"Why Doesn't Every Farmer Build One?"

"Why Doesn't Every Farmer Build One?" SPRAYING Miscellaneous 23-5-6 "It works so well I don't know why every farmer doesn't build one of these," says Eugene Weimerskirch of Coulee City, Wash., who turned an old Deere 95 combine into a 52-ft. wide self-propelled sprayer that offers great visibility and covers acres fast. He stripped away everything but the engine, front axle, and cab, removing the threshing mechanisms but leaving the outer housing intact. He mounted a 500-gal. tank behind the cab and a 300-gal. tank inside the thresher housing. A commercial 3-section boom mounts on front. He replaced the original rear axle with a 120-in. wide axle off a Deere Hillside combine for extra stability. He also replaced the original rear wheels with large 18.00 by 16 flotation tires. The front tires are original. "I used it to spray 500 acres on my farm last year. I go about 6 mph in the field. Visibility from the cab is excellent," says Weimerskirch. "Because the sprayer has the combine's pulley-actuated transmission, I can operate at variable speeds for different rates of application. The boom can be raised hydraulically from ground level up to 4 ft. so I can clear tall obstacles. "I already had the combine and had built my own cab for it. I kept the cab when I converted the combine to a sprayer. The boom sections are independently controlled from the cab by solenoid valves. The original header lift cylinders are used to raise and lower the entire boom, and another pair of cylinders is used to raise the wings for use on hillsides and for transport. In transport the wings fold back beside the combine for a total road width of 12 ft." Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Eugene Weimerskirch, 11031 SR 17N, Coulee City, Wash. 99115 (ph 509 632-5525).

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