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Homemade packer, what width behind a 10 foot drill?

P

picassomcp

Member
I have just gathered up the materials to make a home made packer (roller) to use behind the grain drill I use to plant hay. I bought a 15 inch culvert 20 feet long that I will be cutting down then filling with cement. I will be putting a 4 inch pipe through the center prior to filling with cement, then running another pipe through that one to attach a tongue to. I plan to pull this right behind my drill when planting. My drill plants 10 foot wide, however outside to outside of the tires is 13 feet. Do I want my packer to cover the wheel tracks? or just the area that was planted? I'm just getting started with planting hay, I've never done it before, my concern about going 13 feet wide with the packer is that I may not be able to see the last row planted and then won't know where I need to drive to prevent a gap between passes. 10 feet doesn't seem ideal either as it may not pack to the outside of a turn and after the entire field is planted there would be a bunch of tire tracks that would make the field bumpy for cutting hay.

I'm a bit torn here, I'm wondering what you would recommend for width.
 
I know I would not want it as wide as the wheel
tracks. Maybe a inch or 2 wider than your
planting width. I use the planter tire track
as a guide & wouldn"t want that disturbed.
 
If you have any kind of hills you will want the full 13' because it will trail down hill on the sidehills.
 
I think it is going to be way tooo heavy to pull with a grain drill. Their frames and wheel assys are not built for towing a roller that heavy, especially on hillsides. Rather than filling it with concrete, I would build a weight box on the top, and add rocks as needed.
Width wise, it doesn't make a big diff. if it covers the tire tracks, but it needs to cover the planted width with a bit extra to compensate for sidehill drift, if you have hilly ground.
Loren, the Acg.
 
I would question the small diameter, especially filled with concrete......may bulldoze instead of turn. Also you mention no bearings on the shaft. I made a 13 foot tire packer to match my 13 foot drill. Center tube is 20 inch gas pipe, capped on the ends, and I can add water for weight. I used scrap 22.5 truck tires, and added 4 horizontal 3/4 inch pipes to take up the extra dia so the tires fit snug. Greaseable bearings are 2 1/2 inch that I found in a junk yard, shafts included. Shafts are about 2 feet long, welded to 1/2 inch thick "cookies" inside the pipe and at the ends. Rolls down the road very well...quietly. Pics were posted here several years ago.
 
My concern is that culverts usually have spiral crimping. It isn't parallel to the edges - it screws. The packer will either try to push the drill the way of the "threads" or churn up soil. Either way it will put a side torque on your drill. I wouldn't use it unless it was smooth.
 
11 feet. Covers the drill and a bit, but can keep the frame as narrow as the whole drill so you don't catch it in posts.

Paul
 
Agree with the too heavy for a drill frame statement. A 15" concrete.... cylinder would weigh about 2200 pounds, I also think it would bulldoze soft soil with that radius,
 
After reading some of your responses, I'm considering a design change. I could use a smaller culvert instead, I have a 12 inch or 8 inch culvert available. Do you think this may work better? Or I could do something totally different. Any other ideas for a poor mans packer??
 
I'd use a telephone pole, as wide as the insides of the tires. Get one as close as possible to same measurement, at both ends, and rig a bearing on each end. 15" of concrete sounds real heavy...
 
We ran the roller the width of the outside of the 2 tires. We offset the hitch on the back of the drill so it covered the right tire track but did not disturb the left tire track. A heavy smooth roller needs a firm seedbed to keep from loading up and dragging, especially a 1 piece roller less than 24"....James
 
cut it in two and make two 10 footers side by side and have 20 feet then make the second trip after planting. dont use pipe for the bearings get some 1 3/4 shafting and some pillow block bearings. we reused shaft and bearings off of an old international self propelled swather. use the 15 inch ours is at least that big can measure tomorrow, you want it heavy enough to push the stones down. the only time it will push soil is in real soft muck.
our prototype was about a 8 or 10 inch culvert and was to small it also had pipe for bearings. use the 1 3/4 pillow blocks btdt.
I will measure tomorrow ours may be two eights side by side. If you use ball bearings and at least 16 feet you will not be sorry we have used ours for years.
 
You stated you have a 10 foot drill so I am guessing you don't have too many acres to seed.
For the time, money and effort you are going to put into what you want to build, why not just rent a landroller from somebody in your area.
I put in a couple of hundred acres of hay a few years back then rented a roller to go over the field.
Had it done in an evening [45 foot roller] and if I recall it was less than two dollars an acre to rent it.
Did a great job of firming the soil up, and rocks up to the size of a volleyball pushed down very well.
Makes driving the field a pleasure for your back and equipment.
 

I agree that it is too heavy but also I agree that if you make it any smaller diameter that it may sometimes drag instead of rolling. How about installing a form near the center so that you concrete is only at the outer ends.
 
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