2024 - Volume #48, Issue #2, Page #28
[ Sample Stories From This Issue | List of All Stories In This Issue | Print this story
| Read this issue]
Use Crop Rollers For Easy Planting In Cover Crops
They specialize in innovative solutions for both tractor attachments and horse-drawn farm equipment. I&J’s crop rollers are designed for no-till farming systems that utilize cover crops.
The I&J front-mounted crop rollers knock down the weed-suppressing cover crop into a dense mat that the tractor can plant in directly during the same pass. Roll over a lush stand of hairy vetch or rye, the company claims, and the kill will be so complete that observers would guess it was sprayed with herbicide. The device tests at 90 percent minimum crop knockdown, even for stalky varieties. This boosts efficiency and ensures less equipment use in the long run. Using the crop roller within a no-till system can reduce the number of field operations for corn from eight to two.
I&J Mfg. based this cover crop roller and crimper’s design on what didn’t work with standard stalk choppers. It’s built with a single cylinder with two bearings rather than eight rolling drums and sixteen bearings found on a chopper. Extensive testing proved that a 16-in. dia. pipe with 4-in. blades proved most effective. These blades are welded, and replacements can be bolted on as needed. Likewise, it operates in a chevron pattern instead of parallel blades, preventing it from bouncing and kicking up the soil.
While the roller is easy to attach and take off, it can be filled with any non-freezing liquid to add up to 75 lbs. per foot. This changes the weight of the 10 1/2-ft. roller from 1,835 lbs. empty to 2,635 lbs. filled with water.
The roller is sold in widths of 8 ft. (3 row), 10 1/2 ft. (4 row), and 15 1/2 ft. (6 row), though it’s possible to get custom-built widths up to 60 ft. Each roller fits a standard category I or II 3-pt. hitch, and the company offers a 3-pt. adapter for the fronts of tractors that don’t already have one. Pricing ranges from $3,900 to $9,900, based on size and before freight costs. Call directly for a quote on custom sizing.
Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, I&J Mfg., 10 S. New Holland Rd., Suite 2, Gordonville, Penn. 17529 (ph 717-442-9451; www.i-jmanufacturing.com).
Click here to download page story appeared in.
Click here to read entire issue
To read the rest of this story, download this issue below or click here to register with your account number.