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(If your subscription is current, click here to Login or Register.)2011 - Volume #35, Issue #3, Page #31
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Home-Built Side Dress Rig For Liquid N
With 500-gal. tanks front and back, Jeff Wuebker's 12-row, side dress rig covers a lot of ground between fills. A cantilevered center frame beam holds the front tank in place. The rear tank sits on a frame mounted on the Deere 8440's 3-pt. hitch. "The 18 1/2-in. wide center frame holds the tank low enough..........

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Home-Built Side Dress Rig For Liquid N FERTILIZER APPLICATION Fertilizer Application 58f With 500-gal tanks front and back Jeff Wuebker s 12-row side dress rig covers a lot of ground between fills A cantilevered center frame beam holds the front tank in place The rear tank sits on a frame mounted on the Deere 8440 s 3-pt hitch
The 18 1/2-in wide center frame holds the tank low enough that I can see over the top without a problem says Weubker The narrow support doesn t interfere with the front wheels so I still have a tight turning radius
The center beam is actually two 94-in lengths of 3-in by 6-in 3/8-in thick rectangular tubing The two lengths are connected at the ends by 12-in sections welded between them and 40 in of the center beam extends under the frame of the tractor
Two 19 1/2-in long steel hooks are welded to the outside of the center beam at the 40-in mark Cut out of 3/4-in thick plate they extend up and hook the front weight brackets on the 8400
Two 6-in wide by 18-in high 1-in thick steel plates are welded to the sides of the center beam at the end under the tractor frame The 3/4-in holes drilled in the plates match existing bolt holes in the engine block/frame of the tractor
Our dealer told us the tires would be the limiting factor not the frame Wuebker says
The remaining 54 in of the center beam extend out in front of the tractor grill to support the used 500-gal tank When Wuebker and his brother who is his farming partner bought the tank it came with a support cradle made from 1-in by 3-in channel iron They simply welded it to the center beam tubing
We use a skid steer to mount the tank and the center beam says Wuebker We have to take the front grill off the tractor and tilt the tank in close to hook the front weight bracket Once the hooks are in place and the end plates are bolted to the tractor there is plenty of room to remount the grill
The rear 500-gal tank is mounted to a framework made from two 4-in by 4-in toolbars formerly used for side dressing The Wuebkers picked up two newer ones at an auction One was reserved for use as a toolbar The other was paired with an older toolbar to make the tank frame to hang on the 3-pt hitch
We cut them down and turned one so it faced forward and the second faced backwards and welded them together says Wuebker They are about 5 ft wide from front to back enough to support the tank which is about 4 ft in diameter
The rear toolbar on the tank support frame has its original hitch for a trailing anhydrous tank The applicator toolbar bolts tight to it With the entire rear unit suspended by the 3-pt hitch Wuebker can back into a corner of a field or other tight spot without a problem
The working toolbar has five knives on the main frame Each of the hydraulically-operated wings has three knives
A 1 1/2-in hose runs from the front tank to the rear A hydraulically-driven pump pulls 28 percent liquid N from the tanks A bypass valve lets Wuebker shut down the flow to the knives while the pump continues to work sending fluid back into the rear tank
Wuebker pumps the liquid fertilizer through a flow divider to 12 application tubes Each is connected to a Wilger ball flow indicator
A quick glance back tells me the knives are all working correctly says Wuebker If one ball is lower than the others I know the flow is getting restricted and I need to stop at the row end and check it
Ball valves on the tank make it easy to fill without running over or splashing fluid on the tractor They also avoid splashing by never filling beyond the 450-gal mark
The Wuebkers have an Ag Leader Insight controller mounted on the unit Though they use manual controls for the most part they can use it to change rates on-the-go and do variable rate applications
Being able to change rates is one reason we switched to a hydraulic pump from the original ground driven unit says Wuebker
The two toolbars only cost the brothers about $50 each some years ago The tanks were also relatively cheap The only real costs were the pump and controller and time spent welding
Our dad loved to weld and taught both of us says Wuebker If we need something for the farm we build it
Contact: FARM SHOW Followup Jeff Wuebker 11607 Versaille-Yorkshire Rd Versailles Ohio 45380 ph 937 526-9864 or 937 426-4065; jdwuebker@embarqmail com
The 18 1/2-in wide center frame holds the tank low enough that I can see over the top without a problem says Weubker The narrow support doesn t interfere with the front wheels so I still have a tight turning radius
The center beam is actually two 94-in lengths of 3-in by 6-in 3/8-in thick rectangular tubing The two lengths are connected at the ends by 12-in sections welded between them and 40 in of the center beam extends under the frame of the tractor
Two 19 1/2-in long steel hooks are welded to the outside of the center beam at the 40-in mark Cut out of 3/4-in thick plate they extend up and hook the front weight brackets on the 8400
Two 6-in wide by 18-in high 1-in thick steel plates are welded to the sides of the center beam at the end under the tractor frame The 3/4-in holes drilled in the plates match existing bolt holes in the engine block/frame of the tractor
Our dealer told us the tires would be the limiting factor not the frame Wuebker says
The remaining 54 in of the center beam extend out in front of the tractor grill to support the used 500-gal tank When Wuebker and his brother who is his farming partner bought the tank it came with a support cradle made from 1-in by 3-in channel iron They simply welded it to the center beam tubing
We use a skid steer to mount the tank and the center beam says Wuebker We have to take the front grill off the tractor and tilt the tank in close to hook the front weight bracket Once the hooks are in place and the end plates are bolted to the tractor there is plenty of room to remount the grill
The rear 500-gal tank is mounted to a framework made from two 4-in by 4-in toolbars formerly used for side dressing The Wuebkers picked up two newer ones at an auction One was reserved for use as a toolbar The other was paired with an older toolbar to make the tank frame to hang on the 3-pt hitch
We cut them down and turned one so it faced forward and the second faced backwards and welded them together says Wuebker They are about 5 ft wide from front to back enough to support the tank which is about 4 ft in diameter
The rear toolbar on the tank support frame has its original hitch for a trailing anhydrous tank The applicator toolbar bolts tight to it With the entire rear unit suspended by the 3-pt hitch Wuebker can back into a corner of a field or other tight spot without a problem
The working toolbar has five knives on the main frame Each of the hydraulically-operated wings has three knives
A 1 1/2-in hose runs from the front tank to the rear A hydraulically-driven pump pulls 28 percent liquid N from the tanks A bypass valve lets Wuebker shut down the flow to the knives while the pump continues to work sending fluid back into the rear tank
Wuebker pumps the liquid fertilizer through a flow divider to 12 application tubes Each is connected to a Wilger ball flow indicator
A quick glance back tells me the knives are all working correctly says Wuebker If one ball is lower than the others I know the flow is getting restricted and I need to stop at the row end and check it
Ball valves on the tank make it easy to fill without running over or splashing fluid on the tractor They also avoid splashing by never filling beyond the 450-gal mark
The Wuebkers have an Ag Leader Insight controller mounted on the unit Though they use manual controls for the most part they can use it to change rates on-the-go and do variable rate applications
Being able to change rates is one reason we switched to a hydraulic pump from the original ground driven unit says Wuebker
The two toolbars only cost the brothers about $50 each some years ago The tanks were also relatively cheap The only real costs were the pump and controller and time spent welding
Our dad loved to weld and taught both of us says Wuebker If we need something for the farm we build it
Contact: FARM SHOW Followup Jeff Wuebker 11607 Versaille-Yorkshire Rd Versailles Ohio 45380 ph 937 526-9864 or 937 426-4065; jdwuebker@embarqmail com
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