Stalk Chopping With Tires

Stalk chopping with tires STALK CHOPPERS Stalk Choppers 16-6-31 Since our first report on "chopping" stalks with old truck tires two years ago (Vol. 14, No. 3), farmers all over the upper Midwest have picked up on the idea. One farmer who's used the idea on over 8,000 acres, Erwin Henderson of Independence, Iowa, says it works much better than traditional stalk chopping and costs less. "I like the fact that it breaks stalks off at ground level. No powered stalk chopper can do that. You can also get the job done much faster and with less horsepower," he notes. Henderson pulls two rows of 22-in. dia. truck tires behind a 40-ft. wide straight bar. The best time to chop stalks with the tire drag is after temperatures drop below freezing because then the stalks tend to "burst" apart, spreading the residue out evenly over the field. Henderson says he's found that the ideal temperature is about 15? and that it works best if he does it in the dark so the sun doesn't "warm up the stalks" and make them tougher to break up. He says you can work as fast as your tractor will travel and notes that the idea is particularly ideal for ridge-till because it chops stalks without knocking down ridges. He thinks any size tire would work.

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