Building a Better Dragline Manure Injector. Farming with Hoover Ag! скачать в хорошем качестве

Building a Better Dragline Manure Injector. Farming with Hoover Ag!

https://www.hooverag.com Q: What are we looking at here today? A: This is a 12-row, 25-foot-wide manure injector we just finished in the shop. It’s fitted with Dietrich shanks and 12-inch high-rate sweeps. We’re doing our final checklist before it heads out to a farm in Vermont. We’re making sure everything works like it should. Q: Any standout features on this build? A: Yeah, quite a few. This one’s got our extendable swinger on it, which really helps with turning at the end rows—especially if you're trying to make a loop without having to back up. It also has a Krone flow meter, but we don’t mount that in the swinger. Too much weight to be dragging around. We place it right before the distributor, with spacers on either side, so you’re not stressing the flow meter with the distributor weight. Q: How does the extendable swinger help in real-world conditions? A: Great question. We found that by extending the swinger just a bit more and moving the stop further forward, you can swing the hose right up alongside the tractor. That gives you about seven extra feet of slack, which makes turning much smoother. Now, this doesn’t fix traction issues on long pulls—if your tractor's already struggling, it won’t magically give you more grip. But it does make the hose handling way easier. Q: I see a different type of tractor in the background—what’s that about? A: That’s a four-wheel steer machine with a straight frame. It can vary the front and rear steering, so we’re pretty excited to see how it handles the swinger. Might be a game changer for turning tighter. Q: You mentioned some updates in hose routing—what changed there? A: This is one of those things we kind of discovered by accident. We mounted the distributor up top so the swinger sits lower. That actually helps a lot—it reduces the pull on the top link, which is what you want. We also route all our yellow hoses forward and then down. That gives you better clearance when folding the wings up. Since the hoses "cut the corner," they don’t get pinched. And by keeping everything headed uphill, you avoid sags that can collect sand or solids. It’s been a great improvement. Q: What about the electronics and hydraulics—anything special there? A: Yeah, we’ve got our electric hydraulic valves mounted up high and protected with rubber flaps. Keeps the manure and moisture out but still gives you access when you need it. It’s simple but effective. Q: Sounds like you’ve been at this for a while—what’s the backstory? A: About 15 years ago, my brother and I wanted to go no-till. But Pop said we had to ditch the manure tanks first. So we got some beat-up hard hose from a neighbor and pieced together a system. It was rough—we spent three days unplugging that hose. But it taught us a lot. Q: What’s your operation look like today? A: We’ve grown a lot. I’ve got a partner now who handles the custom pumping—about 40 million gallons a year. My focus is just building the equipment: injectors, bars, hose reels, movers, pumps—you name it. We even have our own patented low-disturbance injector for guys doing no-till or light tillage. Q: Last question—what’s the right injector for a high-rate job? A: If you’re aiming for 15 to 20,000 gallons per acre, you want something like these Dietrich shanks. That’s the high-rate solution, and we offer that too.