Filling a roller with vegetable oil instead of water???

Hello I have a old steel lawn roller I converted to a small/garden scale roller crimper for the front of my David bradley two wheel tractor. And as I have got this thing rollin after removing bearings cleaning them and regressing everything, I dont like the idea of filling it with water too much due to the whole rusting possibilities. I'm thinking vegetable oil would be non rusting and eco friendly if my plug were to leak just a tad..... I know price wise water wins all day but...... I want it to last while I experiment with it the next few years til I decide to make something for the front end loader on my other tractor.
 
Although cooking oil is a little lighter than water, you could fill it "full" since it won't freeze.

Maybe old oil from a place that makes a lot of FrenchFries.
 
Yeah I was thinking filling it full cuz yeah it wont freeze,rust,and can be removed easily for w.e. reason might arise.... sand would be a pain getting out and I think it might get moist and rust as well cuz over winters the metal will condensate inside no matter what, unless they are full of something that wont freeze........ I just wanted to see if somebody has actually done this exact thing for this reason bcuz I feel it is a common thing ppl think about when using rollers and other things of that nature.
 
Sounds like a good idea to me. I once tried a yard roller on cover crop wheat in the garden. Didn't do too good as it is just a smooth roller - no fluting or anything to crimp/crush the stems. Darn stuff stood right back up in a couple hours! Got any pictures of what you are working on? Paul
 
If you think sand will be a pain to get out, what do you think it'll be like trying to drain and catch 30 gallons of sticky, rancid vegetable oil? Just use water. They get rusted out by people leaving them sit in the grass for years. Keep it off the ground and it'll be fine.
 
I was originally thinking motor oil as I have probably 30 gallons in old 5 gallon buckets. But then 8 thought about it possibly leaking and dont want that all in my garden.

But I actually welded four pieces of angle iron to the roller so that it will crimp the grass. Dont worry I did my research on them.... and I'll post a pic...
 
mvphoto61103.jpg

There she is my mad max roller crimper!!! It actually worked decently with the weights I tied to it. I crimped some Sudan grass that was 6+ feet tall and it seemed to work decent and it's all still laid out flat 2 days later..
 
it will be just like draining oil from your oil pan under your car.... except not laying on your back in gravel. I'll put it on my trailer ramps so that I can get a bucket under the drain hole and bust it loose and drain into buckets.

I personally beilieve that liquid is the only thing you should put in these as it will fill all the air gaps inside. While eliminating internal condensation causing rust. Water would freeze and bust my roller if I filled to the rim.
Sand, gravel, and w.e aggregate you can think of would work for weight yes, but there would be air gaps internally allowing moisture build up. I live in the midwest so humidity is crazy and in the cold months metal barrels condensate so I dont see how this metal roller wouldnt as well.
 

How about using that beet juice stuff that is used for adding ballast to tractor tires? Supposedly it is non-corrosive and non-toxic.
 
hmmm never heard of beet juice inside of tractor tires. I believe our tractor has some sort of calcium chloride or something like that. But it is corrosive I think cuz our tractor rims are barely together. If they were tubeless they would be flat for sure. But I believe I have heard somewhere that beet juice also doesn't freeze up so that could be an idea. But where do you get that stuff and how about pricing?
 
If you have beet juice spill on the ground, you'll wish you used motor oil. Trust me, it's nasty stuff.
Fill with water and drain in the winter. Don't over think it.
 
lol are you serious? I drink beet juice as a healthy drink... you couldn't pay me enough to drink motor oil. So I dont see how you could even type that being in your right mind... only side effect is you will poop a reddish turd the next day Haha. Now motor oil, you would probably die or have some serious internal issues. I think I'm just gonna stick with veggie oil cuz it wont corrode or freeze so I won't have to drain it ever. Cuz I dont need any extra things to do when winter is on it's way. Now if for some reason I do want to drain it it wouldnt be an issue.

Trust me mjmj I drink beet juice atleast once a month, so I can say from personal experience it's not nasty stuff unless your taste buds are narrow minded to a unhealthy diet. Which if that's the case I suggest you change your diet to help your body digest and perform better.
 
