This is how I roll! (lawn roller)

[IC-Smoke]

I was tired of using cheap TSC rollers and had a water pressure tank turned into a roller. That worked good for a little while until it ended up dented to heck, so this year I had my fabricator make me a heavy duty roller and it turned out great! I just picked up the tube material and let him run with it! :thumbsup: 5' long 30" ID 11/16 wall (thickness)


crappy cell photos but Ill upload more tomorrow

Fresh paint! just waiting on my Kubota decals to arrive!

Hope this gives you guys some ideas!

Ian

 

[Eddie Jr.]

IC .... Awesome man!
I have been looking at rollers for the past few weeks and noticed that they were all a little cheap looking, one was even made of plastic???
Nice job! Filling it with water? If so how much water will it hold?

Thanks,
M

 

[IC-Smoke]

Thanks Eddie!!
The TSC rollers (4' metal ones) frames flex side to side when you turn and I ended up wearing a groove into the frame so bad it cracked one side. A new hitch and I was good to go until the weld around the attachment point on the roller cracked and I sent it to the scrap yard!
A old propane tank would work pretty good as well! Stop by your local fab shop and see what they might charge to make a roller! build it to last!!


I will be filling it with water. In the photos you only see one fill hole but on the opposite side there is another 1-1/4" pipe plug at the opposite end of the tank so when you empty you can open it and the water will flow!
183.67 gallons @ 8.35 lbs = 1533.64
Plus the pipe is around 380lbs = 1913lbs, I didn't add the weight of the roller frame or the solid steel rod / axle. Im guessing its right at 2000lbs

 

[cmorningstar01]

A old propane tank would work pretty good as well!

Nice roller!

I have used old propane tanks for a number of projects, They are cheap and very durable, I have a 20 lb and a 30 lb cylinder set up as portable air tanks, I cut a 100 lb cylinder in half lengthwise once to make a plow blade , I never thought about making a roller out of one, Well I will have to put that on the list for my next project or is that the project after my next project as soon as I am finished working on my current and previous project or is that projects.

Too many ideas and never enough time

 

[gktilton]

That's a nice looking roller.

I hope you have all flat ground, pulling a 2000lb roller with a 1500lb tractor at my house would be a recipe for disaster. Pretty much my only flat spots are my garden and driveway.

 

[Eric McCarthy]

As a landscaper I have a bias opinion about the lawn rollers. The idea behind the roll is to smooth out rut marks and wheel tracks in your lawn. But my thing is they cause alot of extra compaction that makes a tigher root structure and harder for your grass to grow. Every year sometimes twice a year your supposed to aerate the lawn to loosen and decompact the soil to let it breath, let water into the root zone and allow seed and fertilizer to get to the root zone as well. I suppose maybe I see it as why would anyone want to pack the soil one time then turn around and fight like hell to unpack it and loosen it up later.

 

[IC-Smoke]

Ill be pulling the roller with the B2400 mainly but it is at the dealer for a HYD leak at the moment.

Here is the old one:

cut out to remove the roller drum

Eric I agree about aerating the lawn! I'd like to add a hitch to the roller to attach my aerator so I can roll and aerate in one pass to save some time. Some people are dead set on just having there lawn rolled and dont want to pay to have me come back to aerate. My big thing with our company lawns is to push the stones down along the roads and smooth out the ruts from people driving in on lawns.

 

[Eddie Jr.]

I will be filling it with water. In the photos you only see one fill hole but on the opposite side there is another 1-1/4" pipe plug at the opposite end of the tank so when you empty you can open it and the water will flow!
183.67 gallons @ 8.35 lbs = 1533.64
Plus the pipe is around 380lbs = 1913lbs, I didn't add the weight of the roller frame or the solid steel rod / axle. Im guessing its right at 2000lbs

IC, nice work. That was almost exactly what I was looking for weight wise most of the TSC versions barely hit 500lbs when filled.
What did the pipe come from that you used? Was it underground piping or some thing like that?
Thanks for the info!

Cmorning, got any pics of the propane tank plow? I would love to see that!

Eric, agree with the thought there for sure with letting air and water get down to the roots. The property I just acquired is brutally riddled with small bumps and divots and I really want to smooth it out before mowing season hits. Got any other ideas that may work? I have been filling the deep ones with sand and topsoil but there are just to many to do that for each.

