Low-Cost, Simple Guidance System

Low-Cost, Simple Guidance System CULTIVATORS Cultivators (58C) 20-2-7 Here's a low-cost, do-it-yourself guidance system used by sunflower growers Blake and Calvin Nestibo to make cultivating easier. "It's like putting your tractors on auto pi-lot," says Blake of Goodlands, Manitoba. "We've used this method for three years on about 1,200 acres a year. It greatly reduces operator fatigue and slightly increases speed at which you can cultivate." The system consists of two C-tines off a 12-row Wil-Rich cultivator that mount on a 65-in. long 4-in. sq. toolbar that mounts across the tongue of their Deere 7200 MaxEmerge planter. The tines are positioned 4 ft. behind the tractor's hitch so they clear the rear tires on turns and the planter's front tires in transport. The tines are spaced on 60-in. centers, exactly the same as the rear tires on the Case-IH 7110 they use to pull the planter. The tines run about 4 in. deep, leaving a track 6 in. wide and 3 in. deep immediately after planting. While the track erodes some-what in the weeks between planting and cultivating, there's still plenty of it left to guide the Nestibos' Deere 4430 and Case-IH 7110 for cultivating. "The key is, we put single-ribbed, narrow tires on front of the 4430 and 7110 to keep them in the track," Nestibo explains. "It works like a charm." Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Blake Nestibo, P.O. Box 9, Goodlands, Manitoba, Canada ROM ORO (ph 204 658-3450).

To read the rest of this story, download this issue below or click here to register with your account number.