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Track packer

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Category: Other Topics
Forum Name: Pulling Forum
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URL: https://www.allischalmers.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=155464
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Topic: Track packer
Posted By: Ken in Texas
Subject: Track packer
Date Posted: 09 Nov 2018 at 8:21am
Our club needs a track packer.  I think we can build one using water filled USED 15" or 16" LT Truck tires on USED steel wheels. Overall size less the tongue to pull it ,10x10.  Anybody ever built a track packer to use between pullers?



Replies:
Posted By: DrAllis
Date Posted: 09 Nov 2018 at 9:08am
Never built a packer (yet), but have always felt proper track building (moisture and packing) and an excellent "V" blade or an 8 ft blade with wings on the end with skid shoes built into them and a "floating" top link were far more important than a packer packing mounds of dirt during the event.  There should be a Federal Law banning the use of chisel plows and heavy discs to make a track !!   The deeper the track is worked, the deeper the spin-out holes are you have to fill back in.  I guess I didn't really answer your question did I ???


Posted By: Ken in Texas
Date Posted: 09 Nov 2018 at 9:20am
I'm guessing a tire this size will hold like 80 pounds of water. times that by 48 = #3840 Probably each truck tire will hold more than 10 gal of water .
    Next trick is build axles. Think a greased iron axle pipe with a slip fit inside short pieces of iron pipe with 2 wheels welded on each short pipe could work??? 12 wheels across on 4 axles.   Hauling it is another thing


Posted By: PaulB
Date Posted: 09 Nov 2018 at 9:46am
I’m going out against the grain here, however I have to disagree with Dr. Allis on the chioce of tools to build a track. Although we may see Eye to eye that you can’t build a good track with only an hour head start from pull time. The main advantage to working deep is to get moisture down into dry ground so as to not have the track dry out while pulling. Then on the flip side after some rain, a track must be worked deep to find dry dirt to mix with the wet on top. Anyway that you are going to build a pulling track work must be done well in advance to have the time needed to get the dirt to a uniform consistency and to slowly pack it to the desired firmness. I have started to build many tracks with a sub-soiler then go to a field cultivator. Keep at it with the field cultivator until you have the consistency of sand. Then start adding water as your working. After you think the moisture is getting where you want it, began to lightly blade until things smooth up. This can even be done with a straight blade if the angle is reversed a number of times. With a depth stop on the tractor lift. After awhile you’ll get to where the blade isn’t doing much. Then it is time to roll it. I’ve been helping out building tracks this way since the 70s and generally here comments like “that track took more power than I’ve ever seen” and “what a consistent track from beginning to end”. Also the moisture will rise on a hot summer day and will need less add in water. To do to properly takes more than a day and in the middle of the summer can take nearly a week.
Then there is the scool of thought that blading off the grass makes a pulling track.

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If it was fun to pull in LOW gear, I could have a John Deere.
If you can't make it GO... make it SHINY


Posted By: DrAllis
Date Posted: 09 Nov 2018 at 10:13am
I've built some pretty decent tracks in less than 4 hrs. Soil types make a big difference and the weather a week prior to the event does too.


Posted By: dawntreader74
Date Posted: 09 Nov 2018 at 12:02pm
most of the time the town ship has a pull type rubber tire roller they will let you use on the weekend. did that many times.


Posted By: WF owner
Date Posted: 09 Nov 2018 at 12:52pm
This is just a thought, but have you thought of adding old 275 gallon fuel tanks (to fill with water) instead of filling the tires with water. (If my math is correct, each tank would hold 2200 lbs. of water.) It could be easily dumped for transport.
An alternative might be the 275 gallon plastic totes that have virtually replaced barrels for transporting liquids.
 
Our old pulling sled had water tanks mounted on it and the axle moved instead of the weight box. When the pull was done, it was as simple as opening the valves on the tanks to lighten it up for transport.
 
Just an idea...


Posted By: Ken in Texas
Date Posted: 09 Nov 2018 at 1:44pm
The Track at Shreveport was a real mess when I got there a 7:30 AM on Friday. The General Area around Shreveport got a 3 1/2 to 4" rain Wednesday and Thursday night. It was a grass patch with puddles standing here and there.  All we had to work with was a Allis D Grader. On its first pass from start to finish with the blade up it sunk in mud up to the rims. Somebody showed up with a 3 point angle blade.   Useless at this point. 
    By about 10 the Allis grader got the mud and grass pushed off to the side. The sun came out and a drying breeze came up out of the north. Cotton kept working it with the D wishing someone could come with a disk or tiller to fluff it up and get it to drying out where the big tractors driving back and forth could begin to pack it.
     Somehow we got to pull on what we had starting at 7 under the lights.   All we had to fill the holes with was the 3 point angle blade . Horrible without something to pack behind it with,  Wet Marbles of mud don't make for  good traction .   Saturday it was the same old s&%#.  But everybody had to deal with it like it or not.   We really needed another week of no rain to build a real good pulling track.


Posted By: DMiller
Date Posted: 10 Nov 2018 at 9:01am
We ran dirt drags with jeeps in the 80's ran one tractor with a disc to drag material Back into the slot then used a old fashioned cultipacker roller to compress the loose fill enough to use.


Posted By: bradley6874
Date Posted: 10 Nov 2018 at 11:26am
We use two 330gal totes for constant weight and two hundred gal tank to wet track during the pull and it so nice to just dump the water out to make hauling so much easier

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You can wash the dirt off the body but you can’t wash the farmer out of the heart and soul


Posted By: WF owner
Date Posted: 10 Nov 2018 at 12:00pm
Originally posted by bradley6874 bradley6874 wrote:

We use two 330gal totes for constant weight and two hundred gal tank to wet track during the pull and it so nice to just dump the water out to make hauling so much easier
 
I think it works better to spray a little water after every pass (for dust control) than to apply a lot of water between classes.


Posted By: bradley6874
Date Posted: 11 Nov 2018 at 10:12am
It's got both a flood bar for major water and sprayer tips for every pass dust control sorry wasn't clear

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You can wash the dirt off the body but you can’t wash the farmer out of the heart and soul


Posted By: Ken in Texas
Date Posted: 12 Nov 2018 at 6:33am
Old Fashion Cultipacker.  Add some weight and  use mine to roll track between pulls After blading.  Better than nothing


Posted By: Ken in Texas
Date Posted: 25 Nov 2018 at 2:32am
Sold my packer to a local farmer to use for its intended purpose.



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