Home built hiller

[Car Doc]

I am still not able to get in my garden since we seem to get moisture on the wknd's (I will take it when I get it) so I thought I would start a thread about the hiller I am starting to build so once I do get in I can post some it works or it doesn't pics and stuff. I will be hilling fresh tilled ground so it will be easy going.

The plan is use some take off fwd car hubs. I have been saving these things for years and though they may be slightly noisy on a car they should make perfect trailer or just general project axles etc. I don't think building this is going to be any big deal at all just a matter of a few cuts and a few welds its the tool bar more than anything at this point I question. I would like to build a couple sweeps sometime to pick my tracks up also so that is lower on my priority on the project at this point...

I plan on taking a couple hubs and a couple old car wheels and drill the wheels to fit the hubs and attach the hubs to a pipe or sq tube and hang that off some sort of 3pt tool bar as yet not set in stone what that will be? So if anyone has one already built or some ideas please feel free to add them to this thread like I say its parts and pieces in an iron pile now so no pics yet of mine. thanks for looking :thumbsup:

 

[California]

Here is a photo of my half-finished tool bar for pulling the spike harrow. (Before welding the round bar to the angle iron portion). Not installed yet are four chains from the toolbar back to the spike harrow, and tabs that keep the round bar centered side to side in the QuickHitch. This was cobbled together out of scrap so it is a little rough. The only thing I bought was a round steel bar in place of the water pipe shown in this photo.

Here's a later post showing the lifting mechanism. (Running the cable over that pulley and down to the tractor's drawbar socket gives compound leverage for a higher lift than if the cable were attached to the highest point).

I made the toolbar full-width and strong enough so if I snag a tree it should stall the tractor without damage to the harrow. Also the toolbar lets the harrow float freely over uneven ground - factors you may not need in your application.

 

[Car Doc]

Thanks California I like the angle iron and sq tube that would make adjusting it up/down/repairing pretty easy and the solid round for the lower links would save me buying a factory farm store drawbar to start with. I don't have a bar that long but I have pieces to work with and I have a chunk of 3" x 3/8 angle that's long enough and some heavy sq tube.

 

[Ginormous]

I'm working on building a 3pt hiller too. I am welding together a 3pt frame with a 2" toolbar using steel I bought at a local recycling yard. I plan to clamp hillers I purchased at AgriSupply on the toolbar. I should be welding it up this weekend and will try to remember to post pics afterward. I look forward to not having to hoe as much this year! I also bought some S-tines and triangular sweeps to attach to the s-tines. I will attach these to the toolbar for cultivating/weeding. I'm thinking about making a middle buster attachment too. We'll see...

 

[Car Doc]

I would love to see pics of what you build Ginormous! I have a mb fwtw and have used it for furrowing and potato harvesting and it works great you will find it handy!

I am thinking about hilling as an alternative to seeding in a furrow like I have done using the mb especially with corn. I can still do double rows on top of the hill and flood irrigate as usual if I get the wheels set just far enough apart.

I seem to remember Winston used a plate or something attached on the back of his to smooth his hills down? I will look for it later I thought it was a good idea at the time though.

 

[winston1]

Here it is. Split piece of 4" pvc pipe.

Raised beds could definitely have value in irrigating like cardoc does. Also value against flooding if you have that problem. My thinking is they have value with root crops because they make for a deeper bed of loose dirt. Just my thinking. I have planted most any crop in raised beds but really don't think they are necessary with peas, beans, etc, unless irrigating. Just an opinion, I'm sure not the master farmer.

 

[Ginormous]

My main goal for the hillers is to mound up two 50' long hills for planting sweet potatoes. That's a big job I won't miss doing by hand! I tried to arrange my garden so that I can use the cultivator to do weeding.

The flattened hills are what farmers call "raised beds" right? What sort of crops do you plant there? I would think carrots would be a great fit.

