Clodbuster Hitches Behind Field Cultivator

Clodbuster Hitches Behind Field Cultivator CULTIVATORS Cultivators (58C) 19-3-7 "I looked at a couple of commercial clod crumblers but didn't see one that was going to work for me, so I built my own," says Jim Vorwald about a "clodbuster" he built to firm up seedbeds in the spring. He pulls the clodbuster behind his 18 1/ 2-ft. wide Krause field cultivator. It features a heavy-duty 18-ft. long gooseneck hitch made out of 3 by 4-in. channel iron and 4 by 6-in. steel tubing. Because the cultivator already had 3 harrow rakes on back, the crumbler needed an extra long hitch so Vorwald could still turn short at the end of the field. "I can turn as short as I could before I added it to the cultivator," says Vorwald who farms near Epworth, Iowa. The clodbuster is 21 ft. wide. It has three 6-ft., 8-in. rolling baskets 17 in. in dia., with 7/8-in. dia. rods made from concrete rebar welded on. The baskets rotate on 1 1/2-in center shafts that run through the tool's main frame. The rolling action after cultivating breaks clods, improves seed-to-soil contact, and reduces erosion by leveling the field, according to Vorwald. The wings of the crumbler fold hydraulically for transport. It also raises and lowers hydraulically on lift assist wheels and stub shaft axles that Vorwald made. Tires, which lift completely off the ground when the clodbuster is being used, are 1lL by 15-in. Vorwald has about $1,200 invested in the tool. Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Jim Vorwald, 22553 East Pleasant Grove Road, Epworth, Iowa 52045 (ph 319 876-3412).

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