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Home Built Caddy Carries Pull-Type Cultivator
A home built caddy lets Paul Pierce, Sullivan, Ill., carry his 12-row, 3-pt. Orthman cultivator behind a Deere 4240 2-WD tractor, sparing him the cost of a larger tractor.
The 17-ft. long caddy, built with 8 x 8 in. tubing, consists of an 8 ft. tongue followed by two 9 ft. long beams set 120 in. apart. The rear e
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Home Built Caddy Carries Pull-Type Cultivator CULTIVATORS Cultivators (58C) 12-3-6 A home built caddy lets Paul Pierce, Sullivan, Ill., carry his 12-row, 3-pt. Orthman cultivator behind a Deere 4240 2-WD tractor, sparing him the cost of a larger tractor.
The 17-ft. long caddy, built with 8 x 8 in. tubing, consists of an 8 ft. tongue followed by two 9 ft. long beams set 120 in. apart. The rear ends of these horizontal beams are supported by 2 vertical beams set on two 12.00 x 16 rigid wheels. The wheels, hydraulically assisted, lift the rear end of the cultivator and set the pitch and depth of the shovels. The tractor's 3-pt. hitch lifts only the front of the cultivator.
"The cultivator weighs over 10,000 lbs. but the caddy takes most of the weight off the tractor," says Pierce. "The 3-pt. hitch carries about 4,000 lbs. and the wheels carry about 6,000 lbs."
According to Pierce, the caddy lets him use a lighter, more economical tractor than otherwise would have been possible. He'd been pulling a 12-row Buffalo 3-pt. cultivator with a Deere 4630 tractor. He has since sold that tractor and now pulls the Buffalo cultivator with a Steiger Puma. "The 4630 was barely enough tractor to pull the Buffalo 3-pt. cultivator. Even with weights on front of the tractor, it was dangerous to drive. Just hitting a bump in the road, the front wheels would `float' - it was that light in front.
"This Orthman cultivator is as heavy, or heavier, than the Buffalo model. How-ever, with the caddy, we can pull it with the smaller Deere 4240, which we al-ready had owned. The 4240 costs about $15,000 less than a 4630 and does just as good a job."
One might think that to stay on the row, a pull-type cultivator would need an automatic guidance system. "Not so," says Pierce, "at least not on our level ground." A mirror inside the tractor cab lets Pierce monitor 1 row and the cutaway disks on either side of it. "With the mirror, I never have to turn around to look back," notes Pierce.
Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Paul Pierce, Rt. 1, Box 109, Sullivan, Ill. 61951 (ph 217 752-6728).
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