Hydraulic Lift For Horse-Drawn Cultivator
Eric Nordell loves his McCormick-Deering straddle-row riding cultivator, but he loves it even more with the addition of a hydraulic lift. He appreciated the flexibility and efficiency of the century-old cultivator. What he didn’t like was raising and lowering it by hand. Nordell detailed his solution in a recent article in Rural Heritage magazine and shared an overview with FARM SHOW.
“The long lever on the right side of the McCormick requires reaching above shoulder height to lift the gangs into transport position,” says Nordell. “Although the lift spring can be adjusted to minimize the effort, repeatedly reaching overhead is not the best for the shoulder. Lowering the gangs can be even less ergonomically correct. Over the years, this repetitive motion can strain the shoulder, wrist and elbow.”
Nordell uses the cultivator repeatedly through the season, cultivating 3 acres of vegetables, forming and renovating planting beds, marking rows for direct seeding and transplanting, hilling potatoes, no-tilling and harvesting garlic and most primary tillage. With most rows running only 380 ft., that’s a lot of up and down motions.
It took a health emergency for Nordell and his wife Anne to upgrade the cultivator with hydraulics. They recognized doing it was a necessity if they were going to continue farming.
“We contacted Jonathon Beiler at Crossroads Cultivator in Brogue, Penn.,” says Nordell. “He offered to build us a prototype hydraulic system for the cost of materials.”
Brackets, solar panel, battery and 12-volt hydraulic pump and cylinder came to $963. Nordell went with a non-spillable, deep cycle marine battery. While it adds significant weight, it powers the hydraulic pump even in cloudy weather. Once installed, a push of a button raises and lowers the cultivator gangs.
“Even if we added the fair cost of labor and profit, it still would be one of our best investments in horse-drawn equipment,” says Nordell. “Our only regret is waiting so long to make this first-of-its-kind improvement.”
Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Anne and Eric Nordell, 3410 Rt. 184, Trout Run, Penn. 17771 or Crossroad Cultivators, Jonathan L. Beiler, 1697 Furnace Rd., Brogue, Penn. 17309 (ph 717 927-1697).
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Hydraulic Lift For Horse-Drawn Cultivator CULTIVATORS Eric Nordell loves his McCormick-Deering straddle-row riding cultivator but he loves it even more with the addition of a hydraulic lift He appreciated the flexibility and efficiency of the century-old cultivator What he didn’t like was raising and lowering it by hand Nordell detailed his solution in a recent article in Rural Heritage magazine and shared an overview with FARM SHOW “The long lever on the right side of the McCormick requires reaching above shoulder height to lift the gangs into transport position ” says Nordell “Although the lift spring can be adjusted to minimize the effort repeatedly reaching overhead is not the best for the shoulder Lowering the gangs can be even less ergonomically correct Over the years this repetitive motion can strain the shoulder wrist and elbow ” Nordell uses the cultivator repeatedly through the season cultivating 3 acres of vegetables forming and renovating planting beds marking rows for direct seeding and transplanting hilling potatoes no-tilling and harvesting garlic and most primary tillage With most rows running only 380 ft that’s a lot of up and down motions It took a health emergency for Nordell and his wife Anne to upgrade the cultivator with hydraulics They recognized doing it was a necessity if they were going to continue farming “We contacted Jonathon Beiler at Crossroads Cultivator in Brogue Penn ” says Nordell “He offered to build us a prototype hydraulic system for the cost of materials ” Brackets solar panel battery and 12-volt hydraulic pump and cylinder came to $963 Nordell went with a non-spillable deep cycle marine battery While it adds significant weight it powers the hydraulic pump even in cloudy weather Once installed a push of a button raises and lowers the cultivator gangs “Even if we added the fair cost of labor and profit it still would be one of our best investments in horse-drawn equipment ” says Nordell “Our only regret is waiting so long to make this first-of-its-kind improvement ” Contact: FARM SHOW Followup Anne and Eric Nordell 3410 Rt 184 Trout Run Penn 17771 or Crossroad Cultivators Jonathan L Beiler 1697 Furnace Rd Brogue Penn 17309 ph 717 927-1697
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