Divided 6-Row Cultivator Mounts On Sides, Rear Of Tractor

Divided 6-Row Cultivator Mounts on Sides, Rear of Tractor CULTIVATORS Cultivators (58C) 15-3-6 The cost of buying a new 6-row cultivator prompted Mahlon Martin, Green-castle, Penn., to convert his existing 4-row Lilliston cultivator into a 6-row unit by splitting it into two 2-row units that mount on either side of his Deere 2630 tractor and buying two new Lilliston row units to mount on the rear. Martin used 4 by 4-in. steel tubing to build a toolbar for the rear-mounted row units, then built a steel frame that runs across the front of the tractor to support the side-mounted row units. Mounting brackets removed from a Deere 48 loader attach the frame to the tractor. All three 2-row units can be raised and lowered independently. "I built it after I switched from a 4-row to a 6-row planter," says Martin. "It really works great on point rows and around rocks and grass waterways be-cause I can lift any of the two-row units out of the way. When I want to remove the side units and install my front-end loader I simply loosen two bolts on each side of the tractor and one bolt in front, then swing the cultivator out." To support the side-mounted units, Martin first built the triangular steel frame that runs across the front of the tractor and out to either side, and then ran parallel linkages back to the toolbars. Each side of the cultivator is raised and lowered by a single hydraulic cylinder. A 3-in. dia. pipe mounted inside a 3 1/2-in. pipe on each side of the tractor serves as a pivot point. Martin spent $1,123 to build the frame and $599 for the two new cultivator units. He notes that the split cultivator would mount on any Deere tractor that a 48 loader would mount on. Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Mahlon Martin, 12458 Gearhart Road, Greencastle, Penn. 17225 (ph 717 597-3574).

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