2021 - Volume #45, Issue #6, Page #25
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Custom-Built Harrows Fit A Variety Of Equipment
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“I saw a lot of breakage,” says Buteyn. “If they didn’t break, then the brand offered only a couple of options. When they did break, you had to take a gang apart to replace a part, and if rusted tight, it could be an all-day job.”
Buteyn set out to design the perfect harrow, which is one with lots of options, easy to repair and built heavy-duty so they won’t break in the first place. He succeeded and is now marketing the harrows and the components that make them special through his company Real Harrows, LLC.
“Great Plains, McFarlane and Kuhns only offer one type of harrow each with their vertical tillage machines,” says Buteyn. “I have six different harrow gangs that can be easily attached to them. Other brands may require customization.”
He points out that different soils and conditions from the south to the north call for different types of harrows. Buteyn came up with a unique 20-ft. vertical tillage demonstrator.
“I can run four different harrows for a customer to compare what they do to the field,” he says.
Breakage is no problem, thanks to his patent-pending spindle design. It lets individual fingers and paddles, as well as portions of star wheels and farrows, be quickly replaced. Break a finger, remove two screws, pull out the broken piece and put in a new one.
“My harrow design options are almost endless with your choice of spacing,” says Buteyn. “All the pieces are laser cut to the size and shape the customer wants. I also make them three times stronger than what is out on the market today. My harrows have been on the market for three years, and I have yet to sell a replacement part.”
Buteyn’s harrows can replace an OEM harrow on an existing machine, or a customer can order a new machine without a harrow and add one from Real Harrows.
Buteyn also makes rolling baskets for all three brands using round bars instead of flat bars. He notes that round bar baskets are unavailable from McFarlane, but his fit that brand too.
“In our testing, the round bars break dirt clumps up like a flat bar does, but it passes fewer stones because it has the same strength across 360 degrees. I also make them stronger so they will last longer than competitive rolling baskets.”
Buteyn also makes single and double arm brackets. The spring design offers float and tilt for harrows and baskets.
“No one else offers down pressure on a harrow,” he says.
When Buteyn made up short versions of his harrows and rolling baskets to take to trade shows, he discovered a new market. Strip tillers who saw the shortened units wanted them for their machines. He also offers a special closing wheel for that market.
“The only choice they have is a blade, no apparatus like a harrow for covering,” explains Buteyn. “That gave me an idea for my closing wheel, which uses the OEM bearing, but my design sandwiches it. The size and shape can be changed.”
Like others, Buteyn can’t find factory-built machines to mount his harrows. As a result, he has started to build his own. Like his harrows, it promises to be different.
“It is in the drawing stage, but I think I have four unique, patentable features that no one else has,” he says.
Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Real Harrows, W4089 Scenic Rd., Campbellsport, Wis. 53010 (ph 920-464-0779; realharrows@gmail.com; www.realharrowsllc.com).
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