 

[Car Doc]

Thanks Winston glad you chimed in saved me searching for those pics. I like that setup like Ive said before its so simple yet functional I hope I can come close building one! :thumbsup:

 

[clemsonfor]

I keep sayiong i am going to build one. I havent yet, due to the fact i dont have a large garden at my current home and the tractor spends 90% of the year at the farm property anyway.

I was going to use the hillers from Agrisupply but they were pricy as i wanted it cheap, you have a good idea with the hubs. I took some off my saturn a few years back that were on the rear, they would have been perfect, just a bit of ticking when you spun them on the vehicle i did not like so i replaced them, but i gave them to a guy at work for a project he prolly has not doen yet? I still dont have enough scrap iron to build a bar though.

So that being said i dont see a bar in my near future, but i want one!

 

[Ginormous]

The scrap yard here is kind of fun to wander through looking at all of the sizes and shapes of steel they've got. For 55 cents a lb, It probably cost about $20 for all the steel to make my 3pt frame & 2" x 45" toolbar. The AgriSupply hillers (16" diameter) were $30 each. I found some 2" toolbar clamps to hold the hillers locally for $20 each -- could have made something, but decided to just buy them.

 

[Car Doc]

Yeah looks like a trip to Orshlen's for me. I need a couple 3pt lift pins and I may look at sweeps and s tines for something else to think about. I ordered a couple salvage yard donut spare tires that will fit a pair of hubs I plan on using they should be here tomorrow.

I am deciding between 2 1/2"x3/8 angle or 2 1/2" heavy sq tube as the tool bar its about half a horse apiece as far as attaching stuff now permanently with the welder but the sq tube would be more ridged and a bit more work. The sq tube on the other hand would allow me to use bar clamps that slide etc and I like that idea for future expansion of tools I will want to put on...

I figure I may try the hiller with the tires on (lazy) and if it doesn't work out (which I think it wont) I can cut the tires off the rims with a sawzall out at the garden or take them to a tire shop time will tell.
edit: I can also put regular discs on if the car rims is a bust, my wife works at a JD dealer and I can pick used discs up for free.

 

[Ginormous]

Car Doc -- not sure for a 2 1/2" square toolbar, but for a 2" square bar there are inexpensive clamps readily available. For example, clamps to hold on s-tines were $2.50 each at AgriSupply. I originally wasn't going to use a different size tube for the toolbar, but I switched to 2" because of these pre-made clamps. As you said, being able to use the toolbar for other things is appealing, so bolting things on vs welding them is the way I'm going.

 

[Car Doc]

Yeah Ginormous you are probably right on the 2" I wish I had some handy. I am having a little trouble finding 2 1/2" clamps I found some at buckeye supply in ohio for $18 but I haven't done a lot of looking so far.

 

[clemsonfor]

Doc, do as G says use the common size as you will find all kinds of sweeps n stuff to attach. I know you know a bout Agrisupply and there a good source for stuff cheap.

Well their Kultivator is far from CHEAP but they been promoting that as long as I been getting their catalogue/

Sorry about spelling and stuff worse than normal, to lazy to correct, nbut I am still a bit doped up, had all 4 wisdom teeth cut out today.

 

[Ginormous]

Car Doc -- Hey, I bought my 2" square to round clamps (for the hillers) at Buckeye Supply too! I found some other places that had clamps for the same purpose, but Buckeye's price was the best. Pretty simple design, but I think will get the job done. They may have the 2 1/2" s-tine clamps too, but I don't think they can compete with the $2.50 clamps at AgriSupply.

Clemson -- I had my wisdom teeth out about 20 years ago... the first week wasn't much fun. I pray you heal up quickly.

 

[Car Doc]

Doc, do as G says use the common size as you will find all kinds of sweeps n stuff to attach. I know you know a bout Agrisupply and there a good source for stuff cheap.

Well their Kultivator is far from CHEAP but they been promoting that as long as I been getting their catalogue/

Sorry about spelling and stuff worse than normal, to lazy to correct, nbut I am still a bit doped up, had all 4 wisdom teeth cut out today.