FYI: beet juice is really good for lowering blood pressure naturally and it increases stamina. Who wouldnt benefit from that this day in age?
 
(quoted from post at 09:41:17 09/01/20) lol are you serious? I drink beet juice as a healthy drink... you couldn't pay me enough to drink motor oil. So I dont see how you could even type that being in your right mind... only side effect is you will poop a reddish turd the next day Haha. Now motor oil, you would probably die or have some serious internal issues. I think I'm just gonna stick with veggie oil cuz it wont corrode or freeze so I won't have to drain it ever. Cuz I dont need any extra things to do when winter is on it's way. Now if for some reason I do want to drain it it wouldnt be an issue.

Trust me mjmj I drink beet juice atleast once a month, so I can say from personal experience it's not nasty stuff unless your taste buds are narrow minded to a unhealthy diet. Which if that's the case I suggest you change your diet to help your body digest and perform better.

Yes, I'm serious. You seem hell bent on making things harder than they have to be, so have at it.
 
you seem to be a old school hard headed person who hates CHANGE. So there is no penetrating your skull with new information. I guess you really "cant teach an old dog new tricks"......

but do you have hard evidence that beet juice is toxic? Like more evidence then your narrow minded opinion? If so I'd like to read up on what you have found. And if not you shouldn't spread false information!!!
 
please explain to me how filling it with cooking oil and never draining is making things harder? You just dont like MY idea and are hell bent on proving me wrong with your narrow mind. Period end of story. That's how I can pinpoint your personality.....
 
Where did I ever say it was toxic?
Honestly I couldn't care less what you do, I was simply trying to make things easier. I thought that was your reason for asking the question. It seems that you really only wanted people to tell you what a great idea it was.

For future reference, if all you want are atta-boys and yes-men telling you your ideas are great, please don't pretend you're asking a question.
 
mvphoto61106.jpg

Sorry for the inconvenience in the post.... back to the main topic. Here is a pic of the 8'60' plot of piper sudan grass I planted this year after using the homemade crimper. It seems to be crimped decently but I was thinking about adding 4 more pieces of angle iron directly between the ones I have now to improve the crimping to every 4-6 inches rather then 10-12 inches. This picture was taken 2 days after crimping it and it has been raining here as well so it seems to be staying down well so far, but the sunshine will be the real test this next week...
 
how did I know your personality type would continue the b.s. opinions and arguments...

And I wasnt looking for atta-boys or anything of that nature. I was hoping a like-minded person who has done this exact thing would say, yeah I've had cooking oil in mine for years and still using it without issues. That's what I was looking for.

Didn't expect a narrow-minded know it all to start arguing with me like this. And ruining a good topic that I'm sure many ppl would have been interested in if you had kept your narrow-minded opinion to your self and didn't begin a useless argument with me.
 
(quoted from post at 06:21:02 09/01/20) If you have beet juice spill on the ground, you'll wish you used motor oil. Trust me, it's nasty stuff.
Fill with water and drain in the winter. Don't over think it.
what exactly did you mean by this post if you weren't insinuating it is worse for the ground then motor oil? Most ppl consider something bad for the ground as toxic but I guess your breed doesn't.
 
(quoted from post at 10:56:24 09/01/20)
(quoted from post at 06:21:02 09/01/20) If you have beet juice spill on the ground, you'll wish you used motor oil. Trust me, it's nasty stuff.
Fill with water and drain in the winter. Don't over think it.
what exactly did you mean by this post if you weren't insinuating it is worse for the ground then motor oil? Most ppl consider something bad for the ground as toxic but I guess your breed doesn't.
You got nothing better to do?

I've had 30+ gallons of beet juice spill on the ground so I know what it does.
 
(quoted from post at 08:35:27 09/01/20)
(quoted from post at 10:56:24 09/01/20)
(quoted from post at 06:21:02 09/01/20) If you have beet juice spill on the ground, you'll wish you used motor oil. Trust me, it's nasty stuff.
Fill with water and drain in the winter. Don't over think it.
what exactly did you mean by this post if you weren't insinuating it is worse for the ground then motor oil? Most ppl consider something bad for the ground as toxic but I guess your breed doesn't.
You got nothing better to do?

