Deere Combine Makes Low-Cost Crop Sprayer

Deere Combine Makes Low-Cost Crop Sprayer COMBINES Conversions 17-6-8 Bruce Krabseth, Alamo, N. Dak., turned a 1968 Deere 95 combine into a self-propelled sprayer equipped with a 68-ft. boom that offers great visibility and covers acres fast. Krabseth stripped away the back of the combine including the straw walker, sieves, and grain tank unloading auger. He mounted a 300-gal. tank behind the cab at the back of the machine and a 160-gal. saddle tank on each side. He also mounted a 30-gal. chemical inductor tank behind the spray tank on back of the frame. He replaced the header with a 3-section boom. "It gave me a low-cost sprayer that I can use for both preplant and postemergence herbicides," says Krabseth, who built the sprayer two years ago. "I can raise the boom up to 36 in. high and spray postemergence herbicides at about 12 mph and cover 90 acres in an hour. I used it to spray more than 1,000 acres on my farm last year. The combine's belt-drive variable transmission lets me operate at variable speeds for different rates of application. All controls are in the cab. "I use a Raven monitor that automatically keeps a uniform application rate no matter what speed I go. The monitor is mounted inside the grain tank which I cover with a wooden roof. The roof protects the monitor from spray drift and always keeps it dry. The sprayer pump, which is powered by an orbit motor, is also mounted under the roof. Since the cab sits high above the booms, I have great visibility and avoid chemical odors. The sprayer is powered by the combine's original 100 hp 6-cyl. gas engine. "I built it two years ago for about $5,000. My biggest expense was for the monitor. I also bought Blumhardt nozzles and hoses. A new spray rig of comparable capacity would cost up to $60,000. I had been hiring a custom applicator. I figure I paid for the sprayer in one year." The boom is raised and lowered from the cab by the feederhouse hydraulic cylinders. It's hinged in two places and can be manually folded against the sides of the combine. Krabseth used 1-in. sq. steel hollow tubing to build the center section of the boom and ?-in. solid square steel to build the lightweight outside sections. He bolted the frame from a skid-mounted pickup sprayer to the feeder housing, then bolted the center section of his home-built spray boom to the frame. Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Bruce Krabseth, HC 1, Box 38, Alamo, N. Dak. 58830 (ph 701 528-4772).

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