Soil Sampler Drills Through Frozen Ground
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"It's the first practical way to take soil samples in frozen ground," says Glenn Spreeman, Schuyler, Neb., who, along with Ron Henggeler, has developed a pickup-mounted soil sampler that drills through both frozen and thawed ground alike, gathering samples any time of year.
"Unless you can handle frozen ground, you can only work during the period after harvest before winter comes or in the spring when both mud and time are a problem. We decided to find an efficient way to take samples in, frozen ground," says Spreeman.
He's used his unit successfully for five years.
Using a combination of a 2¢ by 24-in. hydraulic cylinder and an orbit motor, the rig takes a core sample 10-in. long in 12 to 15 sec. in thawed ground and 25 to 30 sec. in frozen ground. As the cylinder pushes the bit into the ground, the orbit motor turns it. When the bit is withdrawn, the sample drops off into a box. When several cores have been gathered from the particular sampling area, the operator simply pours the box of cores into a sample bag.
The soil sampler's hydraulics are driven by a pump powered off the engine's fan belt. Mounting brackets attach to the pickup's frame so that, once installed, remounting the sampler is a 5 min. job. The body of the pickup is not altered in any way.
"The biggest problem in building the unit was developing the bit. We had to specially design it to take a good sample under rugged conditions. Our bits last 20,000 to 30,000 acres," says Spreeman.
In addition to his own consulting work, Spreeman does some custom sampling for fertilizer dealers. He and Henggeler, who is one of his customers, build the samplers on a custom basis and would like to talk to manufacturers about licensing the idea.
For more information, contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Glenn Spreeman, Ag-Gro-Nomics, 306 Meadow Lane, Schuyler, Neb. 68661 (ph 402 352-2228).
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Soil Sampler Drills Through Frozen Ground CROPS Miscellaneous 10-1-28 "It's the first practical way to take soil samples in frozen ground," says Glenn Spreeman, Schuyler, Neb., who, along with Ron Henggeler, has developed a pickup-mounted soil sampler that drills through both frozen and thawed ground alike, gathering samples any time of year.
"Unless you can handle frozen ground, you can only work during the period after harvest before winter comes or in the spring when both mud and time are a problem. We decided to find an efficient way to take samples in, frozen ground," says Spreeman.
He's used his unit successfully for five years.
Using a combination of a 2¢ by 24-in. hydraulic cylinder and an orbit motor, the rig takes a core sample 10-in. long in 12 to 15 sec. in thawed ground and 25 to 30 sec. in frozen ground. As the cylinder pushes the bit into the ground, the orbit motor turns it. When the bit is withdrawn, the sample drops off into a box. When several cores have been gathered from the particular sampling area, the operator simply pours the box of cores into a sample bag.
The soil sampler's hydraulics are driven by a pump powered off the engine's fan belt. Mounting brackets attach to the pickup's frame so that, once installed, remounting the sampler is a 5 min. job. The body of the pickup is not altered in any way.
"The biggest problem in building the unit was developing the bit. We had to specially design it to take a good sample under rugged conditions. Our bits last 20,000 to 30,000 acres," says Spreeman.
In addition to his own consulting work, Spreeman does some custom sampling for fertilizer dealers. He and Henggeler, who is one of his customers, build the samplers on a custom basis and would like to talk to manufacturers about licensing the idea.
For more information, contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Glenn Spreeman, Ag-Gro-Nomics, 306 Meadow Lane, Schuyler, Neb. 68661 (ph 402 352-2228).
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