Oh I feel for ya man I had all of mine done at the same time also when I was 18. Was a good thing too because they probably couldn't have got me back in to do any more yikes just don't over do it.

The one thing I also am finding is the separators in 2" - 2 1/2" diamond. That idea I like so a person can build it up with 1 or 2 more bars and set tools where ever like the sweeps to pick the tracks up for instance or anything. I sure don't want to buy one all set up wow that gets pricey.


Yeah agreed I am finding the 2" pretty common most of the 2 1/2 is for diamond bars like the ford tool bars and that wont work unless I get ford everything so I may be hunting some new steel. At this point its just time and money I haven't messed anything up...yet.

 

[clemsonfor]

Yea I was told at about 20 that I needed them out. Should of done it then on dads dime! I had one that had gotten some decay at the gumline they said it would be fine till I took it out. I don't think they thought I had the idea of a 10 yr timeline on them. That one was decayed and broken down so bad it was infected. IT was bad had to go get some antibiotics and pain pills and here 3 weeks or so later they all 4 were removed. THe bottoms were the worst the tops were just like normal teeth though. Im right at 31 now, prolly would have been easier back then when I didn't have all the stuff to do that I have today, and even though I have good insurance I did not realize till I was in there they did not take that kind. I was wondering why my copay part was so high, it was cause my dental was picking up the bill and leaving me with a 30% payment of the total amount. Oh well that was as I was sitting ther, would have been cheaper to find someone on my list of chosen providers but that would of meant more time and having to drive an hour farther to a big city. I just went ahead and paid up. Do think it was a bit shady how they treated it though. they were suppose to call me with my payment well I had to call 2 days prior to find out my end of it and then that was not explained to me!!! errrrr ohwell its just money right??? Some people just don't think I guess they saw that I had 2 insurances and assumed I had plenty of money?? Yea 2 insurance that I pay for!!! Had I not had that dental coveralge I would have walked out and told them I would not pay a cancellation fee though.

 

[Car Doc]

edit: Oh sorry I forgot to say get well! that infection must have been awful painful too yikes.

Cost of everything health related has gone sky high dentistry is out of sight I am so glad my folks fixed me up when they did. I had to drop my health insurance a few years ago got too high. I left her on but no way was I going to write another $960 monthly check and I know folks that have it a lot worse. I am waiting on the new "free" insurance to kick in.... :laughing:

We had BCBS for 24 years and I never had a claim she had both shoulders rebuilt probably a couple hundred grand totaled. I need mine done but I will be buried with mine like they are. Something else worse hopefully will kill me though if I am lucky and don't live forever in pain. :thumbsup:

 

[Car Doc]

Well I am dumping the car wheel idea in favor of a couple used discs to put on the car hubs because it will work like it should right off.

 

[clemsonfor]

Sorry for the Hijack doc. I am one of those govment workers with the cadilack plans. After all aren't we suppose to (according to idiots and media) get our health ins for free and then have just tiny copays?? Well we do get a good deal but its not free, and its in line with most good company plans.


Yes the infection was bad, luckily the amoxicillin took care of it in a few days, the pain pills helped with it till them but not much. It started as a small thumping annoyance when I tried to sleep..only if I thought about it. The next night worse. Then the weekend came and got bad, was taking advil or asprin as often as I could and I never take that stuff. It almost was so bad that I went to the ER. It would go in wabves, hot/cold was terrible. Monday called the super center dentist that set up shop infront of the walmart (big chain office) they said the first appointment was like 2 weeks away, FOR AN EMERGENCY!!! so I found my list of approved dentists and went to the one I chose not to cause the dentist was in his 2nd year of practice and was my age..worried about his ability, which I know is age discrimination.. The next day called them and they worked me in that same day, had to think that they work on patients in school for a few years, and he worked under his dad and uncle in practice before they retired. I liked him and he has my biz now, long story short.
I like the idea of used disks. Should be able to find piles of them at the right places or even scrap yards.

Also thought of disks from disk brakes although to get one large enough you would have to have a take off of a pretty large truck, which would be quite heavy.