The Fordson Tractor Pages Forum

Hi All,

Last year I managed to rescue an old Howard 60" Selectatilth rotovator that was destined for the scrap heap. It was seized solid and wouldn't turn, so when I took the end casing off I found that the top bearing on the chain drive side had welded itself solid due to lack of oil in the chain casing - there was a big hole in the bottom of the casing that had been worn through. I eventually managed to cajole the old bearing off the gearbox output shaft and the with great difficulty managed to get the cup out of the drive shaft casing (I have since read the article about running a bead of weld round it to make it pop out - hindsight is a great thing !! ).
The replacement bearing was very expensive, but is a big and robust bearing, I have the part numbers if anyone needs them, also fitted new oil seals and checked over the gearbox which has very minor damage to a gear tooth but still works fine. I put it all back together and connected up to the Dexta and all seemed to work fine so I could now justify the expense of a new set of blades from a local agricultural dealer.
With everything assembled it was time for a field trial, so at the weekend I was in the tattie patch which was ploughed earlier. Our soil here has a mixture of clay through it which makes it heavy to work, it made the Dexta groan a bit on the first pass, so I had to go over it a few times using the lowest ratio in the selectatilth gearbox and gradually letting the rotovator deeper into the ground. I went over it 4 times and eventually got a decent tilth so I'm very happy with the result.
The rotovator is very much on the limits of the what the Dexta is capable of, certainly in this ground, but it got the job done and I'm very pleased with my "rescue" rotovator.

Some photos of it in action

Bob,

What fantastic pictures.

The area looks beautiful; the rotavator seems well worth the renovation effort and has done a fine job getting the spud patch ready.
All that and a Dexta - what more could a man want!

Cheers
Alan

alang wrote:Bob,

What fantastic pictures.

The area looks beautiful; the rotavator seems well worth the renovation effort and has done a fine job getting the spud patch ready.
All that and a Dexta - what more could a man want!

Cheers
Alan

How about dancing girls and beer. Dandy Dave!

Nice one Bob.

Picture of my 60" on the major.



It doesn't half make my major struggle. I have ploughed and then rotovated using 1st gear low and the lowest gear on the selectatilth and going over it a few times to try and get deeper, the same as you have done, but I can't get much deeper than about 2 inches. I tried reducing the width by removing some blades, but it still made the old girl struggle. I even had the injectors overhauled to try and perk her up a bit, which did improve things going up hill, but no difference running the rotovator.
Might have to look out for a super major!
Also, with your soil being clay, do you find the rotovator creates a pan? Always cultivate when drying, I was taught, but it still seems to create a pan. I have spread a bit of sheep muck and well rotted chicken muck on my bit, but I still need about another 20 tonne or so to try and improve the soil structure.
All the best.
Huzey

Huzey,

I would have thought that the Major would handle the rotovator easily. One thing I found while doing my bit was that if the ground was too wet the soil would build up and stick between the blades, this almost killed the Dexta and stopped the rotovator digging down. I went over my ploughed patch once and then left it to dry out for a couple of weeks, this helped when I went over it again, the rotovator was much easier to drive and was able to clear the blades as it went instead of clogging them up.
The rotovating is now done and the tatties planted last weekend, the weather has been great up here.

Bob.