I've had 30+ gallons of beet juice spill on the ground so I know what it does.
ave you spilled 30+ gallons of motor oil on the ground right next to 30+gallons of beet juice and compared over the next 6 months and beyond? If not then you dont have the experience or knowledge your trying to state you have. Which brings me back to my previous statement of how you shouldn't spread false information. And just to remind you, your on my topic. So yeah I get emailed when someone replys. I just keep hoping it's not your narrow-minded post.
 
Yes, I have. You're starting to seem like you have some issues. Have a good day.
 
haha now I know you are a "b.s. know it all"/"done it all" and just straight up full of yourself. Your actually one of those personality types called a "topper". Meaning you would top my idea with your idea even if you had to make some stuff up to do it. It's my topic your ruining for your own selfish agenda. Idk what your gaining from this other then the fact you ruined some else's topic. Hope this helps you live a happy life from here on out.... lol
 
(quoted from post at 09:11:02 09/01/20) I think your roller would work better if the angle iron was welded on "leg out" instead of both legs welded to roller.
mvphoto61107.jpg

Not sure what you mean by "leg out". But I took a close up pic of how I welded it on. If you could explain what you mean by leg out I would love the helpful/positive ideas to make this project better.
 
If the drum is sealed well enough to hold water, is should also be sealed well enough to keep moisture from entering.
 
(quoted from post at 09:54:28 09/01/20) You got it leg out.
My eyes told me otherwise in the far away pic.

P.S.
In your other pic, is that a new rim on the 70 ish truck?
was thinking that's what you meant. That's why I posted the close up. And yeah that is the updated conversion rim for the old widow makers that split down the center of the rim. Not the locking ring type that split on the edge. Like most Dayton style rims. It's a 1972 chevy c-50. The rims were kinda pricey along with the tires but they are gonna last me forever now that I replaced them. "Wheelsnow" is where I purchased them from if your interested in new rims for your old school 2ton. But i would suggest that you could probably get a whole new axle from a salvage yard with the Dayton style rims and decent tires for cheaper then getting new rims and tires. Reason I'm saying this is because after I spent the money on these new rims and new tires. My rear end on the truck had some issues from previous owners neglect to tightening the hub spindle nuts when changing wheel bearing and stripped the spindle out. I ended up finding a new two speed rear end with decent tires and Dayton rims for the price of one front rim and guess what that same done truck had the dayton style front axle hubs and decent tires on it. I could've smacked my self when the light bulb went off in my head. But im past it now. I have brand new rims and tires. So I'll still be replacing rear tires before the fronts im sure. But I now have rear rims that can be serviced by the tire place when I get the new tires. They wont touch the old center split rims.
 
(quoted from post at 09:54:28 09/01/20) You got it leg out.
My eyes told me otherwise in the far away pic.

P.S.
In your other pic, is that a new rim on the 70 ish truck?
h
mvphoto61109.jpg

these are the old widow makers I replaced. They are hub-piloted rims with 6.25" center hub hole, and 8.75" lug to lug on center. You need these dimensions when looking on their site for the exact fitment. The new rims I got have 295/75r22.5 tires on them and they fit under my c-50. But I have to say this with these tires I have noticed I have a slight rub mark on my steering arm. But the edge of my tires look fine so I assume it happens backing the truck up somewhere and had the wheels cranked all the way to the right and the suspension bounced from a bump and it was able to rub. But how often do you have the wheels cranked all the way to the right anyway. It's a big/long truck so you have to take the rights wider anyway. But I dont think the rubbing is an issue since it only happens when I'm backing up at very slow speeds and the terrain just right to bounce it.
 
Looks pretty good Mike. Maybe need the spacing between angle iron shortened up some like you said.

Have you ever heard of (I think this is right) the Robindale Institute? They have built something similar out of a large pipe with spiraled flutes welded on it. I can't remember specific dimensions but might find it on an internet search for the institute or look for cover crop roller. Found it years ago and thought it was pretty neat idea.
 
