What are sub-soilers and middle busters used for?

[Jstpssng]

I made a middle buster/potatoe plow to use with my 1980 B7100. 1st blade was a triangular plate of 1/4" mild steel & it worked pretty good but required multiple passes on sod. I found it worked better with some weight (wife standing on draw bar as a test) so adapted my suitcase weights from the front bumper. I have since picked up a 30 yr. old Troy-Built tiller & it came with a furrowing attachment which is identical to a real Middle Buster blade. I mounted it on my hand-crafted contraption & it works good - my drawbar drags on the ground when using it in the garden. Haven't tried it on sod. Used it last weekend to turn over my garden at the cottage & bury rotted cow manure I spread on it last Fall - weather turned wet & couldn't do it then. My contraption really works well digging up the potatoes.

I should have just sent you the $150 so that I'd have something that worked the way it's meant to.
I have a furrower for my Troy-Bilt also. It works well for it's intended use so I didn't want to take a chance on destroying it; but maybe I'll try it after all.

May I ask how much your entire unit weighs? I have some old window weights (50-60#) which I thought I may use.

 

[crazyal]

I think I have the same problem. On TSC's website I compared the pictures of the sub-soiler and the middle buster and there is a definite difference in the angle of the shank. I am pretty well convinced that Jstpssng (and myself) recieved a middle buster blade on a sub-soiler frame. Here's mine:

View attachment 262963

I have tried shimming the rear-most bolt with washers but that causes the bolt holes to get misaligned so that the carriage bolt on top of the blade does not mate with the squared off hole. I think a longer hex bolt instead of a carriage bolt would work but I have not tried that.

I am able to compensate for the too-shallow angle by shortening my top link to its absolute shortest length - about 17 3/4 inches between the pin holes. I would like to go shorter than that but I cannot find a Cat 1 top link that is shorter than the one I already have.

When I first broke the ground for a new garden with the MB, I had to apply weight to it at the start of each pass. On subsequent tills of the garden (6 months/12 months later) I had no such problem, just the first. I also keep the 3pt hitch drop speed knob plenty loose so that the blade reaches its lowest position as soon as possible.

Does anyone else think that TSC has things a little mixed up in their stores?

Have you tried setting your lower links to the longer position? That should help get the angle you need. Also if you do a search on ebay you can find really short top links.

 

[Baby Grand]

Have you tried setting your lower links to the longer position? That should help get the angle you need. Also if you do a search on ebay you can find really short top links.

I have to move the pin for the side links to the bottom side link hole and a forward hole in the lift arm. I also move the forward pin for the top link to the top hole on the transmission mount, to keep the top link from mashing the PTO shield.

I have to do this to get my subsoiler to drop all the way to the cross:







This gets the point about about 20-21 deep.

 

[von-mil]

I think I have the same problem. On TSC's website I compared the pictures of the sub-soiler and the middle buster and there is a definite difference in the angle of the shank. I am pretty well convinced that Jstpssng (and myself) received a middle buster blade on a sub-soiler frame. Here's mine:

I am going to correct myself here. The TSC sub-soiler appears to have a longer drop shaft than their middle buster which puts the ripper tooth several inches deeper than the point of the middle buster blade. So I think I do in fact have a middle buster frame. However, the angle of the shank on my MB matches the angle of the sub-soiler shank - too shallow for effective middle buster use.

I found a much shorter top link and I am going to see if it improves the bite when I drop the MB to the ground. The link has a 9-inch body and when fully retracted has about a 13-inch span between the link pins. Here's how it looks above ground:


Only when I dropped it into a hole could I see the angle of both the frame and the blade. I found it necessary to lengthen the top link by about an inch. I also found that I needed to remove the PTO shield to allow room for the top link. Not at all difficult to remove or replace but I may just leave it off permanently.


I will try it out for real when the ground dries up a bit and I'll see what fine-tuning is needed on the length of the top link. Bottom line - I think the ultra-short top link is the answer to my middle buster problems.

Somewhat unrelated - can someone answer me this? The top link has 2 holes in the body that I assume are for the turning rod that came with it. I can't understand how the turn rod is supposed to be fed through the 2 holes. Both ends of the rod have ribs that stick out and will not allow the rod into the holes. How is this supposed to work? I must be missing something pretty obvious here.

 

[Baby Grand]

<snip>

Somewhat unrelated - can someone answer me this? The top link has 2 holes in the body that I assume are for the turning rod that came with it. I can't understand how the turn rod is supposed to be fed through the 2 holes. Both ends of the rod have ribs that stick out and will not allow the rod into the holes. How is this supposed to work? I must be missing something pretty obvious here.

I lined the rod up with one of the holes and drove it in using a "bigger hammer".

 

[dedgin]

I think I have the same problem. On TSC's website I compared the pictures of the sub-soiler and the middle buster and there is a definite difference in the angle of the shank. I am pretty well convinced that Jstpssng (and myself) recieved a middle buster blade on a sub-soiler frame. Here's mine:

View attachment 262963

I have tried shimming the rear-most bolt with washers but that causes the bolt holes to get misaligned so that the carriage bolt on top of the blade does not mate with the squared off hole. I think a longer hex bolt instead of a carriage bolt would work but I have not tried that.

I am able to compensate for the too-shallow angle by shortening my top link to its absolute shortest length - about 17 3/4 inches between the pin holes. I would like to go shorter than that but I cannot find a Cat 1 top link that is shorter than the one I already have.

When I first broke the ground for a new garden with the MB, I had to apply weight to it at the start of each pass. On subsequent tills of the garden (6 months/12 months later) I had no such problem, just the first. I also keep the 3pt hitch drop speed knob plenty loose so that the blade reaches its lowest position as soon as possible.

Does anyone else think that TSC has things a little mixed up in their stores?

I had the same problem with a home made middle buster i bought if you search on amazon they have a cat 1 top link with a 13" body which is 3" shorter than the standard size this will let get get a different angle

 

[Ken Pike]

Not sure how much my suitcase weights actually weigh but they must be at least 20lbs. apiece. Sq. tubing for shank was cut at 45 deg., turned around & re-welded. I had nothing to go by but it works great & really works great digging potatoes.