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Center Pivot "Cleats" Boost Traction
You’ll never have to worry about your center pivot getting stuck if you attach these new steel “cleats” over the tires, says Nebraska inventor John Hladky.
  The cleats consist of 3-in. high, 3/8-in. thick sickle section-type points welded onto a steel plate that covers the width of the tire. The plate is hinged to a pair of 6-in. deep side plates that bolt on through existing slots in the pivot wheel rim.
   Three models are available for different tire sizes.
  “They cost a lot less than tracks that cover the entire circumference of the tire,” says Hladky. “I came up with the idea because I got tired of having to use my tractor to pull out stuck center pivots. The cleats really help in heavy, slick clay soil because once the tire’s lugs get full of clay they start spinning. As the tire goes forward the entire weight of the center pivot squeezes down on the cleats, forcing them into the clay to move the tower forward. In real severe situations you could install two cleats per tire.”
  The cleats come off with two bolts so they’re easy to remove. And they don’t add much weight to the tire so there’s no danger of twisting the shaft on the center pivot’s gearbox, says Hladky.
  Pivot cleats sell for $155 apiece.
  Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Hipke Welding, LLC, 90077 Park St., Spencer, Neb. 68777 (ph 402 589-1501 or 866 791-6456; www.eagledesigns.net).


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2013 - Volume #37, Issue #4