Question on Cultipacker For Sale

[SkylineAcres16]

I have been looking for a cultipacker on Craigslist for a couple years now and have not had any luck. Used ones seem to be rare or prices extraordinarily high. This one popped up for sale today and I was wondering if it was a decent one and if it was worth the $475 they want for it. Normally I see them around the $1000 range but they also aren't quite as old. I don't need something super nice I just need something to do the job. It would be just for reseeding my pasture and hayfield every now and again. I noticed the wood hitch seems a little wonky. Another question I have is what is the advantages/disadvantages to this one being a double roller. Most of the ones I see for sale are single roller. Thanks in advance.

 

[CoyPatton]

The picture/growth around the cultipacker is very difficult to see ant detail. Because of that lack of detail, I question 1) is it a dual roller or is it sitting with another. 2)is there an issue with the connection/bearings on the right side if the photo. 3)as you mentioned the hitch board looks less than ready to work.
My last point is will a pull (always in ground contact) meet your needs? Or do you have the tools and skills to convert it to a 3PH?

 

[Gale Hawkins]

I have been looking for a cultipacker on Craigslist for a couple years now and have not had any luck. Used ones seem to be rare or prices extraordinarily high. This one popped up for sale today and I was wondering if it was a decent one and if it was worth the $475 they want for it. Normally I see them around the $1000 range but they also aren't quite as old. I don't need something super nice I just need something to do the job. It would be just for reseeding my pasture and hayfield every now and again. I noticed the wood hitch seems a little wonky. Another question I have is what is the advantages/disadvantages to this one being a double roller. Most of the ones I see for sale are single roller. Thanks in advance.

View attachment 666123

I do not really need one but I would give $500 in a heart beat if the boxing is highly worn but entack and frame not broken. It is way old I expect because it may have been horse drawn at some point a 100 years ago.

Most when for scrap to China when scrap got so high in price.

 

[bullbreaker]

Agree if it will spin n bearings etc look good ,thats a great price . Any body with metal , steel skills depending on lenght which you don't state , and width etc could make two out of the one and sell one . I think you might be correct Mr Gale at one time that might of been pulled by a horse or a "HEN PECKED " husband ! Of course we don't have any of those here on TBN ! :laughing:

 

[SkylineAcres16]

It is for sale only a few miles from my house. I might go look at it tomorrow; the picture is from the seller as I have not been there. Just to be clear, when I go look at it, there is only bearings on the ends, correct? Each individual wheel does not have bearings and kind of free floats. I thought the price seemed pretty good that is why I asked you guys about it. I am not that worried about the hitch because I could easily remake that out of wood or metal.

 

[3gunr]

I would grab it , ilooked for yrs also before finding one. If that is two seperate peices get both and fix up and sell one, get your money back. Mine still has the old wooden bearings and they are still available i think at agri supply. My cultipacker has improved my food plots greatly.

 

[nybirdman]

A lot of the old ones had wooden bearings.I found some on the internet a few years.Buy it,you can always repair it as needed.

 

[SkylineAcres16]

The seller sent some additional pictures. It does look to use wood blocks for bearings but they don't look like anything complex. Almost looks like a 4x4.

 

[Big Barn]

Nice find. But just for the record that isn’t a cultipacker. It’s just a double row /roll packer.

A Cultipacker(John Deere) or the more popular Pulvimucher (Brillion) have a row or two of tines in the middle.

 

[SkylineAcres16]

Big Barn, do they have the same intended uses?

 

[3gunr]

That is exactly like mine and it works great .

 

[SkylineAcres16]

How heavy would you estimate it to be? Does yours have the wooden hitch? I was wondering if that was original or not.

 

[Big Barn]

Big Barn, do they have the same intended uses?

Not really. A cultipacker (which would have tines) would be for secondary tillage (after plowing for instance) and seedbed preparation. The tines would provide a bit of leveling action as well as tilling the soil. Rollers on their own tend to exaggerate high and low spots.

The double roller/packer similar to yours we would have coupled in tandem BEHIND a cultipacker which would be in turn hitched to a ten or twelve foot Howard rotovator. Sorry no pics. That was a lifetime ago.


Your implement is great for firming the soil for final seedbed prep or breaking clods in certain soil types. It could even be pulled behind a disc harrow.

It might not eliminate tire tracks in certain soil types if used by itself....if that is an issue.

 

[Gale Hawkins]

Nice find. But just for the record that isn’t a cultipacker. It’s just a double row /roll packer.

A Cultipacker(John Deere) or the more popular Pulvimucher (Brillion) have a row or two of tines in the middle.

I get your point but in KY what is in the picture is called a cultipacker. The tines would have been hard on the mules that pulled it. The oil/grease cups were common on horse drawn equipment 100 years ago. The wooden block bearings would become grease/oil soaked and work harden the blocks. Mules top speed was well under 15 MPH.

Below on ebay would be my dream cultipacker.

3 pt. Brillion 6 ft. Double Cultipacker (FREE 1 MILE DELIVERY FROM KENTUCKY) | eBay

 

[Big Barn]

Gale that eBay ad is for a used item which is incorrectly labelled.

Brillion did not make anything called a Cultipacker which is a John Deere trademark.

Brillion’s Pulvimulcher and JD’s Cultipacker were similar implements with ridged rollers and tines.

Over time simple ridged roller implements such as the ad depicts and the OP has were generically labelled cultipacker. Sort of a CAT scenario referring to all tracked power sources as such.

Even Wikipedia is incorrect in its description. I realize this is a mere technicality that happens to many items and phrases over time. I suppose I am just doing an excellent job of showing my age. Lol.

 

[Gale Hawkins]

Kind of like drywall and sheetrock, skilsaw and circular saws perhaps.

I never knew the naming history so thanks for that info.

I have decided I "need" a Brillion Pulvimulcher.

 

[Big Barn]

My apologies to all including the OP for the unnecessary history lesson.

I realize of course that the term CULTIPACKER will continue to be used when referring to most implements close to matching its original configuration. Hats off to John Deere for a brilliant design and great marketing.

 

[bullockcm]

Interesting... Around here what Big Barn is describing has always been called a cultimulcher, front packer, typically 2 rows of C-tines followed by a rear packer. What the OP shows and is looking for like so many other areas is called a cultipacker regardless of manufacture and # of packers. Most common and maybe only manufacture of cultimulchers that I have ever seen are Brillion and John Deere.

 

[mred2]

The term cultipacker appeared in English around 1914 and probably originated as a brand name of the C.G. Dunham Company of Berea, Ohio, which advertised "Culti-Packer" models starting around that time.

 

[TerryR]

Farming in California in the 1950's and 60's we used a somewhat similar tool we called simply "the roller" both for seedbed preparation and to firm up after planting row crops.

It had alternate wheels and toothed disks. The wheels were cast iron, with a flat surface maybe 2" wide, but with a thin raised rim in the center, projecting from the flat rim maybe 1 1/2." Those ran on a steel axle, but I think were not very tight on the axle so they could move a bit. Between each pair of them was a narrow, maybe 3/8" in thick, disk with the outer edge toothed, maybe an inch deep. They ran on the hub of the adjacent rollers, but with the center hole much larger so the floated freely.

Ours was three sections, the center maybe 8', with a pair of 4' ones on either side drawn by outriggers on the center unit. Since it was twice as wide as the planter and ran significantly faster, using it was a perfect task for a boy after school, rolling in what had been planted that day.

I've never seen one since I left the farm in the mid-60's and have no idea who made them. I don' think was a major brand, maybe locally produced.