Large Three Point Yard Rollar - Do They Exist?

[ksmmoto]

Hello All,

Has anybody heard of a large 5' to 6' three point mounted roller? I have been searching the Internet and have come up empty.

Starting a driveway and landscaping business with my 2003 Kubota L3430. I just did a driveway with 4" of reclaimed concrete before winter set in. A large roller would have been a great way to finsh off packing down.

I may build one if they don't exist. I am a Tool & Die Maker and have a shop at home. I like to buy and modify if the price is right.

ksmmoto

 

[texastomtom]

A friend of mine has a roller they use at his golf course. It is probably 5 ft wide, around 30 inches diameter. Pulls it with a 4700 deere.

Its just a big round roller, his has some small 'dull spikes' on it. It is filled with concrete and is very heavy looking.

It is not 3pt as it would take a big tractor to lift it I am guessing.

He just hooks it to the draw bar.

I think anything of serious wieght, which you would want, will not be of the lift type. Probably more of a draw bar item.

I could be wrong though !

I have a 4720 and I'm sure it would have a hard time lifting it safely. I'm not sure how your tractor compares size wise.


How much weight are you lookin for ?
I guess something narrower might be handled by your tractor, by going narrow you would have significant lbs per square inch without necessarly having an unbelieveable overall weight.
tom

 

[ksmmoto]

Hello texastomtom,

I might not want much over 1000-1200lbs. My disc weighs 900lbs and I can feel the front end get light, it does stay on the ground and steers fine. A roller would set closer to the tractor, so more weight would be ok.

My Kubota L3430 weighs about 3300lbs with 34hp, not sure how big 4700 JD is.

I would prefer three point as it is alot easier to turn around and stay off other areas. TSC has a four foot pull type that I could modify to three point.

I should have used the spell check, I see that I spelled roller wrong (thought it looked weird). I will try to edit.

Thanks,

ksmmoto

 

[art]

I'd be leary of a roller that would work on three point hitch although we do have some that I think would be tough enough for your variety of chores including driveways. I say leary as some of my help though it would be a good idea to roll a patch we put into our driveway one day with a normal Ag-fab roller! It wasn't major but we couldn't retail it very well with all the dents in it from the stones!

 

[755inNY]

Making a roller that lifts off the three point will be a challenge. You want to make the roller as heavy as possible to do the job but that means the 3PH may not be able to lift it. A roller light enough to be lifted may not do the job you need. I doubt you could make a roller with the weight needed for compacting stone or other fill material and be able to lift it with the 3PH. The self powered rollers used for compaction are either very heavy and/or have vibration at the roller to help in the compaction.

 

[Jackrabbit_Slim]

Math has never been one of my strong points, /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif but I did some quick figuring, and I think that the concrete in the roller Tom described must weight about 3,675 lbs. (If I'm wrong on this, please correct me.) That's a pretty chunky unit to try to transport around let alone run off a 3pt. Any chance of you building something that could be filled with water at the job then drained when you're finished?

Slim

 

[jim_wilson]

I needed a roller for similar type work as what you are doing and got a tow behind lawn roller this past summer for my BX. If you want the roller to really accomplish anything it is going to weigh way more than your 3pt will be able to lift. In my opinion you want to be looking for a tow behind roller that can be attached to 3pt receiver attachment so you can tow it behind your tractor. There don't appear to be a huge amount of manufacturers of these out there - Agri-Fab makes some cheaper ones - but I heard from other posters on this forum say that they fall apart pretty easily as they are not real heavy duty. The one I saw that I liked was from Hoelscher Inc - realy heavy duty and weighed the most - but it was also expensive (prices are on the website). The one I ended up getting is very heavy duty, I filled it up with sand so it weighs in somewhere over 1000 pounds I believe, and worked really well rolling out the 3/4 stone/rock dust mix I spread out for my new driveway - check out General Welding and Fabrication . You will have to open the PDF version of their catalog to find the roller. I also attached a picture to give some idea of the heavy-dutiness of the roller.

 

[jim_wilson]

Picture of 3pt receiver adapter with roller adapted to work on pintle type hitch

 

[ksmmoto]

Hello All,

Thanks for the replies. I thought that weight was the issue. I didn't calculate it out. The link to Hoelscher was very informative. They list out weights and hp required. Looks like 4' pull type would be best with 34hp. 625lbs dry, holds 69 gallons which would add over 500lbs more.

I have a 3' Agrifab poly roller that I use behind my lawn tractor. I seen TSC has a Agrifab 4' pull type. Both look like they are light duty. I will check on the Hoelscher.

Thanks,

ksmmoto

 

[ksmmoto]

Hello Again,

Just looked at the Hoelscher 4' price on the web site, over $1300. Might have to build one. Maybe could use the Agrifab 4' roller and add bearings and a heavy frame.

There is a Hoelscher dealer 15 miles away. I will check, they might have a dented model like Art's at a discount.

Got to go out now. It quit raining and is about 40 degrees, pretty good for Michigan January. I am installing a FEMCO weatherbrake and hooking up the lights I put on last winter. Might widen out the rear wheels for tire chains.

I will take my camera and get photos. Will post more later.

ksmmoto