Middle Buster

Anonymous Poster · Jan 15, 2003

I priced the pipe at HD last evening. 3/4 inch is $66 for 400 ft. (not bad). I think the 2 inch EL was around $15 (can't remember for sure). WVBill... as a result of reading your step-by-step account of putting your lines in, it will make my job a lot easier. Thanks for all of the info!

I ordered a combo King Kutter middle buster/sub soiler from TSC yesterday. King Kutter has a new XB series of implements that is designed for my BX2200. I hope they have not shortened the length of the shank to accommodate the sub compact tractors. I would like to get as much depth as possible. I called King Kutter and asked them to measure the shank length from the cross frame to the tip of the sub soiler point. They haven't called back yet.

WVBill... if you have a chance to take the same measurement on you sub soiler I would appreciate it. No hurry, I won't be putting the lines in until May or June. I would like to compare the measurement to the King Kutter XB.

John

JohnMiller3 · Jan 15, 2003

<font color=blue>...a new XB series of implements that is designed for my BX2200. I hope they have not shortened the length of the shank to accommodate the sub compact tractors...</font color=blue>

I'll bet ya they did... /w3tcompact/icons/frown.gif

You also have to remember... the compacts don't come close to drawbar hp... the larger utility tractors will have...

A farmer with a 200 drawbar hp unit will drop the shank(s) into the ground upwards of 12-18" or more in depth one pass...

Making multiple passes would cost farmers money... /w3tcompact/icons/sad.gif

WVBill · Jan 15, 2003

JWE

Actually I don't have a sub-soiler, I have a middle buster. I took off the middle buster share and bolted on a narrow plow point I got from TSC.

I'll bet that the XB series sub-soiler has a shorter shank than a standard cat-1 sub-soiler. My middle buster is a standard cat-1 and it barely clears the ground when I have the 3-pt fully raised. I doubt if my B6100 has much more ground clearance if any than your BX 2200. Sub-soilers normally have a longer shank than middle busters. I'll measure mine next time I get out to the barn and let you know the dimensions.

I just remembered one thing that I would do differently next time. I would ad a short length of 2 inch EMT to the top of the EL and more band clamps securing it to the shank. If I had a welder, I'd tack weld the whole thing to the shank. Although it worked out for me, this connection was the least secure part of my set-up.

Anonymous Poster · Jan 15, 2003

John... I know what you are saying. When I was in my late teens I ran a farm for a few years. We had two big farm tractors. One was a Case 400 and the other was a IH M as I recall (that was a long time ago, early 60s). They were 2WD but they had a lot of power and good traction (very heavy). I would pull a bailer and a large hay wagon behind the bailer (loaded with alfalfa bails); up and down some very steep hills. Going down hill with a full load was the trickiest! I also used it to pull three bottom plows through this clay soil (required lots of power). I even had a lot more power in those days/w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif! Now I jet around the world and sit on my butt most of the day. Think I was better off in the 60's.

Back to the subject... I'm sure I will have to make multiple passes with my BX. My soil is HARD CLAY!

WVBill.... thanks for the extra advice. I will add the extension and do something to beef-up the mounting of the EL.

John

diggerjim · Jan 15, 2003

Bill

I have a Kelly trencher attachment for my Yanmar. It's not quite a 3 point, I have to remove my 3-pt lift arms and top link. The trencher attaches to the pins my lift arms attach to. It also has its own top link. Then I attach the hyd. pump too the pto. After several trys it now takes about 15- 20 minutes to put on, 10 to take off. I have power shift with creeper but I really need hydro for tough digging as the creeper is too fast (if you can imagine that) and it requires shifting in an out on the power shift. On the easier stuff it works quite well as is. The trencher is made by Kelly and is a KT30 I think. Digs around 30 inches but very easy to add additional depth with extensions. I bought it new at a implement consignment sale for a fraction of new cost.

Works great for planting trees and flowers, I've cut several shallow trenches for planting shrub rows too.

Jim

Anonymous Poster · Jan 15, 2003

Just heard from King Kutter. The shank of the XB middle buster/sub soiler is about 14 inches from the cross bar to the to the bottom of the tip. He said the measurement is not exact because he had to eyeball it from where the shank curves forward. I will have to measure the lower most point of my lift arms to determine the max depth.

John

Rch · Jan 16, 2003

In addition to adding a spear point and chucking the sweep blade for trenching I took gray plastic electrical conduit, stuck in on the exhaust of a truck to heat it up and fashioned a gentle near 90 degree curve. The conduit has to be quit a bit bigger for things to make the curve. I used 4 big worm-gear plumbing clamps to secure it to the back of the shank of the middlebuster. I made several passes to get some depth and then fed the black poly pipe thru the conduit. I got about 8-10 " deep.
I did bend the upper link because it is in compression and with my set up there was a pretty acute angle. A sub soiler with a longer shank may avoid that.