I think I know what your talking about.... it's got the crimper pieces shaped like chevrons / pointing forward. And the one I seen hooked up to the front of a tractor. I guess it had a 3pt hitch mounted on the front and hooked it up that way. I'm not familiar with front mount 3pt hitch systems, but we have a old massey Ferguson tractor with a front end loader on it and in planning to make a skid steer quick hitch mount for it so I can get some skid steer attachments in the future. But for now I'm gonna make that quick attach and get a 3pt quick hitch and weld a skid steer attachment plate to the back so I can use 3pt tractor implements on the front end loader for crazy situations like this roller crimper deal on the front of the tractor. And the one I make for this I wont have to fill with fluid cuz I'll have downward hydraulic pressure with the front end loader.
 
Yep, that's probably the one. They had to go to a chevron type pattern on the crimper flutes as a straight spiral made the tractor unsteerable. The spiral flutes sent the tractor front end one way or the other uncontrollably. I guess they learned that real quick when they tried it. Also put the flutes on at an angle from perpendicular so it wouldn't tear up the ground as much.

They wanted a front mount unit so you could roll cover crops and plant at the same time. Saw one in action several years ago, from a distance, when I attended a small grain field day at the Penn State Agronomy farm. Pretty neat unit that appeared to work well if done at the right stage of cover crop growth. Is a little touchy that way, too early the stuff stands back up or doesn't get killed (making a mess of down tangled junk), too late and the seed is too far along - matures and germinates.

If I remember right they did have one adapted to a loader frame. Had to leave the loader in float position - sometimes had steering problems if too much weight taken off the tractor front wheels.
 
yeah having the front mount so you had the rear for planting would be the perfect setup. But they are some pricey attachments for even the small scale stuff I looked at. Probably the reason most big time farms dont wanna swap cuz i bet a 20' wide crimper and 20' wide no-till planter would be pricey. Then add in the next 2-3 years of your field readapting(yield loss or stagnant yields) to the new system and most ppl cant take that hit. But on the other hand, once you did take the hit and made it threw it, your field would be slowly turning into a raised garden bed exploding with growth.

But back to the crimper thing, I think the wider you go with the roller the more chevron shape you need for turning. Bcuz this crimper I made is only 2' wide so having the angle straight doesn't seem to be to bad but the way I have it hooked up it's like backing up a trailer. also im using a walk behind tractor so it's totally different. But if you really think about it, most ppl crimping stuff down arnt really turning much, if you just make a parameter crimp path, then just "mow" the rest in rows you wouldnt be turning til you get to the end then lift up crimper turn around and crimp the next row. But that's just my thought, I dont have much to back that up Haha just what I've seen on videos of ppl crimping. I bet you could crimp a corn maze with these as well.
 
Flute pattern probably not a big deal on your little unit. I think the first one those people built was only as wide as the tractor (makes sense) and they had problems at that size (6 or 8 feet). If all fields were straight and level, probably not a big deal either, but around here there is so such thing as a straight field or level for that matter. Most fields are contoured to the hills we have. Some fields I work in are approaching 35-40% slope, got to be careful in them or end upside down. Makes hilling Potatoes an adventure! But I've done it a couple times.

Maybe the way all the pesticides are going we might all have to adapt to some kind of a system like these rollers cause nobody really wants to go back to plowing if they can avoid it. Too much erosion, too many rocks, too much expense in fuel, trips over the field, etc. Plant something you can kill by rolling and keep the cycle going of cover crop - crop - cover crop - and on and on.
 
yeah it definatly seems more efficient that's for sure and makes total sense. Just makes you think why did we add all those other steps in? Haha. Guess you gotta learn the hard way. But yeah I bet hilling potatoes on slopes is more like creating swales, if your going lateral, and if not your gonna erode some major ditches. We are actually in the process of clearing about 5 acres of wooded south facing slopes for creating swales on to start a berry orchard. And we have spaced them apart on contour so we have on average a 15'(wide) 200'+ long strip between our swales for growing cover crops year round for natural nutrition for the berries. That's the reason I'm looking into the crimper idea. But skipping the planter since were so small scale we will just crimp it and broadcast seed. So our first hillside that I explained above is gonna have 6 swales about 200'-300' long and 15'-20' apart on contour. So we will have 6 or 7 cover crop plots between each swale at 15' ish 200'-300' long for crimping. And we are also gonna be using a subsoil ripper in this cover crop lane as well for maximum penetration of water. And the swales will be set up with over flow( basically a culvert) so when the massive rain comes they wont blow out. Just direct the water to flow how we want it too. And the very bottom swale is gonna over flow into a pond for storage just in case of droughts.

