First cultipacker

[ACCMan]

I built a wooden frame, screwed together. Now that I have a welder I will replace the tongue in the future. Its nothing special but it packs dirt like it is supposed to do.

 

[Victor Van Meter]

Thanks!


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[Victor Van Meter]

I built a wooden frame, screwed together. Now that I have a welder I will replace the tongue in the future. Its nothing special but it packs dirt like it is supposed to do.View attachment 20647View attachment 20648

I am guessing about ten 2X4s?

 

[ACCMan]

Yep, and screws, 2 pillow block bearings and 4 bolts. I framed it together with a nailgun then went back over it with screws to strengthen it.

 

[Victor Van Meter]

Yep, and screws, 2 pillow block bearings and 4 bolts. I framed it together with a nailgun then went back over it with screws to strengthen it.

Great, thanks.


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[MRBB]

man you must have soft un rocky soil to use a packer made out of wood, up here that thing would be beat up fast, not bashing just saying,
the stress running over rocks adds to things is crazy, and its why welds fail and metal packers fail!
good luck to you and cool build for sure!

 

[ACCMan]

My dirt is red clay with tons of rocks. I only work 4 acres and it works great towing with a ATV. This is not my original idea and it was plan B since I didn't have a welder. I am 67 and saw farmers when I was a kid rebuild packers with wood. The older packers were all bolted together but the newer packers were starting to be welded and welds failed just like you are experiencing. One old farmer told me the wood could flex whereas the metal welds fatigued due to vibration of the rocks. Some even used railroad cross ties for the axle mounts and being impregnated with creosote they lasted forever and were heavy and cheap. The best packers back them were the old horse drawn packers, built to last two lifetimes. They werent pretty like todays painted packers but boy would they pack dirt, I towed one many miles with an old Minneapolis Moline.

 

[MRBB]

My dirt is red clay with tons of rocks. I only work 4 acres and it works great towing with a ATV. This is not my original idea and it was plan B since I didn't have a welder. I am 67 and saw farmers when I was a kid rebuild packers with wood. The older packers were all bolted together but the newer packers were starting to be welded and welds failed just like you are experiencing. One old farmer told me the wood could flex whereas the metal welds fatigued due to vibration of the rocks. Some even used railroad cross ties for the axle mounts and being impregnated with creosote they lasted forever and were heavy and cheap. The best packers back them were the old horse drawn packers, built to last two lifetimes. They werent pretty like todays painted packers but boy would they pack dirt, I towed one many miles with an old Minneapolis Moline.

the packer I posted a pic of is over 50 yrs old and never a broken weld on it to date!, but the original owner and ME< never abused it, we stuck to going slow and steady with it, which I think makes a huge difference

but the fact you say metal one's flex and such and cause welds to break, that is what I see being the problem with wooden one's
I am not far from a LOT of Amish farmers and I never see them using wood ones, due to that wobbling and such tends to make the wood egg out and nails and fastners pull out

NOT trying to bash on your build to info, just saying what I have seen and know about
the main farm I managed for yrs was a 100+ yr old farm, started out with all horse drawn implements(many still on farm) and all the wooden one's have come apart , same with the wagons too!
but its very un even ground here and a LOT of BIGGER rocks, over 15 yr period of bring in a rock picker every other yr or so, pulled about 125 tri alxe loads of roaks, filled a 5 acre field with dumped loads of rocks, I swear tha one field grows rocks better than crops you can sell LOL

BUT then again I did sell almost half of all the stones, so they did make a couple bucks back, but not enough to pay for the rock picker yet LOL
and there are many rocks that the D 6 dozer I had couldn;t even make em twitch, they are just one's you have to go around now!

 

[ACCMan]

You are correct......you have more rocks than I have.

 

[Victor Van Meter]

Finally got it home. Had the welding students at the trade school I teach at build it for me out of the big wheels and I gave the smaller wheels and axle to a coworker who had them make him one as well. Can’t wait to try it out.


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[MRBB]

View attachment 23325View attachment 23326View attachment 23327View attachment 23328

Finally got it home. Had the welding students at the trade school I teach at build it for me out of the big wheels and I gave the smaller wheels and axle to a coworker who had them make him one as well. Can’t wait to try it out.


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looks nice,
but should have had them kids paint it as well LOL

 

[Victor Van Meter]

View attachment 23325View attachment 23326View attachment 23327View attachment 23328

Finally got it home. Had the welding students at the trade school I teach at build it for me out of the big wheels and I gave the smaller wheels and axle to a coworker who had them make him one as well. Can’t wait to try it out.


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looks nice,
but should have had them kids paint it as well LOL

They offered to paint it, but i told them to not worry about it. I probably will paint it though to dress it up a little.


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