Water Heaters Boost Tractor Traction

Water Heaters Boost Tractor Traction MANURE HANDLING Miscellaneous 18-6-6 If you regularly pull big loads with a smaller tractor, you might want to take a look at the "ballasting" system Donald Stellpflug came up with. Stellpflug pulls a big Balzer manure spreader mounted on wagon axles over his southwestern Wisconsin farm's rolling sand knolls. But because the load is large and the sand soft, Stellpflug's Allis D-17 needed more weight for traction. So Stellpflug mounts two junked 55-gal. water heater tanks underneath the rear axle of his tractor. Four large log chains and three large chain binders hold the tanks in place. The chains wrap around the axles and crisscross the drawbar. When pulling his spreader, Stellpflug fills the tanks with water. The combinaton of water heaters, chains and water adds more than 1,000 lbs. extra weight for bet-ter traction. There were no out-of-pocket expenses," says Stellpflug, "and it works real well." Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Donald Stellpflug, RR 2, Trempealeau, Wis. 54661 (ph 608 582-2518).

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