Maybe eventually we will grow some crop in our cover crop lanes after about 5 years of cover cropping so we know the soil is premium. And so we can get a double income from the sight. But were mostly gonna focus on the berries so we might do a crop every other year after the inital 5 years so our berries are getting the most out of the cover crop lane nutrition. Giving my explanation of our sight and the lanes we have for growing cover crops what would be a good crop to grow in lanes of this size and be somewhat profitable/ benefital to the berries on the swales? Cuz at this point in time were just planning to grow buckwheat, sorghum sudangrass, some other summer cover crops. Cuz we hate mowing grass. It's the most useless waist of time on the planet. So we have to grow something beneficial in our lanes between our berry swales.
 
Sounds like a plan! Don't know much about berries and what kind of nutrients they need. My best success with cover crops has been a mix of crimson clover and tillage radishes, but this was mostly for corn. Also used that mix for fall seeding timothy for hay. The radish drill down breaking the ground up so water can get through then they freeze out here (couple nights in low teens and they're toast). Clover comes on in the spring here at green-up, they get about knee high, bloom, then die, so no prolonged growth there. Crimson clover can reseed itself though so another batch will show up later, but usually the next year we'll see it. Works good with the timothy as the clover is dead and dry when hay is ready to cut yet puts nitrogen in for the timothy. Have a trial out on same mix with annual rye grass in it. Last two years the rye grass has reseeded itself with a little clover in it, but the rye grass tends to choke out everything else, it gets about 2 1/2 to 3 feet tall sets seed and dies also. The rye grass seems to suck up a lot of water (I have it in a couple of really wet areas we have issues with). Had just planted the rye grass mix in some bad hard, wet places to keep the weeds down and so far has worked.

All kind of cover crops out there, as I'm sure you know. Just tailor them to what your berries need.
<img src="https://www.yesterdaystractors.com/cvphotos/cvphoto55049.jpg"
Here is a field of crimson clover starting to bloom good in mid May couple years ago.
 
I like that picture. I hope our hillside looks like that next spring. We are planting 50lb bags of crimson clover, hairy vetch, annual rye, and winter red wheat (cuz it was cheap locally). So hopefully next year we dont have too bad of a weedy grassy mess. But I guess around June-july I should mow it all down and plant some sudan grass or buckwheat??? We just cleared woods from our spot so just doing year round cover crops for the next 2 years while we let our stumps rot after we grind them out...

I like experienced inputs on cover crops bcuz I'm just learning best times to plant them. But not so sure on cutting them down.... we also prefer that it does reseed itself too so we dont have to replant as much.
 
Couple of things to look at/keep in mind, I would bet with a mix like that the majority of what your getting will be the annual rye and/or wheat as they are the "cheaper" components of the mix. I got burnt with the rye grass/crimson clover/radish mix I bought, well not really burnt but they didn't have the ratio of the mix very well documented. I thought it would have more radish and clover than it did. I think it was something like 80-85% rye grass! Last I bought I got individual components and mixed myself for more clover and radish per acre than the mixes would give me.

The other thing is the hairy vetch. It used to be planted along roadsides because once it gets going is very persistent and will smother everything else out if you leave it go. Maybe not enough in the mix to matter? If there is a good bit of vetch you just might want to leave it alone till your ready to do something different too. Hairy vetch will be slower to catch on than the others in your mix. I would think the first things you will see growing from your mix will be the wheat and the rye grass, then the crimson clover, and hopefully the vetch before winter gets going good. Keep a seed bag tag on file someplace for a record.

I'm just a bit north of rt70 and the turnpike(76) here in Pa, next to Laurel Mtns. (Mr. Rodgers Neighborhood) so maybe a little further north than you. This year the rye grass dried down in mid July, but it was unusually hot/dry since late May/early June. Saw some dry crimson clover in the new seeding timothy (last year about this time) I cut for hay about three weeks ago, yes should have been cut in early July but too extreme of heat and drought - didn't want to lose the timothy stand, and it was still green.
 