Thanks!
M

 

[Eric McCarthy]

I can see the roller being handy to smooth the lawn out a few times to get it smooth and level. Me personally I would not want to make it a routine habbit of rolling a lawn every time I mowed. If you change directions every time you mow and mow in a different pattern then rutting wont be much of an issue. I've seen my fair share of wrecked lawns where a home owner mowed the yard the same way week after week for 30 years and cant figure out why their push mower wont budge across the lawn anymore.

Honestly Eddie if your lawn is that bad off I'd suggest regrading the yard and start all over again. You could end up killing youself trying to smooth it all out with a roller, which will not be an over nite sucess! And still will not be perfect. If its a bad as you say it is where you've filled in some pretty nasty holes with topsoil then I'd say consider regrading.

 

[IC-Smoke]

Eddie,

http://midwaystructural.com/
Im not sure what they use the pipe for but they had a pile of 6'-7' "drops". I cant remember but I think they said they were from 25' pieces. I told them I was making a roller and the guy said he had just the stuff. He also commented that they have sold quite a few of them to people making rollers.

Eric, I just roll in the spring after a good rain.

 

[SpudHauler]

This one is supposed to weigh 4200 lbs according to some government scales. And that is empty by the way. Came from the front end of a pavement roller. The attachment is actual the steering yoke off the roller, thus the extra weight. And with split drum, not too difficult to haul, on the flats!

 

[cmorningstar01]

Cmorning, got any pics of the propane tank plow? I would love to see that!

Eddie Jr... I was going to take pics of it but somehow never got around to it, What I did was cut the top and bottom of the tank off and then cut it in half lengthwise, I welded and bolted it to an existing plow setup on an old Sears Suburban that the blade was beatup on, It worked very well for a number of years and I left it on the tractor when I sold it.


I should have included in my other post that caution should be used when working with propane tanks, I first remove the valve and then fill them with water until they overflow and leave them sit that way for a few days to make sure all gas and residue out of cylinder

 

[Eddie Jr.]

I should have included in my other post that caution should be used when working with propane tanks, I first remove the valve and then fill them with water until they overflow and leave them sit that way for a few days to make sure all gas and residue out of cylinder

Solid advice! It sounds like a cool little set up!

Eric, I am making it to be a little worse then it probably is but I want the place to look neat and tidy come summer. I was thinking of running the roller a few times this spring and maybe once in the fall, I don't want to compact the soil too much as you mentioned. I was thinking a good heavy roller would take most of the bumps and humps down to a reasonable level to save my new mower a bit.

M.

 

[Eric McCarthy]

There are several different way to get rid of the speed bumps and pot holes in your lawn. Use which ever method work's out best in your situation.

 

[grimace]

This is my new roller 7 1/2 feet wide 24 inch in diameter about 2000 lb
and 3000Lb filled with water works good so far. My fab guy used a piece of pipeline pipe about 1/2 thick.
John

 

[Eddie Jr.]

This is my new roller 7 1/2 feet wide 24 inch in diameter about 2000 lb
and 3000Lb filled with water works good so far. My fab guy used a piece of pipeline pipe about 1/2 thick.
John

Wow Grimace, that thing looks well put together.

If you don't mind me asking what did that run you $$?

Thanks,
M.

 

[grimace]

$1300 The guy who built it for me also builds 45' rollers for farmers he used old steel for the frame and the same bearings as he does for the larger rollers. It also has an adjustable hitch so I can pull it up tight to the tractor to fit on my trailer. Its a piece of used 24" pipeline pipe.

 

[Eddie Jr.]

Nice! Thanks.
45 footer? Yikes now THAT's a roller!
Any trouble pulling it with your B7800?

Thanks!
M.

 

[grimace]

This is the last week with my B7800 my buddy is buying it. My new L3800 is comming Friday. About 1/2 full of water my B7800 has absolutly no problem on gravel not sure how its going to handle in dirt but it shouldnt be a problem the L3800 is about 1000lb heaver than the B7800.

 

[the mean fish]

Is there any reason why you guys wouldn't fill these rollers with fine sand instead of water to help with rust inside?