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Local welding shop comes to the rescue.

Kyle Stackhouse 2

April 16, 2021

2 Min Read
The inner wing boom had broken in two and rotated 45 degrees.
The inner wing boom had broken in two and rotated 45 degrees, but everything on the sprayer is working fine now. Kyle Stackhouse

Wow, another week has flown by and we still have not planted anything yet. Our target start date has been pushed back until next week when the nightly low temps begin trending upward. The last several days our temperatures have been more ‘normal’ with highs in the 50’s and lows in the 30’s. This has caused our ground temperature to drop into a less than ideal range. If we start planting next week, that would be considered a normal start.

In last week’s blog I teased that I had to get the blog wrapped up so I could go meet the welding shop guys at the sprayer. The inner wing boom had broken in two and rotated 45 degrees, and the trussing and supports were holding it together. Not good!

inner wing boom on sprayer.

Two men, two and a half days later, they had the sprayer repaired. The good thing is I can confidently say ‘it wasn’t my fault.’ A repair by the previous owner failed because it was done incorrectly.

Granted, I’d have done it the same way. They guys told me a proper ‘fish plate’ (the plate you weld over top of the broken area) will always have an angled or tapered shape so that the stress induced in the old metal is distributed more. Anyway, a big shout out to Craig Welding and MFG! We appreciate they were able to get to us quickly and get a not-so-easy job done well. I’ve been back in the sprayer a couple times and everything is working fine. Unless you take a close look, you don’t even notice the repair.

Last week, Larry took advantage of the nice weather to top off irrigation gearboxes and air up tires. I think it is about time we send him on a drive around all the woods and tree fencerows with the backhoe looking for down trees. These are two things he does for us every year when he comes back from Florida before field work begins.

The opinions of the author are not necessarily those of Farm Futures or Farm Progress. 

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