Chain Bender
Silver Member
- Joined
- Feb 25, 2011
- Messages
- 244
- Tractor
- Kubota L3200
sod cutter
- Thread starter Chain Bender
- Start date
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Madmikesmech
New member
Hey thanks for the pics Chain Bender!
That looks VERY rugged and well built, to say the least!
Here is what i am working on. Nothing nearly as heavy duty as yours, but I just need to take the sod off of about 30'x40' for our new garden plot. The top soil is real soft bottoms soil and its still real damp from the thawing snow and the rain.
Here is a pic of my idea mocked up before tack welds are hit
Now this is still a work in progress! I already have two more support brackets in mind.
I kinda had this design in my mind and pieces laid out before i happened on your older site. I will make something of what I have mocked up!
Thanks again Chain Bender for replying to that PM I sent
Mike
That looks VERY rugged and well built, to say the least!
Here is what i am working on. Nothing nearly as heavy duty as yours, but I just need to take the sod off of about 30'x40' for our new garden plot. The top soil is real soft bottoms soil and its still real damp from the thawing snow and the rain.
Here is a pic of my idea mocked up before tack welds are hit
Now this is still a work in progress! I already have two more support brackets in mind.
I kinda had this design in my mind and pieces laid out before i happened on your older site. I will make something of what I have mocked up!
Thanks again Chain Bender for replying to that PM I sent
Mike
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ishiboo
Platinum Member
How well does that work Chain? How do you get it started? I'd like to build one as well, but my understanding is sod cutters really have to vibrate/saw for effective pulling, though with enough horsepower and traction you can of course overcome that (and anything else!)
OP
Chain Bender
Silver Member
- Joined
- Feb 25, 2011
- Messages
- 244
- Tractor
- Kubota L3200
I pulled it behind a 500cc 4 wheeler. It had 3/16 chain on it that I hooked to the trailer ball on the 4 wheeler. Someone had to stand on it to get it started and stay on it to keep it in the ground. It did fair, but had a tendency for the back end to flip up if it (rider) became unbalanced or if it hit a root or hard clay.
I ground the chains off and put the 4 bolts through the wings. I intend to bolt it to the FEL on my Kubota and try it. The weight of the FEL should hold it down fine and make a more even thickness cut. The only draw back to this cutter is it is 3.75" from the top of the bottom blade to the bottom of my FEL blade. If I ever build another one, it won't be that deep. I get a lot of top soil with it. Too much I think. Maybe make the next one out of 3" X .25" flat stock. That will make the sod 2.75" thick.
I ground the chains off and put the 4 bolts through the wings. I intend to bolt it to the FEL on my Kubota and try it. The weight of the FEL should hold it down fine and make a more even thickness cut. The only draw back to this cutter is it is 3.75" from the top of the bottom blade to the bottom of my FEL blade. If I ever build another one, it won't be that deep. I get a lot of top soil with it. Too much I think. Maybe make the next one out of 3" X .25" flat stock. That will make the sod 2.75" thick.
Madmikesmech
New member
Hello,
Now with that said, I hope that my Sears ST16 will pull this thing i have rigged up!
Got it all welded up today
Here is the real hero of this adventure! The mighty Lincoln wire feed!
a "root" pass
Mocked up on 3 point for further analysis!
After I got it welded up, & mounted to 3 point, I decided to put some gauge wheels on to prevent the cutting edge from going to deep?
they should allow a depth of about 2 1/2', if my calculations are correct!?
Tomorrow I plan to pull some sumac stumps out, then in that area I hope to put the SodKutter through its test run! Maybe I can get my daughter to shoot a video of the fiasco!!
Now with that said, I hope that my Sears ST16 will pull this thing i have rigged up!
Got it all welded up today
Here is the real hero of this adventure! The mighty Lincoln wire feed!
a "root" pass
Mocked up on 3 point for further analysis!
After I got it welded up, & mounted to 3 point, I decided to put some gauge wheels on to prevent the cutting edge from going to deep?
they should allow a depth of about 2 1/2', if my calculations are correct!?
Tomorrow I plan to pull some sumac stumps out, then in that area I hope to put the SodKutter through its test run! Maybe I can get my daughter to shoot a video of the fiasco!!
OP
Chain Bender
Silver Member
- Joined
- Feb 25, 2011
- Messages
- 244
- Tractor
- Kubota L3200
That looks like 1/4" flat stock. Have you ground a sharp edge on all of the leading edges that will contact the sod? In wet sod it will tend to rip the sod instead of cutting it. How are you keeping weight on it to keep it in the ground? It sure looks good from here. Looking forward to seeing the video.
Madmikesmech
New member
Chain Bender,
Yes 1/4" flat stock, yes sharpened leading edges that contact sod,down pressure exerted by me via the manual lift 3 point hitch on my Sears ST16, get video out as soon as i can. Think weight on it rather than may be a good idea! tried it today, failed miserably!it started out good got under the sod and cut, but then the tractor lost traction, when i raised 3 point to regain traction the cutter got on top and lost the cutting effect!
oH WELL back to the drawing board! your design looking good !!!
Yes 1/4" flat stock, yes sharpened leading edges that contact sod,down pressure exerted by me via the manual lift 3 point hitch on my Sears ST16, get video out as soon as i can. Think weight on it rather than may be a good idea! tried it today, failed miserably!it started out good got under the sod and cut, but then the tractor lost traction, when i raised 3 point to regain traction the cutter got on top and lost the cutting effect!
oH WELL back to the drawing board! your design looking good !!!