Farmer invents ‘Rampant Ripper’ monster trailed subsoiler
John Lyon built his huge trailed subsoiler to try and get across his 810ha a little more briskly. The problem is, it takes an awful lot of pulling.
See also: 4 quirky inventions from a Northumberland hill farmer
Why build such a big subsoiler?
Mr Lyon farms on heavy Essex land, so 85% of the stubbles still get ploughed and a fair chunk gets subsoiled annually, too.
The farm had been using a five-legged Keeble subsoiler to loosen the clay ground and drill the oilseed rape, but it was a slow job and still needed consolidating afterwards.
Having shopped around for a trailed subsoiler that would fit the bill, Mr Lyon decided it would be cheaper to build it himself.
He based his version on Simba running gear, which means most of the wearing parts can be picked up from his local dealer Ernest Doe, or from spares specialist Spaldings.
How to enter your farm invention
As usual we are splitting the entries into three categories:
Simple – Machines that took a day or so to knock together but still save you time and money.
Intermediate – Anything more complicated, perhaps with some simple form of hydraulic or electric system, that took longer to build.
Complex – Inventions that have taken days, weeks or even years to design and build. They usually involve an engine or fairly complicated combinations of electrics and hydraulics.
Who can enter?
Farmers, contractors, farm managers and workers.
What if I’ve entered my design in other competitions in the past?
That won’t exclude you.
What are the prizes?
The winner of each of the three categories gets £400, while the runners-up each get £100.
Will you feature the winners?
All six winning inventions will be featured in Farmers Weekly and on our website. Many of the machines that you see on the stands at shows such as Lamma and Cereals start life in the farm workshop, so it’s a great opportunity to get your ideas in the shop window.
How do I enter?
Just email some brief details about how the machine works and what you use it for to fwmachinery@rbi.co.uk.
You’ll also need to attach a couple of pictures and a mobile phone number so that we can get in touch.
What’s the deadline for entries?
You’ve got until 2 October 2015.
How big?
It’s a no-nonsense machine – the Rampant Ripper is 4.5m wide and weighs in at 7t.
Last season he tried using a Claas Xerion to provide the pulling power, but it struggled desperately.
Despite having plenty of guts it couldn’t get that grunt to the ground and the 710mm tyres ended up spinning on the spot.
The farm’s Challenger MT765C currently provides the muscle, though even it struggles to make swift progress.
At best it will get up to 8kph, though it’s often a lot slower and means he doesn’t always get the shattering effect of the subsoiler legs that he’s after.
Next season he plans to chop in the twin-track for something with a little more power, so a bigger Challenger, or even a Quadtrac, is on the shopping list.
Does it travel well on the road?
Almost 45 miles split the different farm sites, so road travel is a big part of the job.
The rig folds down to 2.8m, which keeps it well inside the Cat’s 3m-wide frame.
However, one of Mr Lyon’s biggest regrets is not fitting brakes, which means there’s a lot of pressure on the tractor’s anchors to bring things to a halt, particularly when the farm’s 7230R is doing the towing.
How is it designed?
A chunky towbar is joined to a 250x150mm, 12.5mm-thick box section spine by a 70mm joining pin that has to cope with all of the Challenger’s 320hp.
The main frame runs the length of the machine and weighs in at 900kg alone.
In front of the subsoiler legs is a powered linkage that pushes the loosening tines in and out of work.
The two rows of eight carry Simba knock-on points that are set 200mm apart.
The machine mainly works over pre-disced ground, so trash flow isn’t really an issue – the tines’ main job is to run at 100mm deep to knock down any clods.
Dropping them in the ground still makes the Challenger sweat, though.
Behind the tines are the main Simba Flatlift subsoiler legs. Two old Massey Ferguson digger rams lift the wings up and heavy-duty chains take the strain when it comes to hauling the legs out of the ground.
Turnbuckles either side lock them shut during transport.
The rear packer was also welded together in the farm’s workshop, including each one of the 100-odd teeth.
A Spaldings air seeder sits on the back to distribute the rapeseed behind the subsoiler legs.
Is there much adjustment?
A simple hole-and-pin set-up on the main flotation tyres adjusts the Ripper’s working depth, while the wheels on either wing can also be altered by turnbuckles. Packer depth is controlled by spacers on the rear rams.
How much did it cost?
- Mr Lyon dug into his huge stash of parts and used sites such as eBay to source the bulk of the components, which kept the build budget below £13,000.
- Main front ram – £50
- Powered linkage rams – £150 each
- Wing rams – £60 each
- Simba subsoiler legs – £95 each
- 60mm EN8 shafts for the packer – £75 each
- 5m tube for packer – £500
- U-bolts to hold the packer scraper – £2 each
- Hydraulic pipe – £1/m
- 10t-rated stub axles – £130 each
- 550/60 R22.5 tyres – £500 each
John Lyon
John Lyon – Fact file
The farming
- Total area – 810ha
- Cropping – 505ha milling wheat, 160ha OSR, 120ha peas, 20ha grass
- Livestock – 30-head suckler herd
- Grain storage – 4,000t on-floor
- Staff – John and Robert Lyon plus four full time
The kit
- Tractors – Challenger MT765C, John Deere 7230R, 6930, 7820, 2x New Holland T6080, International 1056XL, Ford FW60
- Combines – 2x Claas Lexion 660 with 7.5m header
- Sprayer – 24m Bateman
- Telehandlers – Dieci Agri Star 37.7, Matbro TS280
- Trailers – 3x Warwick 14t, Marshall 14t hired in, HM low-loader trailer
- Cultivations – 5-, 6- and 7-furrow Lemken ploughs, Kuhn and Maschio 6m power harrow, 12m Dal-bo rolls, home-built 4.5 ripper and 8m home-built harrow, 6m Weaving drill
