Cotton Stalk Puller Expands To All-Crop Tillage

Cotton Stalk Puller Expands To All-Crop Tillage STALK CHOPPERS The Stalk PULLr from Orthman by Unverferth was initially designed to pull cotton stalks Today it’s proving itself in residue management and seedbed preparation for multiple crops including corn milo sunflowers and cotton “Cotton producers needed to get the cotton stalk and root ball out of the ground to eliminate the habitat for the boll weevil ” says Justin Troudt Orthman “Through the years it moved into ridge tillage to pull corn stalks Today it’s used for high-speed low-horsepower low-maintenance residue management and more ” Stalk PULLr row-units are mounted on heavy-duty 7 by 7-in frame construction in multiple sizes up to 18 row widths and row spacings of 30 to 40 in Folding toolbar models feature the Orthman Toolbar with internal hydraulic fold cylinders and in-line wing hinges Each row-unit requires as little as 5 to 10 hp as there’s minimal ground engagement “You just pull it across the ground ” says Troudt “If a tractor can lift it it can pull it ” Key features of the tillage tool include 24-in dia ground-driven cutting discs with cleats on their sides to keep them turning when engaged in the ground in very hard conditions Paired blades slightly overlap each other to present a leading edge As the blades wear one can be moved in to maintain the overlap Eventually the blades can be swapped for even more wear from both “There’s a lot of adjustability with the Stalk PULLr ” says Troudt “There are four different disc cutting angles for fine-tuning the aggressiveness of the tillage from just cutting off the stalk at the root ball crown to pulling out the root crown to pulling out the entire plant with the root ball ” The Stalk PULLr can be operated at up to 12 mph removing weeds and crop residue and drying out the soil The self-lubricating greaseless bushings in the row-unit parallel linkage eliminate daily maintenance Options include front-mount chopping units with seven 12-in dia high-carbon steel blades with angle and depth adjustments Gauge wheels with adjustable heights for added depth control are also available “The 12-row model with folding toolbar wings and chopper units on the front is our most common model ” says Troudt “It has a list price of $75 000 ” Contact: FARM SHOW Followup Unverferth Manufacturing Company P O Box 357 Kalida Ohio 45853 ph 419-532-3121; info@unverferth com; www orthmanequip com

To read the rest of this story, download this issue below or click here to register with your account number.