Farmer-Built "Chain Saw" Tiler

Farmer-Built "Chain Saw" Tiler TILING MACHINES Tiling Machines 23-6-25 Most do-it-yourself tiling machines are either tile plows or trenchers. Jay Hagberg, Lafayette, Minnesota, and Randy Johnson, Gibbon, Minnesota, think they have a better idea. Their "chain trencher" tiling machine combines the good points of both tile plows and trenchers but requires less horsepower and works in virtually any type of soil and under any conditions, without having to add another tractor for traction. After completing their second prototype, the men are now confident their first-of-its-kind machine does everything they'd hoped. They've applied for a patent and are looking for feedback from farmers on the design. "Our first machine was 3-pt. mounted. It worked well, but we decided a pull-type machine would be better. You don't need speed or traction to make this tiler work, but you do need to maintain the engine speed to keep the pto at 1000 rpm's. We pull it behind a 170 hp front wheel assist tractor with creeper gears in the transmission because it needs to go slower than most farm tractors will go," Jay says. The machine consists of a digging chain wrapped around a 6-ft. dia. wheel, much like the cutting chain on a chainsaw. It operates in reverse so that dirt is brought up toward the tractor. Most of the dirt is carried back into the trench so little backfilling is needed. "Another advantage of this design is that it pushes rocks up and out of the way rather than down into the trench. If we do find a rock too big for the machine to handle, there's room to dig it out with a backhoe, without having to unhitch the tractor or take the cutter out of the trench," he says. The cutting teeth on the trenching chain are V-shaped, so the trench bottom is cut to that shape. "Our boot is V-shaped, too, so it slides right along in the trench. When the tile is laid into that trench, it's more stable and soil fills in around it better than if it were laying in a flat bottomed trench," Jay notes. "The back of the machine is actually supported by the boot in the trench. We think this makes it easier for the laser to hold it on grade," he says. The Johnson and Hagaberg machine can lay 4, 5 or 6-in. tile. "We can even lay waterlines with it," Jay says. "As long as the diameter of the line is less than 6 in., it will feed down through the boot." Jay's familiar with tile plows. "We had a tractor-mounted tile plow, but got rid of it because we had trouble pulling it, even when we were putting tile in at only 3 or 3 1/2 ft.," he says. "Our machine can't keep up with a tile plow when conditions are right for the plow, but we can hold grade better in any terrain and go up to 8 ft. deep with this in any condition, and we don't need a 300 hp tractor to do it," he says. Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Johnson and Hagberg Tiling, 32589 561st Ave., Lafayette, MN 56054 or Rt. 2, Box 55, Gibbon, MN 55721 (ph 507 228-8569 or 507 228-8320).

To read the rest of this story, download this issue below or click here to register with your account number.