Go Dig or Go Devil

big_red_man · Mar 25, 2014

As a kid in Nebraska when corn (or grain sorghum) was tiny we used a pull-type cultivator with shields to remove weeds between the rows. We called it a go-dig or go-devil. Anybody ever used/heard of this? Was there another (factory) name?

redih55 · Mar 25, 2014

I saw an IH Go-Dig coming up on Big Iron Auctions.
Forgot what state it is located in.

DK44H · Mar 26, 2014

Of course. (Nebraska kid too). It was really nice when your go-dig had the trip savers.....

leon · Mar 26, 2014

Another displaced Nebraska kid too. Go digs were common way back then, back there in Husker land. But then so was listed corn. I think some called those cultivators go devils, but everybody knew they were one and the same. Then too, they talked of "throwing in" on early cultivations, "throwing out" on later. The last cultivation was"laying-by." For those who "down-the-row" irrigated, "laying-by" meant ridging the corn about as high as possible so the water would run down the row and not cross over to a different row. Ever notice that many, most, now refer to a "set of cultivators". Back then, back there, it was just a cultivator, no matter how many rows - usually two and some later, great big rigs (F-30 or M) with four!

Nebraska Cowman · Mar 26, 2014

I think the "official" name was Lister Cultivator
Around here most everybody had two. One set for throwing out and one set for throwing in. I have two pairs up on the hill that way. They are old P&O horse machines grafted together to make 4-rows.

mkirsch · Mar 26, 2014

Around here a "Go Devil" is a wedge maul used to split firewood.

Greg K · Mar 26, 2014

Yep. I'm too young to have a used them but dad has a two row horse drawn version converted to tractor pulled.

pobo6 · Mar 26, 2014

Here in central Nebraska, we called them go-devils. We used ours up til about 15 years ago, was an IH 4 row; I forget what model # it was; it was 3 pt hitch mounted. Those were the days of listing corn, go-deviling, then hilling (known as ridging to some of you) before gravity irrigating...

We had the trip saver on ours, it was a set of furrow shanks at the rear of the go-devil, it busted the ridge left behind, earning its name "trip saver". Our neighbor did not have the trip saver on his, after going through his fields once, he'd have to turn the disc blades on the go-devil the other way, and go back through the fields to knock the ridges down.

Those of you who have used go-devils, how many of you have twisted (even lightly) one of the upfront shanks? When you did, you knew it too - off to the hydraulic press you went...

Today's generation consists of no-till planting, spraying and turning on the pivots - times have changed.

sd pete · Mar 26, 2014

I have many hours on a 4 row pull type IH go devil pulled with a H.

big_red_man · Mar 26, 2014

Thanks to all you "Cornhuskers" and others for some nice memories. I'd forgotten about "throwing out" and "throwing in". Guess I lived before "trip savers", but I also lived before irrigation, so . . .
Again, thanks for the nice responses. kelly in tx

leon · Mar 26, 2014

pobo6 - what part of central Nebraska? My old home town, about a hundred year ago, was Broken Bow, about as central in Nebraska as you can get.

pobo6 · Mar 26, 2014

Leon, that would be Farwell, about 60 miles east on Hwy 92

jal-SD · Mar 26, 2014

They were called an "eli" in S-Central SD when I was growing up. We had a couple of 2-row JD's that were connected with a longer hitch to make them into a 4 row. They were set to throw out. When the corn got tall enough, we hooked up the five section drag to knock down the lister ridges and a couple of days later when the pigeon grass started to sprout we then went in with the cultivator set as deep as it would go and went as fast as the H would travel to fill in the rest of the lister ditch. Good weed control, and it got the roots down a little closer to moisture. (My $0.02 worth. jal-SD)

big_red_man · Mar 26, 2014

pobo6 (and possibly Leon), there is a chance we know or knew each other or at least families and/or connections. I grew up on a farm about 6-7 miles south of Farwell and almost mid-way between Boelus and Dannebrog. Sometimes seems a small world, doesn't it? kelly in tx

JJ in NE · Mar 26, 2014

I ran one when I was kid for my neighbor , we always called them a go-devil . They were either a model 70 or 170 cultivator lister in the parts book. I grew up in Beemer Ne. When I first started out as a partsman here in SW Nebraska , we sold a lot of bearings for the discs and bell wheels . Part # was ST686. But that was 26 years ago. JJ.

pobo6 · Mar 26, 2014

Kelly in TX - If I would to take a guess, that would put you in the Lemburg / Novakowski territory??? Any farther south, I'd recognize names, but that'd be about it. I used to (& still do occasionally) cut across the hills to get to GI, coming out at the intersection of the two highways by Centura.

I'm an Olsufka from north of Farwell.

Kelly in tx · Mar 26, 2014

You've probably driven very near where I grew up on a farm five miles straight west of Dannebrog. My mother taught country school, IIRC District 17 at Nysted for 17 years. Dad often went to the blacksmith at Farwell and, of course, Lukasiewicz Farmall in Farwell. I bought feeder pigs one summer, bought all their feed all summer at Farwell, then sold the pigs, paid my debts and went to college another year. Wish I could remember the name of the guy from Farwell who attended college at Kearney at the same time as me. He drove a 55 or 56 Ford and I always envied it. Good to talk to ya. kelly

Rick Remmert · Mar 26, 2014

Lister is what I always heard them called. You made the first pass thru the field and threw the dirt up in a pile in the middle after the cultivator shanks had plowed thru to kill the weeds. Then you reversed the disks and threw the dirt ridge over to put dirt in the furrow where the milo was. Pulled a 4 row one with a D4 Cat. That way my uncle could rest his eyes because it would steer it self! That was one of the dirtiest piece of equipment I ever ran. Loved every minute of it.

NEKS · Mar 26, 2014

Sounds like what you described we called a corn monitor. Dad always said "hook onto the monitor and go cultivate corn".

notjustair · Mar 26, 2014

We had one on three point. We called it a sled. We needed to sled the feed (sedan) with the 966 as the 856 was a wheatland. I want to say it was a four row. It was red with black shields but I can't remember other particulars. Lord knows you didn't turn and look at it - you would sled out a bunch of feed!

Rick Remmert · Mar 26, 2014

I need to rethink my first post. You are correct in what we had also. We called it a corn sled. We were all dry land so we only used it on milo. Had shields on it so if you go going to fast or deep and the milo was short, it would not cover it up. What we called a lister was what we planted with. When you were done planting, you had a field full of listed ridges.

ejr-IA. · Mar 27, 2014

Live on the Missouri River bottom western Ia.We called them Go Devils also.We would spend half a day moving wheels,disks,shields and row shovels for the first trip then later change all that around when the corn got bigger.I hated low gear on a H all day long.It helped to steer when we set the front wheels wide the second trip over.Still have a bunch of wood shear pins for the shovels.

Kelly in tx · Mar 27, 2014

ejr, thanks for the reply. I too remember all the time it took to change those items and then re-adjust them several times til they were just right. Reading some of the other replies, a bunch of farmers just put money into a SECOND unit and used one throwing out first time and the other throwing in the second. I also see by the replies that several had four row units and some probably even had lift cylinders! I never got to do any four row farming, but always wished I could've done that. kelly in tx ps corn here is between 3" to 6". I just planted an acre of popcorn and an acre of sweet corn today. Pretty late, but we'll see if it was a waste or not. k

Go Dig or Go Devil

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