The picture is of a field planted with a premix of almost 60% crimson clover, 20% tillage radish, the other 20% was the coating they put on the clover seed. The coating contained the inoculant among other things. Radish are gone by spring just leaving the clover.
 
yeah sorry I should have been more clear, we didn't buy a mix. We bought individual 50lb bags of each crimson clover, hairy vetch, annual rye, winter wheat, and 10lbs of fracking daikon radishes. We did this also because I didn't like the ratios that were in the mixes. I did my research and seen too much variation in the mixes and they had way more of certain things(cheaper stuff) mixed in. Like I previously stated were only looking at "farming" 5 acres of south facing slopes, so mixing our own mix isnt an issue where as most ppl are looking to plant 20+ acre plots so I get why ppl just want the premixes. Mixing that much seed would be time consuming if you didn't have a rigged up mixer. Were also gonna be broadcasting ours with the mail carrier style seeders. But we have to plan accordingly with the weather so we get a couple days of rain/over casting for good germination. Were actually thinking about spreading a light layer of straw over the whole site for germination insurance if we all of a sudden get really hot but were debating that idea due to the labor involved. But this year were only planting on about 2 acres so spreading straw wont be too laboring just time consuming. Reason for thinking this way is bcuz this spring we planted field peas and buckwheat and had very poor germination cuz of lack of rain/moisture, and to much sun "haha". And we also just got the hill cleared that winter so used our landscape rake to prep the whole site and it was basically bare ground unbroken/top inch raked out, then we pulled our homemade spike aerator over the site to poke holes everywhere for the seed to fall into. I think this fall we might not have such a problem with germination cuz we will have our summer junk grass cut down to about 2-3 inches so that lil bit of grass should help shade the germinating seeds and keep them from dehydrating like what happened in the spring on bare ground. But we have the straw so we might just put a layer over just for the heck of it. Bcuz we want good stuff growing not junk grass.

This is basically our primitive game plan:

The only tools we have to use on tractor for seeding is the landscape rake and a spike aerator for the "seed drilling" part. I know primitive, but were not doing a big enough area to rate having an expensive tool to do it. So using the rake to initially disturb the site, aerator for drilling seed holes, then mail carrier seeders to spread the seed, then roll spike aerator over everything after seeding for more disturbance/push seed in better, then spread light layer of straw over site. And all this right before some rain comes our way. And I should mention our site is mowed down to 2-3inches tall before the planting process begins.

Does this seem like an ok way to go about it?
 
Can never have too much research/information! Not familiar with spike aerators? If it will leave the surface with a "worked up" appearance, would probably be okay. Best success in planting is to start with a barren surface, If any green is left it will takeoff with any rain you get before your seeds can germinate and out compete it. Even when mowed really short, been there done that! Easiest way, if you don't mind it, is to spray what's there with a "burn down" treatment (usually a generic roundup with 2,4-d ester (LV4) and an ammonium sulfate product (turbo is one)). Wait a week or so, follow the label, then I would run your aerator over it too get some loose soil, spin on your seed and some fertilizer, finally run some kind of packer over it to push the seed in and firm the soil. Your seed only needs to be maybe 1/4 inch deep (read the seed label or brochures for seeding depth as I am probably off a bit). If your not too adverse to spraying, one of those 25gal., 12volt sprayers come in real handy. You could research nozzles, make up a short boom (light weight pipe will do) and mount on back of a tractor, quad, utv, whatever you have.

