Sprayer Built From Old Combine And 2-Ton Truck

Sprayer Built From Old Combine And 2-Ton Truck COMBINES Conversions “We built an articulated self-propelled sprayer out of parts from an International combine and a 2-ton truck ” says Jerry Denzer of Bloomington Ill about the sprayer he built with a friend Cliff Curry “It cost only about 10 percent of the cost of a brand new one ”
    Denzer’s economical equipment project began when he located an 815 IH combine for just $700 It had a good engine a working hydrostatic drive a serviceable cab and a very rusty harvesting system
    “We stripped everything off the combine down to the wheels and the frame ” Denzer says “sorting out usable parts like the engine the drive system the cab and the brakes We repositioned the steering wheels to track with the drive wheels and threw all the junk parts in the scrap pile ”
    The men then pulled the box the cab the engine wheels and transmission from an old 2-ton Ford truck They replaced a large portion of the combine frame with the truck frame and kept the leaf springs so the new sprayer would have a smoother ride The cab sits on the truck’s old rubber engine mounts in the center of the frame between the drive wheels
    Denzer used 3/8-in flat steel to build a center pivot into the frame behind the cab so the new rig would have articulated steering It pivots on a 1 1/2-in steel shaft with poly bushings similar to kingpins on a truck Denzer says they decided to use plastic sheathing rather than metal because of the potential for corrosive moisture from spraying They mounted the 500-gal water tank just behind the pivot point and located the engine between the rear steering wheels
    The finished spray rig has a 60-ft boom It’s mounted on hydraulic arms that use the same cylinders and are in the same brackets as the old combine feederhouse “I can move the boom up and down about 3 ft and have an excellent view of the full width from the cab ” Denzer says
    The sprayer frame has 3 ft of ground clearance so Denger can easily clear knee-high corn and full-grown beans The machine is about 24 ft long with a 15-ft wheelbase “My articulated steering setup lets the back wheels follow directly in the drive wheel tracks to minimize crop damage ” Denzer says “The drive wheels have 48-in tires and the steering wheels have 36-in tires     
    “So far my sprayer’s proved to be exactly what I wanted ” Denzer says “I can spray at 10 to 12 mph and go down the road at 18 to 19 mph with a real smooth ride I could probably use a 750 or 1 000-gal tank but then the machine would be a lot heavier ”
    Contact: FARM SHOW Followup Jerome Denzer 10136 E 1800 North Rd Bloomington Ill 61705 ph 309 826-1933

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