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Dear Jeff,
Your new roller-crimper looks very promising. If you are
going to
manufacture this device, please put my name on the list of
potential customers.
I was thinking that I could take the bucket off my front-end
loader and then mount the roller-crimper on the plate. Does
this seem like a viable option?
Are you going to have more than one size? Your very nice
slide show shows a 10-foot-wide roller-crimper mounted on
a 90-horsepower tractor. I doubt that my little 33 horsepower
will push this much of a load.
Regards,
David T. Miller
Dear David,
Thanks for the email and the interest in our roller. Here
is where we are at: We will not be manufacturing or selling
the roller ourselves but are looking for a company to take
the ball and run with it. We have auto cad drawings of the
tool and will be supplying those in the near future to companies
or farmers who would like to build them. We only ever built
the one for our own use. In theory, one could be engineered
to fit almost any size tractor.
You're right that our roller would be too large for your
tractor. It would push it, but it would never lift it up.
As for the loader idea, I've never tried it but several folks
have mentioned it. I think it would work if you have a full
detent on the valve so that it allows the roller to float
over the cover crop under its own weight; in other words,
no down pressure but not supporting the weight either. I'm
going to add your email to my list of interested people and
keep you posted on the manufacturing and engineering progress.
You might also want to check
out the small scale roller developed by technicians at
the USDA-ARS National Soil Dynamics Laboratory in Auburn,
Ala.
Jeff
Have some questions to Ask Jeff? E-mail
him directly at jeff.moyer@rodaleinst.org.
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