Rebuild thread...Brillion cultimulcher...paint in the spring.

[sixdogs]

Bought this Brillion cultimulcher at a local auction last week and will rebuild whatever needs rebuilding and paint it in the spring. So it's a multi-month thread.
Saving old equipment is really pretty neat so maybe I can encourage others..

Here's the piece. It's 12 ft wide.




Look at the crappy welds on these appendages. They gotta go ASAP.



I ground off a couple of rebar rods. the cold welds nearly came off with just a hammer. Learn to weld.



And look at the crud on the hydraulic cylinder. Worst I can recall.

[sixdogs]

Torched off the pieces best I could and will grind off the slag.
Not sure how things are supposed to go together.

[sixdogs]

Figured out that the thick 1/2" top plate should really be flat so to do it right decided to remove it, heat it with a torch and pound the thing flat. Not looking forward to it but want to look as close to factory original as possible.

Here's a "before" photos showing the bad fit. Prior owner bent it up to add on that slag hitch. Not a good idea.


Here's after heating and bending. It is flat again.


Back together with new bolts. Looks way different than the starting point.

[Piston]

Interesting project. I like resurecting old things too.

What is something like that used for?

[sixdogs]

Interesting project. I like resurecting old things too.

What is something like that used for?

It's considered a "secondary" tillage tool in that after the ground is worked the first time, you drag this over it. The first packer presses the dirt down and breaks up clods. Then the cultivators in the middle loosen and distribute the dirt while the second set of packers firms the ground and prepares a soft, flat and level seedbed for grass or small seeds or whatever.

Does a beautiful job. Here's a photo pulled twice over cultivated worked ground in October.
If you want beautiful fields or a pancake-flat large yard, this is the ticket.

[Piston]

Wow that looks pretty impressive! Looks like something that would help out in my new lawn installation. Are these common? It looks pretty heavy duty, what do you pull it with and does it require a lot of hp?

Learn something new everyday!

[sixdogs]

Wow that looks pretty impressive! Looks like something that would help out in my new lawn installation. Are these common? It looks pretty heavy duty, what do you pull it with and does it require a lot of hp?

Learn something new everyday!

They take HP depending on the width. I have a small 8 ft one (2900 lbs) that I pull with a 51 HP MX5100 over previously worked ground with the tines only lightly engaged in the ground. I need 4WD and weights on the front and usually just skim the surface with the cultivators. Any more and I couldn't pull it.
The one above is 12 ft working width, 14 ft max, and weighs 5000 lbs. Because they tend to "plow" the leading edge in softer soil and because of the weight I figure I'll need maybe 70 HP and 4WD. Rule of thumb is 6 to 8 HP per foot. Smaller ones are harder to find and more expensive than the bigger ones.

These are common in the midwest and while still made new today were made somewhat obsolite by the shift to no-till grain production. They work great for fields and such but they aren't real cheap. A new 12 ft one would likely cost $17,000 ? while used ones in the few thousand range, depending on condition. Around here the soft clay ground isn't hard on the packer "nubs" that are needed for a good job. In the abrasive gravel of New England I've seen the nubs nearly worn off.

Even if not used much they almost always sat outside so they are always rusty and a prime candidate for a quick fix and quality paintjob. Guys love to weld hitches on the back to pull other cultivators, seeders or whatever. Since the machine was not designed for this, the frequest result was to buckle and distort the back of the machine or crack the frame. See my photos above. It never works but that doesn't stop the trying.