“Flow-Shields” Let You Double Or Even Triple Cultivation Speeds
“Flow-Shields break up the flow of dirt coming up from the cultivator shovel, crushing the dirt into a consistent, accurately delivered stream of fine dirt that can now be directed at the weeds between the corn plants and underneath the soybean leaf canopy at very fast speeds,” says Curt Forde of Profit Organics about his patent-pending new Flow-Shield. A seemingly simple idea that he has used for the last 4 growing seasons holds the key to growing weed-free crops for both organic and conventional farmers.
It consists of a 6 by 6-in. sq., 1/8th-in. thick steel plate that bolts to any existing cultivator shank with a 2-bolt bracket, which allows it to be easily adjusted up or down for tall or short corn.
Forde invented the Flow-Shield in June of 2011 while cultivating corn that was 6 to 8 in. tall. An 8-row, 20-in. cultivator was being used with a single C shank between each row fitted with a 9-in. wide shovel. Cultivating speed had to be drastically reduced whenever cultivating wet soils that resulted in large chunks and slabs of dirt that fell on top of the corn plants.
“I figured that if I could make something to stop the slabs of dirt from coming up over the top of the corn plants, I could drive faster,” says Forde. “So I went back to the shop and made a plate and bracket out of steel for one row, then went back to the field to try it. The first 50 ft. down the row I knew I had the solution to better cultivator performance. The Flow-Shield stopped all of the large clumps of dirt from being thrown up on top of the corn, by crushing them into smaller pieces of dirt, creating a steady stream of fine dirt directed toward the bottom half of the corn plant, blasting over the finer stemmed weeds between the corn plants. The thicker stemmed corn plants were able to resist the stream of dirt flowing out from under the Flow-Shields.
“The faster I drove the better job of covering the weeds resulted. I virtually could not find a plant of corn covered from the much faster speeds. And the Flow-Shields on the cultivator now did a nearly perfect job of covering all of the weeds.”
Profit Organics has sold Flow-Shields from the Dakotas and the Midwest to the East Coast. “We had just 2 customer complaints this year and both were easily solved. The first farmer said he was knocking over corn when he got off the row. He previously had set his shovels only 4 in. away from the row so that adding the Flow-Shields left only 2 in. for corn plants to pass between. The simple solution was to set each cultivator shank 8 to 10 in. away from the row and cover up the weeds rather than trying to dig them out (and damage growing corn roots). This also allows the cultivator driver to wander side-to-side with no ‘cultivator blight’ and still have the same excellent weed coverage on each side of the row.”
The second farmer simply had the Flow-Shields set too low on the shank, wedging the soil between the shovel and the Flow-Shields. Raising them up a couple of inches on the shanks solved his problem.
Forde says demand was so strong last year that the company ran out of Flow-Shields 2 times. “Your early order now helps us and our manufacturer maintain our low price of just $10 each and guarantees that you can have yours installed and ready to go when you need them.”
Two Flow-Shields are used per row for 30 and 38-in. rows. Just one is needed for each cultivator shank on 12-in., 15-in., or 20-in. rows. Shipping is only $18 for up to 37 Flow Shields per package.
“Our plan at Profit Organics is to demonstrate effective and low-cost methods to grow weed-free and thus highly productive and profitable organic crops on small, medium and large organic farms and also for conventional farmers that want to minimize chemical use and cost.
With Flow-Shields on your cultivator you can now handle up to 500 to 1000 acres per tractor unit. “Markets for both Organic and GMO-free grains are growing rapidly. Flow-Shields are helping both organic and conventional farmers to be better able to cash in on these profitable market opportunities,” says Forde.
Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Curt Forde, Profit Organics, P.O. Box 141 Viroqua Wisconsin 54665 (ph 608-606-0810; www.profitorganics.com).
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“Flow-Shields” Let You Double Or Even Triple Cultivation Speeds CULTIVATORS “Flow-Shields break up the flow of dirt coming up from the cultivator shovel crushing the dirt into a consistent accurately delivered stream of fine dirt that can now be directed at the weeds between the corn plants and underneath the soybean leaf canopy at very fast speeds ” says Curt Forde of Profit Organics about his patent-pending new Flow-Shield A seemingly simple idea that he has used for the last 4 growing seasons holds the key to growing weed-free crops for both organic and conventional farmers It consists of a 6 by 6-in sq 1/8th-in thick steel plate that bolts to any existing cultivator shank with a 2-bolt bracket which allows it to be easily adjusted up or down for tall or short corn Forde invented the Flow-Shield in June of 2011 while cultivating corn that was 6 to 8 in tall An 8-row 20-in cultivator was being used with a single C shank between each row fitted with a 9-in wide shovel Cultivating speed had to be drastically reduced whenever cultivating wet soils that resulted in large chunks and slabs of dirt that fell on top of the corn plants “I figured that if I could make something to stop the slabs of dirt from coming up over the top of the corn plants I could drive faster ” says Forde “So I went back to the shop and made a plate and bracket out of steel for one row then went back to the field to try it The first 50 ft down the row I knew I had the solution to better cultivator performance The Flow-Shield stopped all of the large clumps of dirt from being thrown up on top of the corn by crushing them into smaller pieces of dirt creating a steady stream of fine dirt directed toward the bottom half of the corn plant blasting over the finer stemmed weeds between the corn plants The thicker stemmed corn plants were able to resist the stream of dirt flowing out from under the Flow-Shields “The faster I drove the better job of covering the weeds resulted I virtually could not find a plant of corn covered from the much faster speeds And the Flow-Shields on the cultivator now did a nearly perfect job of covering all of the weeds ” Profit Organics has sold Flow-Shields from the Dakotas and the Midwest to the East Coast “We had just 2 customer complaints this year and both were easily solved The first farmer said he was knocking over corn when he got off the row He previously had set his shovels only 4 in away from the row so that adding the Flow-Shields left only 2 in for corn plants to pass between The simple solution was to set each cultivator shank 8 to 10 in away from the row and cover up the weeds rather than trying to dig them out and damage growing corn roots This also allows the cultivator driver to wander side-to-side with no ‘cultivator blight’ and still have the same excellent weed coverage on each side of the row ” The second farmer simply had the Flow-Shields set too low on the shank wedging the soil between the shovel and the Flow-Shields Raising them up a couple of inches on the shanks solved his problem Forde says demand was so strong last year that the company ran out of Flow-Shields 2 times “Your early order now helps us and our manufacturer maintain our low price of just $10 each and guarantees that you can have yours installed and ready to go when you need them ” Two Flow-Shields are used per row for 30 and 38-in rows Just one is needed for each cultivator shank on 12-in 15-in or 20-in rows Shipping is only $18 for up to 37 Flow Shields per package “Our plan at Profit Organics is to demonstrate effective and low-cost methods to grow weed-free and thus highly productive and profitable organic crops on small medium and large organic farms and also for conventional farmers that want to minimize chemical use and cost With Flow-Shields on your cultivator you can now handle up to 500 to 1000 acres per tractor unit “Markets for both Organic and GMO-free grains are growing rapidly Flow-Shields are helping both organic and conventional farmers to be better able to cash in on these profitable market opportunities ” says Forde Contact: FARM SHOW Followup Curt Forde Profit Organics P O Box 141 Viroqua Wisconsin 54665 ph 608-606-0810; www profitorganics com
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