“Right-Size” Equipment Built To Match Needs
With small farm equipment hard to find and expensive to buy, Ben and Emily Jackle prefer to “right-size” what’s available. With 12 of their 32 acres in organic certified specialty crops, they don’t need an 8-row planter, cultivator or transplanter. However, they’ve figured out how to cut down the toolbars and set aside extra components.
“Adapting large equipment bridges the gap between small and large-scale vegetable farming,” says Ben Jackle, Mile Creek Farm. “Instead of buying a large-scale tine weeder, we buy the spring-loaded tines and mount them to a homemade frame.”
Jackle advises never throwing away old 3-pt. hitches. He notes that they come in handy for mounting a tine weeder frame or other shop-made toolbars, such as his pre bedder with 2 sets of disk blades set at an angle to rough out beds or a shaper pan to flatten them.
Large-scale equipment isn’t all that gets modified. Jackle really likes his old Allis Chalmers G for cultivation. However, rather than changing cultivator shanks, he modified the G so he can easily swap out the toolbars.
“We have a whole series of toolbars with various cultivation tools on them,” says Jackle. “We also redesigned the old Planter Jr. from a belly mount to a 3-pt. frame with guide wheels to keep it in place on the bed. We still get the precision of the belly mount without the tight space for mounting it.”
Even small changes can save time and energy, adds Jackle. While he didn’t modify his used 10-ft. disc sections or hitch, he did make changes to the wing adjustor.
“I welded some nuts on the screw-type adjustor,” says Jackle. “They allow me to use a battery-powered impact wrench to adjust the wing angles.”
Jackle advises others to hack their own equipment. “Don’t be afraid to change things,” he says. “The way things become really useful is to make them easy to use.”
Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Mile Creek Farm, 10786 Mile Rd., New Lebanon, Ohio 45345 (ph 937 687-8762; www.milecreekfarm.com).
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“Right-Size” Equipment Built To Match Needs CULTIVATORS With small farm equipment hard to find and expensive to buy Ben and Emily Jackle prefer to “right-size” what’s available With 12 of their 32 acres in organic certified specialty crops they don’t need an 8-row planter cultivator or transplanter However they’ve figured out how to cut down the toolbars and set aside extra components “Adapting large equipment bridges the gap between small and large-scale vegetable farming ” says Ben Jackle Mile Creek Farm “Instead of buying a large-scale tine weeder we buy the spring-loaded tines and mount them to a homemade frame ” Jackle advises never throwing away old 3-pt hitches He notes that they come in handy for mounting a tine weeder frame or other shop-made toolbars such as his pre bedder with 2 sets of disk blades set at an angle to rough out beds or a shaper pan to flatten them Large-scale equipment isn’t all that gets modified Jackle really likes his old Allis Chalmers G for cultivation However rather than changing cultivator shanks he modified the G so he can easily swap out the toolbars “We have a whole series of toolbars with various cultivation tools on them ” says Jackle “We also redesigned the old Planter Jr from a belly mount to a 3-pt frame with guide wheels to keep it in place on the bed We still get the precision of the belly mount without the tight space for mounting it ” Even small changes can save time and energy adds Jackle While he didn’t modify his used 10-ft disc sections or hitch he did make changes to the wing adjustor “I welded some nuts on the screw-type adjustor ” says Jackle “They allow me to use a battery-powered impact wrench to adjust the wing angles ” Jackle advises others to hack their own equipment “Don’t be afraid to change things ” he says “The way things become really useful is to make them easy to use ” Contact: FARM SHOW Followup Mile Creek Farm 10786 Mile Rd New Lebanon Ohio 45345 ph 937 687-8762; www milecreekfarm com
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