Manure Injector Causes Less Soil, Residue Disturbance

Manure Injector Causes Less Soil, Residue Disturbance MANURE HANDLING Equipment 25-3-4 Injecting manure behind a tank saves nutrients, but even the best rigs often leave fields looking like they've been tilled. "The best injector I found still threw up slabs of soil across the field," says Mick Zoske, Hubbard, Iowa, who made the observations while working as a custom applicator. Thinking there had to be a better way, Zoske, an Iowa State University college student, penciled out his ideas for a new type of manure injector. Then he approached Richard Winter, owner of a horse and stock trailer business, for help in building his design. Winter added a few ideas of his own, and the two formed a company to produce and market the new TSS 101 liquid manure injector. The injector features double coulters up front, spaced 8 in. apart, to cut through residue to keep it from hanging up on the 2-in. wide spring-loaded injector shank. On either side of the shank, rotary hoe wheels prevent the injector from plowing up slabs of soil. Behind the shank and rotary hoe wheels is a set of residue manager wheels, set to close the slot cut by the injector. Because of his experience in operating a manure injection rig, Zoske built a hinge into his injection unit. "Other injectors are fastened solid to the toolbar," he says. "That makes turning in the field more difficult and at the same time, disturbs even more soil. We decided that if we put a hinge on the unit where it attaches to the toolbar, it would follow better and throw up less soil." Zoske and Winter had Mark Hanna, an Iowa State University extension agricultural engineer, evaluate their injector. His numbers confirmed that the TSS 101 liquid manure injector caused less soil disturbance. It also leaves more crop residue on the surface, which, Zoske points out, is important in soil conservation. The unit as it's being built now fits either a 4 by 4, 4 by 6 or 6 by 6 toolbar. "We can custom make the mounting for any size toolbar, though," says Zoske. Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Winske, Inc., 21816 Co. Hwy D55, Hubbard, Iowa 50122 (ph 641 864-3275 or 641 640-0754; fax: 641 864-2445).

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