Sliding - The Virtual Grange

Farm Mechanization and
Efficiencies
Richard Wiswall
Cate Farm, Vermont
www.catefarm.com
www.richardwiswall.com
Contents
•  Why mechanize?
•  Fertilizing
•  Seedbed preparation
•  Seeding and transplanting
•  Cultivation
•  Irrigation
•  Spraying
•  Harvesting and washing
Why Mechanize?
June 2014
The Flip side of Farm Mechanization Efficiency
“It paid for itself in one day!”
I’m not so sure!!..
Farmers who have already made the
purchase of a piece of equipment are
vested in it, and its success.
Do the Pencil Test
Cost/Benefit Analysis
Current way of doing it
Wash, sort, and bag
4000# beets using tub (160 25# bags)
40 hours at $15/hour=$600
If 12,000# of beets (480 bags)
120 hours at $15= $1800
With new tool
Wash, sort and bag with $2200 new
barrel washer
20 hours at $15/hour=$300. Payback
in 7 seasons
If 12,000# of beets (480 bags)
60 hours at $15= $900
Payback in 2.5 seasons
Basic 50 HP two wheel drive tractor
Fertilization
2 wheel drive bucket tractor loading compost
3 PTH Cone Spreader for fertilizer
Seed bed preparation
3 PTH Offset Disks
S-tine harrows
Pulls weeds to surface to dry
12’ wide chain harrows
Mini chisel with hilling disks
3 PTH Bedformer, notice spring row markers
3 PTH rototiller with markers
3 PTH PTO Spader
Seeding
3 PTH three row seeder
Earthway Precision seeders bolted together
Tractor wheel tracks matches pick up truck
Calibrating Planet Jr. Seeder for good stand
with no thinning
3 PTH Cone Spreader for seeding
Grain Drill, ground driven
3 PTH plastic mulch layer
Seedling Production
Trapdoor for loading potting soil
Hand seeders
Simple Sliding Plate Seeder
Vacuum plate seeder
Waitress/waiter style, or the 20 lb. curl
10 flats on ladder with 2 people
Greenhouse trolley, Richard’s favorite tool
25,000 plants per wagon load!
3 PTH two row Mechanical transplanter
Ground driven one row Mechanical Transplanter
Water wheel transplanter
Cultivation
3 PTH Kovar tine weeder, blind cultivation
Flame weeder for stale seedbed
Panes of plexiglass to give 1-2 day
look into future for germination
Flamed parsnips with test strip not flamed
Parsnips and test strip later
Simple hand held flamer, one row at a time
Electric Allis G tractor with baskets and rear sweeps
Close up of belly mounted Buddingh basket weeders
1956 Farmall Cub, offset seat/engine with baskets
Farmall Cub with belly mounted sweeps
4 inch sweeps at 13” row spacing, all in line
Cub with sweeps, hilling celeriac, burying in row weeds
3 PTH rear sweeps for quick wheel track clean up
Square tool bar mounted with U bolts to tractor
Basket unit mounted to tractor with U bolts
Simple homemade tool bar for cultivating
Simple clamps for round standard shanks
Hilling Disks
Williams tool bar system, with adjustable tines and gauge wheels
PTO irrigation pump
3 PTH PTO Sprayer
Harvest
3 PTH Bedlifter
Bedlifter undercutting parsnips
!!!!!"Brush Hog’ Rotary Mower
PTO potato chain digger harvesting echinacea
One row root crop harvester
Harvest Trailer
Harvest Trailer side view
Palletizing for efficiency
Winter wheat almost ready for harvest: August
1950s Allis AllCrop combine harvesting wheat
Allis All Crop pull behind combine
Post harvest
Flow-through barrel washer for root crops
Brush washer with in-feed table and rotary sort table
Flat belt conveyor for sorting product
Flow through pack house design
Hand box stapler, essential for used boxes
Hand truck for less lifting
Soil probe for quick soil testing
Simple slanted electric 2 strand deer fence
Tools for 1-3 acres
Bare minimum:
Shovel, rake, oscillating hoe
wheel barrow, (wheel hoe), hoses, hand sprayer
Earthway seeder
Pick up truck
Troybuilt rototiller
(small greenhouse)
Digital platform scale (20 lb)
Scaling up:
35 – 50 hp 2WD tractor
3 PTH rototiller
3 PTH mini chisels
3 PTH cultivators
Walk in cooler
Wash and pack station
!
Tools for 3-9+ acres
Shop tools, chainsaw, mowers, trimmers
(welder)
handtrucks, box stapler, labels
35 – 50 HP tractor: 2WD, or 4WD with loader
3 PTH rototiller
Disks 5 – 8’ wide
3 PTH Cultivator
Better push seeder
3 PTH Mini chisel
Flame weeder
Barrel washer/brush washer
Walk in cooler
200 lb plus platform scale
Wash station (packhouse)
Bush Hog mower
Irrigation system
Manure spreader
Spinner spreader
Portable electric fencing
Cultivating tractor
(Allis G, Farmall Cub or A, IH 140, Kubota L245H)
Basket weeder for above, shovels
Tine weeder
Bed lifter
Bedformer
2nd tractor 40-60HP
Chain harrow, S tine harrow
Multiple greenhouses
3PTH transplanter
3 PTH sprayer