CULTI-PACKER (help and pics)

tmiller · Mar 17, 2009

my uncle has this and he says if i can get it out of the woods i can have it.

However I have some questions...
1. what is it used for? Do i use it after plowing to rid of the clumps?
2. Anyone have one or one like it? How you like it?
3. Is it worth digging it out? what is the worth in money now?
4. anyone heard of DUNHAM?
Any other info i would love!
some teeth are missing, Needs alot of work!!

Thanks Taylor

PICS

foggy1111 · Mar 18, 2009

Your pictures dont show the important parts very well...if at all. Too many leaves. I think the cast iron "wheels" and the bearings on the shaft ends are the important parts to look at....along with any broken castings....and its hard to tell much from those pics...BUT.....FREE is GOOD. I think Dunham is a good old time brand...and that is an oldie but a goodie from what I can see.

Culipackers are all the rage right now with those that put in small seeds like clover and chicory for deer food plots. My guess is what you are showing here is an 8 footer and if it is ready to go I'd say its worth $500. (+ -) to the right party. Should be easy to sell again on Craigs list if you dont need it.

I put a wtb ad on Craigs List for a cultipacker a few weeks ago....finally had a call from a guy that has three of 'em (2 4's and an 8er). I'm off to look at them on Sat. He tells me he wants $250 for the lot of 'em. I think I feel a small profit coming on.

Farmwithjunk · Mar 18, 2009

Dunham became Dunham Lehr.....Dunham and Brillion are the most common brands of cultipackers. Good brand. They're used AFTER discing (secondary tillage) either/or before/after seeding to firm seedbed and eliminate air pockets/clods.

They sell for big bucks these days. A MINIMUM of $250. I've seen 7'ers sell in excess of $750 of late.

spruce Deere · Mar 18, 2009

Worth diggn out, worth keepn, Like farmwithjunk says, sell for good $$. Even if shaft and end bearings are busted or wore, fixn them is worth it. My nieghbor, retired farmer, give me 3 four footers, crossbar stile wheels. Not sure what brand, JD green only marking I can find on them is "produced in carolina". Dont matter, honored to have'em, good as gold to me

Dargo · Mar 18, 2009

I have one that is almost exactly like that one. I have a thread on here somewhere where I rebuilt it a couple of years ago and put in new axles and bearings with grease zerks along with sandblasting it and painting it. Interestingly enough, it had wood blocks inside the end caps serving as bearings in an oil bath. Needless to say, 70 years of use and having sat outside at least 50 of those years took a bit of a toll on it. Surprisingly enough, the steel Dunham used, their own proprietary steel, held up incredibly well after all the years. Unless prices have plummeted lately, the lowest I was seeing for good condition Dunham double row cultipackers was between $1000 and $2500. I can't see if yours is a single row or double row because of the leaves. From what I see, it looks like a single row, but they are still useful and bring good money. The double row ones bring a lot more money when restored to working condition. After I finished rebuilding mine (first rebuild in about 70 years), I was offered $2500 cash for it. Obviously I opted to keep it.

Here a few pictures of mine after I rebuilt it. I do see that these pictures were before I installed a regular trailer hitch that goes on a 2" ball on the front of it. I can easily pull it with my ATV or RTV and I have 2 sections of railroad track in the 'box' on top for additional weight. It works wonders in finishing a lawn!

foggy1111 · Mar 18, 2009

Dargo said:
After I finished rebuilding mine (first rebuild in about 70 years), I was offered $2500 cash for it. Obviously I opted to keep it.

Thats a nice packer Dargo, and no doubt you did allot of work to fix it up. No offense.......But.......YIKES If I were offered $2500 cash for that piece I would be stuffing the cash in my wallet and waving bye bye. There's always more iron around the groves....at least in these parts.

Hmmmmm....maybe its just the old 'chinery jockey blood in me.

tmiller · Mar 19, 2009

thanks for the help. Can i change out the wheels on mine for the ones you have on that one? taylor

Dargo · Mar 19, 2009

I'm sure a tandem axle setup could be fabricated if it doesn't have a setup for such, but it wouldn't be particularly easy. I have no idea where you'd find extra packing wheels unless you had a spare for donor parts. Being the high prices good condition ones are bringing now, I'm not sure I'd cut one up for parts. I don't see any on eBay now, but back when I was restoring mine there were several identical to mine (but not restored) and the opening bids were at $1500 and they always seemed to sell.

Farmwithjunk · Mar 19, 2009

I've seen things sell on EBAY for double what you could buy the same EXACT thing for NEW. That doesn't establish a "worth" in my book, just what a "fool and his money" will spend. There's a couple well known used equipment dealer websites that list cultipackers @ $ridiculous$ prices too. Still, you can go to farm auctions and buy decent (to really good) cultipackers for $250 to $750, single, double, w/"pups" (sort of a "batwing" extention), ect..... I can't help but laugh when I hear of someone paying double or triple price for something so common and available.

It's another thing entirely when a person buys a "decent" piece, then spends way more than is common to build/rebuild something into a virtual work of art. (Oh how well I know.....BTDT, got the "art" to prove it) Spending $xxxx.xx on something that's really only worth $xx.xx is easy to do. Unfortunately for those of us who do that all too frequently, that process doesn't make it worth $xxxx.xx except to ANOTHER tractor nut with deep pockets.......

Dargo · Mar 19, 2009

Farmwithjunk said:
It's another thing entirely when a person buys a "decent" piece, then spends way more than is common to build/rebuild something into a virtual work of art. (Oh how well I know.....BTDT, got the "art" to prove it) Spending $xxxx.xx on something that's really only worth $xx.xx is easy to do. Unfortunately for those of us who do that all too frequently, that process doesn't make it worth $xxxx.xx except to ANOTHER tractor nut with deep pockets.......

Yeah, and there are those of us with the tools and ability to rebuild equipment with almost no additional money. It's all in knowing how to use what you have.

I can't say that there is any better gauge of the value of something other than what the market will bear. I'm sure you know far better the value of something than nationwide auction prices and what they are bought and sold for all over the place. Me, I'll just have to keep on being handicapped by having to rely on what the market will bear at any given time.