Pasture Vacuum Makes Manure Clean-Up Easy

2000 - Volume #24, Issue #5, Page #20

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If you've got a few animals on a limited amount of pasture, you know that as time goes by it gets more and more difficult to keep your shoes clean.
  After listening to his wife, Lona, complain about messy loafing areas and pastures that her alpacas had to live in, John Frank, Beaverton, Oregon, decided to help out.
  The Franks had purchased their small farm after he retired from owning and operating a company that produced equipment for the lumber industry.
  Frank tried cleaning up after Lona's alpacas with a rake, a shovel and a wheelbarrow, but he says, "That was just too slow and was tough on the grass."
  Instead, he developed a pasture vacuum, which he has since trademarked as the Ultra-Vac.
  This tractor-mounted vacuum has a 22-in. impeller, which provides enough suction to pick up manure, even in thick grass, and mulch it before blowing it into a hopper so it can be hauled off the field and piled for composting. Frank's vacuum is pto powered, and requires at least a 25 hp tractor to run it.
  It has a 20-ft. long, 6-in. vacuum hose attached to the left side that gives the operator about a 200-degree working area behind and to the left side of the tractor. Operating the unit with two people is faster and easier as one person drives the tractor and the other operates the hose. "One person can use it, but it means a lot of getting on and off the tractor," he says.
  Once people heard about it, he began to get orders. Rather than spend all his time making pasture vacuums, though, he turned manufacture of the Ultra-Vac over to a small company. There are several versions of the Ultra-Vac available, with various impeller and hopper sizes and you can order them in colors to match your tractor. Prices range from $3,800 to about $5,000.
  Contact: FARM SHOW Follow-up, John Frank, 22750 SW Rosedale Road, Beaverton, Oregon 97007 (ph 503 649-2128). You can also look at some of these items and see Lona's alpacas, too, on the Internet at www.alpacatv.com.

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Pasture Vacuum Makes Manure Clean-Up Easy MANURE HANDLING Miscellaneous 24-5-20 If you've got a few animals on a limited amount of pasture, you know that as time goes by it gets more and more difficult to keep your shoes clean. After listening to his wife, Lona, complain about messy loafing areas and pastures that her alpacas had to live in, John Frank, Beaverton, Oregon, decided to help out. The Franks had purchased their small farm after he retired from owning and operating a company that produced equipment for the lumber industry. Frank tried cleaning up after Lona's alpacas with a rake, a shovel and a wheelbarrow, but he says, "That was just too slow and was tough on the grass." Instead, he developed a pasture vacuum, which he has since trademarked as the Ultra-Vac. This tractor-mounted vacuum has a 22-in. impeller, which provides enough suction to pick up manure, even in thick grass, and mulch it before blowing it into a hopper so it can be hauled off the field and piled for composting. Frank's vacuum is pto powered, and requires at least a 25 hp tractor to run it. It has a 20-ft. long, 6-in. vacuum hose attached to the left side that gives the operator about a 200-degree working area behind and to the left side of the tractor. Operating the unit with two people is faster and easier as one person drives the tractor and the other operates the hose. "One person can use it, but it means a lot of getting on and off the tractor," he says. Once people heard about it, he began to get orders. Rather than spend all his time making pasture vacuums, though, he turned manufacture of the Ultra-Vac over to a small company. There are several versions of the Ultra-Vac available, with various impeller and hopper sizes and you can order them in colors to match your tractor. Prices range from $3,800 to about $5,000. Contact: FARM SHOW Follow-up, John Frank, 22750 SW Rosedale Road, Beaverton, Oregon 97007 (ph 503 649-2128). You can also look at some of these items and see Lona's alpacas, too, on the Internet at www.alpacatv.com.

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