Somebody please explain land rollers to me

super99

Well-known Member
I see land rollers advertised in the Iowa Farmer Today and have seen some on dealer lots west of Des Moines. Here in NW Illinois, everyone tries to avoid compaction, looks like that is all the roller would do. Why use one??? Chris
 
I don't think overall compaction is all that much with that weight spread out like it is,but put it all in one spot,like when it hits a stone,and it mashes it right down in the ground so you don't hit it in a hay or soybean field. Same deal with breaking up corn stalks with them and flattening them out before no til.
 
They are not heavy enough to cause deep compaction. They are to smooth out fields. Many guys swear by them on their planted soybean fields. They also are used in areas with rocks that freeze heave up. They try to use them early in the season while the hay ground is still fairly soft so they can push the rocks back down below where a disk mower would hit them.
 
Here we use cultipackers. Brillion labels them "pulverizers". At least what used to be Brillion. I'm shopping for one now.
Typically here it's pulled behind a disc or field cultivator to create the "loose, but firm" seedbed, if that makes any sense.
 
Bob these rollers are not like cultipackers. They are a single large roller that maybe 3 foot in diameter. They maybe forty feet wide. Here is a picture of one companies, Rite way.
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Used to be some rollers around here. And a few old narrow front tractors with the bands on the wheels they tried to smack the heaved alfalfa back down in with. But not much any more. All cultipackers- many 30' wide.
 
We have cobbly, silt loam soils and plowing raises a lot of rocks. Anything over 3-4 inches gets picked and he rest are rolled down with a roller after seeding.
A lot of our hay farmers roll their hay land in the Spring and one neighbor says that since he started it, they haven"t broken one guard due to rock impact.
 
There are at least two farmers around here that use the rollers in their soybean fields. Can't remember though if they use them before or after planting.
 
We use them here after the beans are planted, but not up. It pushes the small rocks and corn stalk root clumps down. Makes a smoothe field for combining in the fall.
 
we used to use them on the sod farm, in the spring, to make the field smoother, for harvesting the sod. Back when sod farming was profitable, when houses was being built, in the good ole days!
 
They actually have a low weight per square foot, they don't compact, but they take the high points out.

Push down rocks and root balls.

One of the quickest adaptations of an implement around here, didn't know what they were 5 years ago, now most bean acres in the county are rolled.

Paul
 
OK, Thanks for the reply's. Are the rollers empty or do you fill them with water or something for added weight?? Chris
 
some use them around here, when the wind picks up those are the first fields to blow, and a heavy rain is like pouring water on a table, they are creating ideal conditions for soil erosion, I will never use one, if you have rocks then pick them, there has never been a proven yield increase, the only benefit is the smooth surface for combining soybeans, as far as I am concerned it's another trip and more fuel used, just another case of machinery makers having something that you can't farm without, I have seen many such implements sitting in the trees after 5 or 10 years
 
Rollers have been popular for many years in vegetable growing areas to provide the fine, smooth soil surface that the precision seeders require.
 
Brother-in-law has been using for a couple seasons, Bought his own last spring. They roll soybeans just shortly after they come up, apparently seedlings are not damaged, but sis-in-law says not to look back after you"ve rolled. Seedlings apparently pop back in a few days. Says it significantly levels, reduces rock problems, making it much easier to combine.
 
Brother-in-law is planting on untilled ground - corn stubble, etc. Roller takes care of stubble, and rocks. See my previous post above.
 
I built a rubber tire (truck tire) packer to use behind the grain drill, and made it so I could add water for extra weight. That was before field rollers. Rollers are made of thick steel (up to 5/8 inch wall), some maybe over 3 ft diameter, so no added weight. Heavy ones can easily run 35 grand or more, depending on width. They do an excellent job of pushing down rock so the flex bean header cuts way closer at harvest time. My renter tried rolling some corn fields before planting- normally bean fields are rolled after planting. If beans are just emerging, only a bit of damage is done. But it's always a judgment call when done that late. Heck, we've tiled (tile plow, not trencher) when beans were coming through, and saw almost no damage. dboll mentions erosion....yes, it can happen, (had it years ago behind a Brillion seeder), we had heavy rains in June and saw some erosion, but overall, I'll stay with the roller. I'm on relatively flat ground....rolling hills? that would have to be re-evaluated. Like everything else in farming...no one size, machine, practice, etc.- fits all.
 
I guess it should go without saying........if you intend to cultivate the growing crop........You DO NOT use a roller. Cultivating even once just pulls all the squashed rocks back up! ie, chemical weed control needs to work! Rolling fields buys time for those that don't pick rock anymore. Our kids and my better half picked countless rocks....we don't see that anymore in the neighborhood. But, with all those little ones not being picked, I see a preponderance of them showing up down the road. Then we'll need the windrowers and lifters! cuz the humans won't do that!
 
the last two years the neighbors rolled fields have blew and mine right across the fence doesn't, that and all the corn leaves end up in the ditch and fence lines, both fields were prepared similarily
 
My neighbor plowed a little too early one year in the 70's and got a field full of hard clods. He had a cultipacker and rolled his field twice.
Taht year I bought a 5 shank Glencoe soi saver and he asked me to chisel his field in the fall.
Chise had maybe 90 acres on it and I couldn't get it to penetrate, when it did, it would stop my Oliver 1950T dead in it's tracks. Never worked ground that hard!!
Larry NEIL
 
Here in ny we use them to seed back.to a hay crop. Pull behind grain drill or after seeding to firm top of field for a good seed bed and good seed to soil contact. Some of the few folks do roll there bean fields to push rocks down. There is not enough weight for the surface area to cause any deep compaction but smooths the surface out nice.
 
This one is 9x4.We also used this on our sod fields.We rolled ahead of the cutter to firm the ground.It made for a tighter roll.It's not that heavy empty.Built from 1/2 inch rolled plate.Some I've looked at are 1 inch and thicker.The only draw back is it's not baffled.If you put water in it you have to be careful on hilly ground.

Now days I use it to roll powdery worked ground before I seed with the Brillions.A firm surface helps to eliminates dust ridges that the seeder makes.I say firm but not tight.

My dad wanted to paint it like a candy cane but then realized it might make the operator dizzy

DSCF0004-10_zpsd464bd7a.jpg
 

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