Large Three Point Yard Rollar - Do They Exist?

ksmmoto · Jan 2, 2005

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 · Jan 2, 2005

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 · Jan 2, 2005

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 · Jan 2, 2005

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 · Jan 2, 2005

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 · Jan 2, 2005

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 · Jan 2, 2005

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 · Jan 2, 2005

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

ksmmoto · Jan 2, 2005

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 · Jan 2, 2005

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

SPIKER · Jan 2, 2005

not sure where blanchard is but my boss has built several of these for different applications. I bought a 4' agrifab unit form tsc it broke very quickly but I simply fixed it right way. we have a lot of rolling capabilities up to 5' x 1/4" steel his is a 4'x11 gauge made from a full 10 foot sheet which is very heavy! should have added bearings or at least grease fittings but he was in a hurry... he may even sell it cheap... check the web site and send them a e-mail as I don't work there anymore.
http://www.haynncorp.com gerold@haynncorp.com

Mark M /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif

ksmmoto · Jan 2, 2005

Hello Spiker,

Nice web site your boss has. Looks like you created it, seen your name at the bottom.

Blanchard is in Central Michigan near Mt. Pleasant.

I will wait on buying or building a roller till spring. Just never noticed any large or three point hitch rollers availible.

I did one driveway with reclaimed concrete in December for my neighbor. He used his riding mower roller after I was done grading. I thought I would get my own for the Kubota if I get my business going.

ksmmoto

chriswheeler · Jan 3, 2005

I guess I'm another machinist with more time than money. I bought from my employer a section of 24" pipe 7' long. Burned 2 24" circles from 3/4" plate, Drilled the center of each plate
2 11/16" for the center shaft, drilled and tapped close to the outside edge on both for 1 1/4" pipe plugs. The through shaft is 2 11/16" X 8' long. Total weight empty = 920 lbs. Weight full of water should go around 2200 lbs. Working out the weights on paper first I decided to NOT go with a 3 point lift, and later this month should have the tow yoke finished for it.
( this will add more weight. ) It is a given that full of water, not many of the small tractors out there are going to lift 2200+ lbs. safely. My idea is to use the heavy 3 point ball hitch I made and tow this thing from the three point. Towing from one point like that should make this thing easier to back into tight spots. When finished with this or if there is a need to transport, open a end plug and drain the water. Should be done in a month or two and I'll post pictures of the roll, yoke and 3 point hitch. The 3 point hitch is done now. Looked at several on the ebay, added 40% to the material size knowing what I had planned for it, and it turned out great. Good luck,
Chris

KubotaSteve · Jan 3, 2005

I have the 4 foot steel roller that is at Tractor Supply. It is not that great of quality. When full of water it weighs about 900 pounds or so. When making turns it sounds like the frame is going to come apart. The plug where you put the water in is less than desireable and is very hard to use. I've used mine a couple of times, but most of the time don't bother to waste my time filling it with water. When I did fill it for one summer, where it set on the ground, it put a flat spot on the bottom of it.

tomrscott · Jan 3, 2005

I have an old cast iron water softener tank about 60" tall and about 24" in diameter. I had been hoping to weld some pivot pins to the ends and rig a draw bar and use it (filled with water) to roll my driveway.

I have a smaller plastic roller about 24" in diameter and 36" long that I picked up at Home Depot for use with our lawn tractor. As small as it is, it helps pack the gravel quite a bit. I've also thought about just getting a second one of these and mounting them in tandem from the back of my boxblade with just a little staggered overlap.

Of course the diameter is what controls the rolling force. I think even a 36" diameter would be pretty good, 48" diameter would be VERY good.

Something heavier would be nice, but I wouldn't want to put that much strain on the three point lift. A JD service technician recently told me that he had to replace the rear transaxle casting broken from trying to run a 3pt backhoe. JD only recomends a frame-mounted backhoe for the 790. These things aren't indestructible.

bubenberg · Jan 4, 2005

The reason you don't find too many rollers any longer is agronomically based. Except for golf courses where they roll and aerate multiple times each year, turf management discourages rolling practices. The reason is compactation is increasing with the ever larger mowers that people use on their lawns.

For your driveways you can always rent a vibrating roller, which in my opinion does a much deeper compactation and let's us to work most of the winter on our patio projects. The jobs must be excavated and vibrated before the frost sets in.

have_blue · Jan 4, 2005

ksmmoto,

Only thing I have not read about here is roller width.

You can increase roller PSI by keeping the roller width to a minimum. Unless you have turf tires, use the shortest roller that just covers your tracks. For example, a 5 foot roller weighing 2000# will give you 20% more PSI than a 6 foot roller of the same weight.

On another subject, Just for fun, I thought up a design that bolts underneath the FEL bucket. Adding weight to the FEL could quickly adjust for soil conditions. Running the FEL in the "float" position should prevent damage to the FEL. Down side is you must run in reverse unless you have turf tires. I never built it, but it should work, and would be great for tight places.