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Anhydrous Applicator Seals Slot, Stops Sway
"The 3-pt. hitch-mounted 11-knife anhydrous rig we used before had a tendency to sway from side-to-side on hard ground, sometimes putting anhydrous where we didn't want it and none where we really needed it," says Randy Hagan who decided to build his own applicator out of a Deere planter.
The rig stopped the sway problem, says the Waverly, Ky., farmer who uses it for pre-plant applications of anhydrous on corn. "What's more it seals the furrow as good or better than any commercial rig I've ever used," Hagan says.
He stripped the row units off a Deere 7000 12-row (30-in.) planter and used them on a 24-row (I5-in.) planter he built out of another 7000.
The next step was to cut the frame into three sections - a 15-ft. middle section and two 8-ft. end sections - and to remove the planter markers. Both wings of the planter, which fold hydraulically for transport, were extended 15 in. with 7-in. square tubing to make a I3-row (30-in.) applicator.
The applicator uses DMI cultivator shanks fitted with Ace knives. Since the DMI shanks were designed for a 4-in. square tool bar, Hagan had to make new mounting brackets that would fit the applicator's 7-in. square frame. He used 1/ 2 in. thick flat plate.
Then he mounted a 4-in. square bar in front of the main tool bar so DMI no-till 20-in. dia. straight coulters could be fitted to the rig.
Sealer wheels off of a Tye grain drill mount behind knives to close the furrow.
A MicroTrac monitor mounted on the applicator controls flow of anhydrous from the tank through the main supply hose to each knife.
Hagan built a 3-ft. long hitch out of channel iron for the back of the applicator. It allows him to hitch a 4,000-lb. capacity wagon to the applicator.
He also built a height-adjustable hitch for the front of the rig. which he pulls with either a Deere 8630 4-WD or Deere 4850 2-WD tractor. The hitch allows him to put additional downpressure on sealer wheels in rough conditions.
Hagan also pulls a Kasco leveling bar behind the anhydrous rig to level ground and to ensure furrows are entirely closed.
Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Randy Hagan, 79 Waverly Hitesville Road, Waverly, Ky. 42462 (ph 502 389-0422).


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1995 - Volume #19, Issue #3