I have tried to do similar with out spraying or full tillage and only end up with a mess every time. For me spraying is easier, cheaper, faster than full tillage.
 
here is a pic of our spike aerator.
mvphoto61423.jpg

We picked this up for pretty cheap off "CL" and have used it quite a bit. It's basically a 10-12in diameter heavy steel pipe, has some thick piece of flat steel welded across the ends center. And a heavy pin centered on it and the frame has the bearings/mount. And they filled it with concrete for weight. And welded the spikes to the outside of pipe. Its works pretty good for the price. But moving it out of your way is not happening with out a lawn mower at least. But it's to heavy to use most modern lawn mowers to drag it around, its heavy. It probably pokes 3-4inch holes in the ground depending on how the ground is and if it's really loose soil or turning with it, it kinda shreds/tills the top inch or two if your going fast. I think its comparable to those pulverizers but this is just manual rolling/no power for tilling. Which we dont want to do any deep tillage because were working on such a steep grade, and when we do get rain we GET IT. So kinda worried we would just loose what's possibly left of a topsoil layer. It was basically a forest floor almost 2 years ago. So I would think there is a decent humus layer from all the leaf debris over the years before we clear cut it. The grade issue we have is the reason I have been looking into small scale no-till cover cropping. Once we get our swales' dirt work done we wont have to worry about loosing top soil. They will store what ever run off, in the swale "flood plain". Just have to have a top soil harvest time every 3-5 years to keep the water way clear to hold more water for the berries on our steep slopes.
 
mvphoto61425.jpg

This is top part of our 2acre hillside. If you look close, you can see the contour lines we marked off and then tilled with a 14" wide hand tiller. Yes I was dedicated to do it. But anyway those lines we plan to dig into the hill above that line and windrow dirt on that line to create swales. We have a box blade and a 6way rear blade for the tractor to do most of the hard work for us. But once we get that mound about 3-4foot wide and 16+ inches deep on the uphill side for water storage, we are gonna wood chip the whole burm/swale for the berries to grow on. And the lanes between those swales is where we are wanting to do the cover crops. Also there will be a properly placed 6" culvert drain set at about the 12" deep mark so our swales can only hold 12inches of water across the hill then begin to drain out to the next level and so on til the bottom where it will drain into a pond. We are basically trying to set up the ultimate irrigation orchard since we dont have access to running water. Drought proofing the hillside orchard with free water. And when or if the drought does hit we can use a pump to pump water up to the top swale to flood every thing down hill or pump it into a water tank and haul up to top swale to flood it. But I think we could get a pump to pump water up 300ft of hose and about a 40-50ft elevation change. Our storage pond is located about that far from the end of our top swale that we could flood irrigate the hillside with.
 
That roller is pretty much what I had pictured in my mind. Just never used one to know what it would do. If it shreds things up as much as you are saying it may be enough to keep the grass from out competing your seeding, but I wouldn't guarantee it. I know what you mean about getting it when it rains anymore, seems to be an all or nothing proposition these days. The worst is a heavy rain in January/February on frozen ground - thaws out just enough to make washes.
 
yeah the rain has become a big issue with every type of farming. We have had peach orchards lose big time the last couple years because of too much rain around here. Almost every row crop farmer has been behind on planting every spring cuz our flooding we get. Then every here and there we get a year with not enough rain and it's a dust storm. But that is becoming kinda rare. I think this whole summer we have had one straight week and a couple days of zero rain. It's been a very wet summer and the mosquito populations is the cold hard evidence of that. But if we start drying up like it is doing now I bet the corn growers are gonna get some serious yields with all the rain we got, hopefully it doesn't rot any. I grew a small plot of some ornamental Indian corn this year and with all the rain we got I had some rot in the ear. I opened one up and it smelt like whiskey brewing in there haha.
 
We had a very wet and cold spring here that gave way to one of the hottest/driest Junes we have ever seen. Dad is 90 and swears he has never seen anything like it. Extreme heat and humidity and no rain then when oats were about ready rained nonstop til couldn't find the oats for weeds, very poor yield, some not even harvested as so poor. Should have had 1600 bu. just got a little over 200 bu.. Straw has been "washed" for couple weeks now but we're dry last 4 or 5 days so hope to bale tomorrow. Just finished last of first cutting hay today - might have a couple odd spots to squeeze a couple more bales out of if looks half decent though. Ain't farmin' fun! LOL

By the way, we have been classified as in extreme drought lately despite being still 2.5" ahead for rain to this point in the year!
 
(quoted from post at 02:58:11 09/01/20) I have 2 rollers with 1/4 thick wall pipe that I filled with motor oil. Had them for many years with no problems

Got a 5' smooth roller almost full of old motor oil, heavy rascal. Packs dirt real good.
 

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