2018 - Volume #42, Issue #6, Page #17
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Rotary Hoe Interseeder Gets Cover Crops In Early
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“I thought I would try it and make changes as I went along,” says Cotter. “However, it worked so well the first time that I’ve never done another thing to it. I can interseed cover crops on 200 acres a day.”
Cotter was already an advocate of planting cover crops following harvest. The new machine allows him to interseed, planting cover crops between corn rows early in the growing season.
“The first year I tried it with an old Hagie high clearance sprayer,” recalls Cotter. “I pulled the water tank off and mounted a little spinner spreader on it. My son sat beside it and powered it with a cordless drill.”
That experiment worked well enough that he decided to get serious. Two old 8-row rotary hoes were picked over, with the best gangs, each with 2 rotary hoe units on it, set aside.
“I mounted them on a 3-pt. toolbar made from 2 old 8-row cultivators,” says Cotter. “A neighbor welded heavy-duty hinges on the ends of one, so I ended up with an 18-ft. center and two 11-ft. wings.”
Cotter mounted the rotary hoe gangs so they lined up between the corn rows. He mounted a Gandy air seeder to the toolbar with delivery hoses right behind the rotary hoe units. The hoes lightly fluff up the soil and residue, providing a good seedbed.
“In 3 or 4 days the cover crops are starting to grow,” says Cotter.
Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Tom Cotter, 50203 205th St., Austin, Minn. 55912 (ph 507 438-2147; cotterfarm@hotmail.com).
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