Big Sprayer Built From Self-Propelled Combine

Big Sprayer Built From Self-Propelled Combine COMBINES Conversions 14-4-21 Virgil Moeller, Spring Valley, Minn., turned a 1976 International 815 6-row combine into an 80-ft. wide self-propelled sprayer that offers great visibility and lets him cover acres fast. Moeller stripped away everything but the engine, front axle, and cab. He used an old truck frame to build a chassis that supports a 1,000-gal. tank mounted behind the cab and a 3-section Blumhardt boom in front. He replaced the original front wheels with large 18.4 by 42 tractor tires and mounted 11.9 by 36 tires on back. He replaced the original rear axle with an axle from a Deere 6600 combine that could be widened to 120 in. to straddle four 30-in. rows. "I needed more capacity and wider booms than my pickup mounted sprayer. I used this new rig to spray 2,500 acres on my farm last year and do another 1,000 acres of custom spraying. On a good day I can spray 50 acres per hour at 9 mph. At 20 gallons per acre I can go 50 acres without refilling. Visibility from the cab is excellent. Because the sprayer has the combine's hydrostatic transmission, I can operate at variable speeds for different rates of application. The boom is hydraulically adjusted from ground level up to 6 ft. so I can spray broadleaf weeds in soybeans or tall corn. When raised all the way, the boom lifts over most obstacles and also makes it easy to change nozzles." Moeller bought the combine from a dealer for $2,500. He built the 20-ft. center section of the sprayer from 5-in. sq. box wall tubing and the 30 ft. wings from 3-in. sq. tubing. The flat-fan nozzles on the boom are set up on 15-in. spacing. A Raven 440 spray monitor controls the flow. A 200-gal. auxilliary tank mounted beside the 1,000-gal. main tank feeds chemical to a "cheater" nozzle at the end of the right wing that lets Moeller spray around edges of fields, fences, and high-line poles. The boom sections are independently controlled from the cab by solenoid valves. A pair of 3 by 36-in. hydraulic cylinders raises and lowers the entire boom, and a pair of 3 by 12-in. hydraulic cylinders raises the wings for use on hillsides and for transport. In transport the wings fold back beside the combine for a total road width of 24 ft. Moeller installed an air conditioning system removed from an old truck. Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Virgil Moeller, Box 109, Spring Valley, Minn. 55975 (ph 507 346-2057 or 507 346-2772).

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