"We have a custom manure hauling business and this rig lets us go fast both in the field and on the road. It also reduces compaction," says Dennis Hess, Fonda, Iowa, who converted a self-propelled "Terra Truck" floater sprayer to pull a big liquid manure tank equipped with injectors.

He started with an Ag Chem "Terra Truck" 1604 floater. He removed the truck's 1,600-gal. spray tank and boom. He mounted a pintle hitch between the rear wheels and added live hydraulics. He then bought a Van Dale 5,500-gal., tandem axle liquid manure tank originally designed to be pulled by a tractor. He removed the original hitch and replaced it with a gooseneck hitch that he built out of 15-in. steel I-beams. He also moved the tandem axles back toward the rear of the wagon to put more of the weight on the Terra Truck. The tank's vacuum pump and slinger are operated by the truck's live hydraulics.

To inject manure he mounted Vittetoe disc injectors on a 4 by 4 home-built toolbar that bolts onto the back of the tank.

Hess custom hauls about 40 million gallons of hog manure every year. "We can go down the road with a full load at 25 to 30 mph and inject manure in the field at 7 mph. Both the Terra Truck and the tank are equipped with big flotation tires so it has a smooth ride even when we go fast over rough ground.

"We remove the toolbar and injectors during the winter. If we ever want to pull it with a tractor again, we can put the hitch back on and move the wheels ahead in only a couple of hours.

"We bought the Terra Truck at an auction. It was in good condition and has about 200 hp. We bought the tank new.

"We mounted a hydraulic reservoir on one side of the truck and mounted an oil cooler fan behind the cab. We can vacuum manure into the side of the tank or top fill it. The tank originally came with a fill hole at the top on back. However, we wanted to be able to see the fill hole from the cab as we're loading the tank so we plugged up the hole on back and made a new one on front. A custom-made hatch and hydraulic-opened lid was then made to fit the hole."