ETA Subsoiler

Talisker · Apr 6, 2015

That thing is seriously messed up. It doesn't look like it has a shear pin? I don't know how heavy mine is yet because I haven't used it but hopefully I'll shear a bolt off before doing damage like that. It has just two bolts in the upright 4X1 and hinges on the top bolt, shearing the bottom one off if something is too solid in the ground. At least that's the idea.

jeff9366 · Apr 6, 2015

vtsnowedin said:
Dose anybody make a top link that is spring loaded so that a middle buster or even a bottom plow would become at least a partial trip implement? It might work faster then draft control and save a lot of damaged parts on both tractor and tool.

Yes.

It is a Hydraulink.

It would be helpful but not a panacea in this situation.

Sysop · Apr 6, 2015

Talisker said:
That thing is seriously messed up. It doesn't look like it has a shear pin? I don't know how heavy mine is yet because I haven't used it but hopefully I'll shear a bolt off before doing damage like that. It has just two bolts in the upright 4X1 and hinges on the top bolt, shearing the bottom one off if something is too solid in the ground. At least that's the idea.

It does, but from the looks of it, how it must have hit that rock, it appears it transferred all my forward motion into a sideways twisting action on that beam putting the pressures on the lift frame rather than the shear bolt. From my understanding the shear bolt they supplied is a grade 2.

Talisker · Apr 6, 2015

I'm wondering how long my unit is going to last after seeing yours. Your tractor is more than twice as big as mine though, maybe that will help me out.

Sysop · Apr 6, 2015

I honestly think you have no worries. My tractor far exceeds the normal weight of the "compact" class of tractors and is well into the weight range of full sized utility tractors. Someone smarter than me told me:
3/4th inch a36 steel has a yield strength of no less than 250 million pascals... yield strength is the amount of force it can take in bending and snap back to its original shape... you at minimum exceeded 250 million pascals... 250 MPa to ft lbs is 5,221,358 lbs/ft^2 or 36,259 psi

Not really sure how to equate all that into my real world experiences, but it indicates to me that I had an unbelievable amount of tractive force going on and likely is not the normal operating environment. I figured with others being used on up to 60HP tractors, I'd be fine with only 40. Horsepower is only part of the equation. You can actually buy tractors with 60HP that weigh less than mine. While they have more power, they can't plant it on the ground as well as I do...

PhysAssist · Apr 6, 2015

Sysop said:
I honestly think you have no worries. My tractor far exceeds the normal weight of the "compact" class of tractors and is well into the weight range of full sized utility tractors. Someone smarter than me told me:
3/4th inch a36 steel has a yield strength of no less than 250 million pascals... yield strength is the amount of force it can take in bending and snap back to its original shape... you at minimum exceeded 250 million pascals... 250 MPa to ft lbs is 5,221,358 lbs/ft^2 or 36,259 psi

Not really sure how to equate all that into my real world experiences, but it indicates to me that I had an unbelievable amount of tractive force going on and likely is not the normal operating environment. I figured with others being used on up to 60HP tractors, I'd be fine with only 40. Horsepower is only part of the equation. You can actually buy tractors with 60HP that weigh less than mine. While they have more power, they can't plant it on the ground as well as I do...

Hi Sysop,

Amen to that- I just caught up on your thread and even though I was already amazed at what you had done to that big piece of metal, reading the force numbers involved rocked me back on my heels even more!

Amazing....

I have to echo others' thoughts and/or questions about why the shear pin/bolt didn't give way before that huge piece'o steel bent...

Thanks for sharing your trials and tribulations as well as your customer service experience with us all.

Thomas.

PS: BTW, the HP listings on those other Sub Soilers read as MINIMUMs

vtsnowedin · Apr 6, 2015

jeff9366 said:
Yes.

It is a Hydraulink.

It would be helpful but not a panacea in this situation.

Darn! Somebody always beats me to it! At $230 plus shipping for a cat 2 they ain't cheap.
I still like the spring surrounding sliding box tube over inch square bar design I was doodling with last night. Hadn't got through limit stops and adjust ability but I had some ideas.
Back to the drawing board.:grumpy:

Sysop · Apr 6, 2015

PhysAssist said:
I have to echo others' thoughts and/or questions about why the shear pin/bolt didn't give way before that huge piece'o steel bent...

I think I came in along side the rock in question and most of the forces were pushing the subsoiler to the side putting all the stress sideways against the lift frame rather than pushing back against the shear bolt. I wouldn't be surprised if when I take it apart I find the shear bolt damaged also.

I'll know more this fall if I have time to uncover it with the backhoe. I'll include pictures here whenever I do...