Minn., farmer Tim Kelly says the cost of a new roller was “way too expensive for my blood,” so he built his own.
  Kelly’s roller incorporates three 14 1/2-ft. long sections of 90,000-lb. tensile strength steel oil pipeline. The pipe is 36-in. in dia. He had a local machine shop fabricate ends for each roller using 1/2-in. thick plate steel. The ends are welded 2 in. inside the roller pipe and reinforced with steel gussets.
  Each roller is connected to a 2 by 6-in. reinforced surround frame with 10-ton 8’-hole wheel hubs. Hubs connect to the rollers with a reinforced 2-in. shaft and heavy-duty bearings on each end piece.
  “These rollers are built to last and are virtually impossible to dent or damage,” says Kelly. “That’s important because we go up and down hills, over uneven terrain, over small rocks and through waterways.”
   The cart that hauls and pulls the rollers is made from two used multi-weeder frames welded one on top of the other. It rides on 4 wheels. Behind the main hitch frame is a 5-ft. deep by 10-ft. wide sub frame. All three roller frames attach to the subframe. The lift mechanism, made of reinforced 5-in. sq. tubing, connects to the main frame, the sub frame and the center roller.
  Kelly uses two 3 1/2-in. cylinders from an old loader to lift the implement for road transport. As the center roller lifts up, the side rollers tilt onto 4 wheels. When the tractor pulls the roller forward, connecting blocks on each side roller disengage so the rollers rotate in an arc straight behind the center roller.
  “The folding and unfolding works just like the multi-weeder, so everything is done from the tractor,” Kelly says. “To unfold it for field work, I just back up until the side rollers are even to the main frame, and they lock in place.”
  The 3-section, 45-ft. wide roller weighs about 10 tons, so it’s heavier than commercial-built models. Kelly added a few reinforcements after the first hundred acres in the field, but since then the machine has worked without any problems.
  “We’ve been over 2,000 acres in the past couple years and it has done a great job on any field terrain without any problems,” Kelly says. “Better yet, the cost for building this was less than half of buying a new one.”
   Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Tim Kelly, 74861 262nd St., Dassel, Minn. 55325 (ph 320 286-2371).

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Field Roller Made From Oil Pipeline TILLAGE EUIPMENT Miscellaneous It’s no secret that machinery costs have skyrocketed in the past few years even for the simplest equipment like field rollers Dassel Minn farmer Tim Kelly says the cost of a new roller was “way too expensive for my blood ” so he built his own Kelly’s roller incorporates three 14 1/2-ft long sections of 90 000-lb tensile strength steel oil pipeline The pipe is 36-in in dia He had a local machine shop fabricate ends for each roller using 1/2-in thick plate steel The ends are welded 2 in inside the roller pipe and reinforced with steel gussets Each roller is connected to a 2 by 6-in reinforced surround frame with 10-ton 8’-hole wheel hubs Hubs connect to the rollers with a reinforced 2-in shaft and heavy-duty bearings on each end piece “These rollers are built to last and are virtually impossible to dent or damage ” says Kelly “That’s important because we go up and down hills over uneven terrain over small rocks and through waterways ” The cart that hauls and pulls the rollers is made from two used multi-weeder frames welded one on top of the other It rides on 4 wheels Behind the main hitch frame is a 5-ft deep by 10-ft wide sub frame All three roller frames attach to the subframe The lift mechanism made of reinforced 5-in sq tubing connects to the main frame the sub frame and the center roller Kelly uses two 3 1/2-in cylinders from an old loader to lift the implement for road transport As the center roller lifts up the side rollers tilt onto 4 wheels When the tractor pulls the roller forward connecting blocks on each side roller disengage so the rollers rotate in an arc straight behind the center roller “The folding and unfolding works just like the multi-weeder so everything is done from the tractor ” Kelly says “To unfold it for field work I just back up until the side rollers are even to the main frame and they lock in place ” The 3-section 45-ft wide roller weighs about 10 tons so it’s heavier than commercial-built models Kelly added a few reinforcements after the first hundred acres in the field but since then the machine has worked without any problems “We’ve been over 2 000 acres in the past couple years and it has done a great job on any field terrain without any problems ” Kelly says “Better yet the cost for building this was less than half of buying a new one ” Contact: FARM SHOW Followup Tim Kelly 74861 262nd St Dassel Minn 55325 ph 320 286-2371

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