Ground-Leveling "Roller Blader" Doubles As Seeder

Ground-Leveling "Roller Blader" Doubles As Seeder MISCELLANEOUS EQUIPMENT Earth Movers 24-5-26 You've never seen anything like this new "roller blader" that's designed to level gopher mounds in standing alfalfa and can also be used to plant shallow-seeded crops such as flax, canola, alfalfa and other grasses. The 20-ft. wide, hydraulic-powered machine is equipped with a pair of 10-ft. steel "swing blades" that can be angled forward or backward. A big 4-ft. dia., 11/16-in. thick steel roller weighing 6,200 lbs. follows behind the blades to press seeds and/or small rocks into the soil. A Valmar air applicator mounts on top of the machine, distributing seed between the blades and the roller. Seed is blown through tubes onto a deflector shield and falls onto the ground just ahead of the roller. The rig has four gauge wheels on front and four on back to keep the blades level at all times. Two hydraulic cylinders per blade are used to change the blade angle, and two more cylinders per blade are used to raise and lower the blades. "It's a blader, packer, and seeder all in one. It's unbelievable how many jobs you can do with this rig," says inventor Alvin Almer, Tuttle, N. Dak. "I've used my machine to seed 1,500 acres of canola, 1,500 acres of alfalfa, and 20 acres of flax. I recently used it to break up 150 acres of rocky pasture ground in which I intend to plant crops. I got the idea for it three years ago when I wanted to break up my CRP ground so I could farm it. The field was badly infested with pocket gopher mounds, and I needed a machine that could level them off so I wouldn't damage other equipment. "We also use the machine in the spring to level off gopher mounds before there's much new growth. I run the blades about 1/4 in. off the ground so that they scrape across the top of the alfalfa without tearing it up. At haying time the mower's cutterbar will be able to cut all the hay in the field, instead of having to go up over the mounds and miss some. In field tests we've found that this machine can increase hay production by up to 18 percent. "The machine can also be used to plant any shallow-seeded crop into chisel plowed ground. The blades do a great job of leveling off the ridges, and the roller consistently keeps the seed in the top half inch of soil. It often works better than a grain drill because it distributes seed more uniformly and at a more consistent depth. "The blades are the same ones used on Caterpillar and Deere road graders and are operated by rephasing hydraulic cylinders specifically designed for this machine. The blades are positioned at a forward angle when leveling off gopher mounds and seeding. They can be set at a backward angle to move rocks off to both sides into windrows. The rocks can later be removed by a rock picker. "The blades can also be set to run straight across for building roads and doing landscaping work. In fact, we think this machine will be ideal for road ditch reconstruction because it's able to seed grass at the same time and also push rocks into the ground. I recently used the machine to recondition a landing runway for a local aerial crop sprayer. The blades stay perfectly level so it really made a nice, smooth runway. We think it'll also work great for constructing golf courses. "We recommend using a 150 hp tractor to pull it. The machine is built heavy. We've hit large rocks at 5 mph that stopped our Deere 4450 150 hp tractor without damaging anything," notes Almer. The standard 20-ft. model sells for about $45,000. A 10-ft. model is also available that sells for about $30,000. The company also plans to build a 32-ft. model. The machine is making its debut this fall at farm shows. Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Alvin Almer, 940 Hwy 2, Tuttle, N. Dak. 58488 (ph 701 867-2747, cell phone 701 220-6411) or Gregg Boyer, 4360 Hwy. 1806 Byp., Mandan, N. Dak. 58554 (ph 701 226-0847).

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