Large Three Point Yard Rollar - Do They Exist?

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.