Yard Roller

[thcri]

Looking for a good roller for behind my TC29D. I was hoping to find something at least 5 feet wide or maybe even 6 feet wide and something that would have some weight to it. I have all kinds of used anti-freeze I can fill it with to make it heavier than just plain old water.

My reason for this. I bought my TC29D with Industrial tires. I actually wanted turf but my dealer proved to me on wet ground that the turfs will leave just as big of dents as the Industrial. He also showed me that when turning real sharp the Industrials will do less damage than the turfs. I am not totally happy so I went back to him to see if he would trade them back in. I have 80 hours on my tractor. He told me he has seldom orders a tractor in the last five years with turf's on them. (So it is one of them deals that I am the only one having the problem. I also notice the dealer that I did not buy from also orders Industrials on the ones he has in stock.) My dealer told me he wanted me to roll my yard a couple of times and if that didn't help he would order a tractor with the turf's on it and swap me out. So I guess in a way I am getting good dealer support and he really seems to be sold on the Industrials. The Industrials have been ok for me I just have to make sure it is dry when I go out.

If anyone has made a homemade roller I would be interested in seeing that also.


murph

 

[Von]

Murph, Here is a photo of mine. I made it from an old holding tank and scrap angle iron I had. Its 5 1/2 feet x 2 feet. Works great and weighs over 1200lbs when filled with water.

 

[thcri]

Looks good. Do you remember what size tank that is? Also the tractor dealer I deal with said that a guy made one out of a culvert and poured it full of concrete and it does a wonderful job? I question the ribs and how or what kind of marks it would leave after you went over the grass?

murph

 

[Anonymous Poster]

Von, that must be a pretty thick guage tank!

How thick is the tank wall?
what size axle did you use?
Do you have a bearing on the axle? (that's a lot of weight to pull around)

John

 

[Mosey]

murph - I have R4 tires also and have been happy with them. Actually, the caster wheels on the mower cause more trouble than the tires on the tractor on soft ground. This time of year, I mow in standing water and mud in several places. I thought about a lawn roller also, see where to buy a 5' lawn roller?, but by mid summer the ruts are undetectable, so I decided I don't need a lawn roller.

Is your problem that the lugs on the R4 tires leave marks or is it that the tires leave a rut the width of the tire? Is it the front tires or the rear tires, or both? Are your tires loaded with fluid and/or do you have any weights on your wheels? Do you detach your FEL when you mow the yard?

 

[thcri]

Danny,

It's mostly the lugs leaving indents. I have lowered the tire pressure on all 4 tires to the lowest pressure allowed from the manual. They typically will dissapear after a couple of days.

If it is wet the tractor will leave shallow swells from the tires.
murph

 

[thcri]

Danny,

My wheels on my mower deck use to leave marks on mine also. But I was having some problems with the deck mowing even from swath to swath and my dealer told me to use th float feature on the 3 Point and now my marks don't show up anymore. Do you use the float or do you let it drop all the way down?

murph

 

[ns_in_tex]

Murph,
Attached is a picture of one I just made. Have only used it so far to roll some newly planted sod, & tried to smooth out some rough pasture but hope to use it for patching asphalt drive. Is 36"x74" filled with concrete. Tank was to thin walled to fill with water. I figured it would just punch dents in tank if not filled with something solid. I think it should be pushing, maybe 7000 lb. Also strapped a 55 gal water tank to top.

 

[ns_in_tex]

Another View

 

[Boomerboy]

Murph,

Here is a picture of the roller I made from two old water tanks placed end to end with a 1/4" steel plate rolled and welded in place around them. The tanks have holes drilled in inside ends, and has a steel bar extending through to both ends and into the bearings. Each outside end has a coupling welded in with a plug. These plugs are 180 degrees opposed to allow water out and air in when emptying. Can't say anything about the weight other than I fill it with water first thing in the spring and empty it a few weeks later. It sure does squish the lumps and bumps of winter!

 

[Boomerboy]

And one more pic - just for details

 

[thcri]

Thanks guys for the pics. I think a person can make just about anything if he just finds the right tanks. I have access to used water heaters by the dozen but typically they have access holes on the side that you would have to mess with. Should be easy though.

My dealer might have found a set of the Galaxy Turf tires for me. They look like they are pretty wide and should not leave any indents. Has anyone here had any experience with them?

murph

 

[BrettW]

those tires are out of this world! /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif

 

[StoneHeartFarm]

Nice roller. What did you use for an axle shaft on the tanks? Did you just weld on bar stock, or is there a premade part?

Steve

 

[thcri]

Those tires are not so much out of this world. They are an $900.00 dollar upgrade and then you can no longer use your loader. The $900.00 is only an upgrade, so if I wanted two sets of tires it would be a lot more.

I guess I will stay with what I have, make myself a roller and buy me a good aerator.

murph

 

[BrettW]

not "out of this world", but rather, "sky high" is more accurate, bw

 

[Boomerboy]

StoneHeartFarm Steve,

The axle is a 1" bar straight thru both tanks and into the pillow block bearings on the frame. The tanks also had side holes where valves were installed, but the roller steel shell is continuously welded down the side and all around each end to make it water tight.

 

[StoneHeartFarm]

Okay. Where'd you get the 1" steel bar? Pillow blocks I can find everywhere. Biggest round bar stock I can find is about 3/4" /forums/images/graemlins/crazy.gif I'm gonna have to make a trip to the scrap yard one of these days. Maybe I can find it there.


Steve

 

[Anonymous Poster]

I thought i would add this picture i just took today of a roller Im gonna borrow from a golf course. Its 46" by 30" wide. Not sure about the weight but concrete is about 4000 lbs. a yard a if someone could do the math and let me know that would be great. Funny thing is, this roller has been sitting there we believe since they built the golf course in 1930. It has moved just 10 feet a few years ago when someone tried to pull it and gave up. It may as well sit in my yard instead of there right? My cousin owns the course and he for some reason dont use it but we all tell him he should. There is some bumpy spots on the course that he could fix but oh well.

 

[Anonymous Poster]

By my calculation, it would weigh over 2080 pounds excluding the additional weight of the steel which is roughly 3.3 times the weight of a comparable size of concrete. Hope this helps!!
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