Field roller

[tessiers]

Looking to build a field roller to take care of a few minor ruts I left while spreading manure. I found a couple of old steel rolls behind a local mill, they are both 7' long which is about what I was looking for.

One has 5/8" thick steel and weighs about 2000 lbs empty and is 3' diameter. It will hold about 350 gallons of water which would add another 2800 lbs.

The second is 1 1/4" steel weighs about 6000 lbs empty and is 5' diameter. It will hold about 1000 gallons of water which would add another 8000 lbs.

I can only get 1 of them but I have my choice. How heavy should a land roller be? I am leaning toward the smaller one, all of my tractors are under 50 hp.

Thanks
Jason

 

[smiley]

We had a little blacktop sidewalk roller that weighed about 1000# that some of the guys rolled lawns with in the spring if that helps.

 

[Halftrack]

My neighbor to the north took an old LP tank with deminsions similar to your smaller unit and made it into a roller with stub axles and angle iron for the tounge. After cutting off all the valves and a lot of welding, made it water tight and uses it to roll his 9 acres of yard. The ground has to be very wet,1.5 to 2" rain, to do much good and then it pulls very hard with his 35 hp 4x4 tractor. If it is not wet, it just bounces from one high spot to the next. The neighbor to the south took and old well tank, 4' wide, filled it with about a yard of concrete and it works great, wet yard or dry. When I borrow one, the preference is the smaller one, always ready to go, no filling in the spring and emptying in the fall, and it takes up muck less space and gets between a lot more objects. I only roll about 4 acres so the 4' takes about 2.5 hrs. My 2 cents worth, hope it helps.

 

[jenkinsph]

Both of those sections seem to be larger than I would wan't. I would prefer a smaller diameter about 24" filled with sand or concrete. Heavy for the footprint yet light enough to manage with your tractors. It is easier to use a roller when the ground is dry enough the dirt doesn't stick to it. Pneumatic tires with a low pressure that allows them to flex helps them self clean, a hard roller can quickly ball up a thick layer of dirt on them. This can be a real pita to clean off., a scraper bar really helps with this.