"Worlds Biggest Blade Plough"

[9420pullpan]

that big enough or what!

 

[9420pullpan]

 

[Dusty]

what is it used for?

 

[9420pullpan]

i assume to plow fields

 

[Squizzy246B]

Its a "sub-soiler" or deep ripper used to aerate and break soil compaction without badly breaking the surface crust and losing all the moisture. Very popular Down Under because many of our agricultural areas have sparse rainfall and sandy soils. Very effective for direct drill or what is no cultivation air seeding.

One of the first smaller models developed in Australia ended up on our farm for a trial. We hooked a 100 Hp 4 x 4 Massey onto it and my brother ripped into a paddock. About 100 yards up he hit stump and folded this new machine up like it was a piece of paper. The dealer took it home with a on his face.

 

[Dusty]

thanks for the info

 

[Deas Plant]

Wottizzitt??????????

Hi, Folks.
Sorry to disagree with you, Squizzy, but that little jigger is a blade plough (plow), used for cutting off the roots of trees and scrub in newly-cleared land. It is commonly pulled at depths of between 1 and 2 feet beneath the surface. It does also aerate the soil and break up sub-soil layers and there is a seed-box on the plough to distribute seed on the same pass but its main job is cutting off the roots to prevent re-growth.

The plough weighs 70 tons and cuts 12 metres wide. And yes, that is a Cat
D11 pulling it, but what a D11. It has been re-powered with a V12 Cat diesel that produces 1100 hp and is the most powerful direct drive crawler in the world. It has beefed-up transmission and rear end bearings and massive oil coolers on the cab roof to help dissipate the heat. Pretty much all ploughing is done in second gear which also reduces the loads on the drive train.

One man who had seen the D11 strutting its stuff with the new power plant in place reckoned it behaved like a 'bobcat on steroids'. And there are rumours floating about that the man who built it has plans for even bigger engines in future converted D11's - - - like 2,000 hp.

I have also heard that the rig you see in those photos had about halved the cost of root-ploughing from about $2.00 per acre to around $1.00 per acre in 2004 prices. Bet there'll be some farmers loving that.

You all have a wonderful day. Best wishes. Deas Plant.

 

[Squizzy246B]

Hi, Folks.
Sorry to disagree with you, Squizzy, but that little jigger is a blade plough (plow), used for cutting off the roots of trees and scrub in newly-cleared land. It is commonly pulled at depths of between 1 and 2 feet beneath the surface. It does also aerate the soil and break up sub-soil layers and there is a seed-box on the plough to distribute seed on the same pass but its main job is cutting off the roots to prevent re-growth.
.

Deas..Your not disagreeing, same jigger just used slightly different...same german...different helmet....I have many happy hundreds of hours on a Challenger pulling them. Its just cause your from Queensland and youse have funny names for things over there

 

[Deas Plant]

Not disagreeing

Hi, Squizzy.
Betchyer don't have to many of THOSE D11's over your way pulling them though. That one was converted by a bloke named Don Mearns who hangs his hat at Ipswich, just west of Brisbane.

You have a wonderful day. Best wishes. Deas Plant.

 

[Squizzy246B]

Hi, Squizzy.
That one was converted by a bloke named Don Mearns who hangs his hat at Ipswich, just west of Brisbane.

Please explain ...sorry Deas...that was a "fish n chips" shop joke. But you are right, nobody here uses a D11 much, they are way too small for most of our work

This where I will be in a couple of weeks:

http://www.hamersleyiron.com/photo_library/C8/SC8.htm

 

[Deas Plant]

May have beaten you there.

Hi, Squizzy.
Been there - dunn that. I wuz last there in 1970. Time before that wuz 1966, even B4 they made their first serious rail shipment of ore to Damn Pier. I worked on the Hammersley railway 1965-66. That kinda dates me don't it? And it didn't look quite like those photos then either. There wuz a bit more green and a bit less red. A bit more frontier. And a bit less civilisation.

You have a wonderful time in Tom Price. Best wishes. Deas Plant.

 

[Steve Frazier]

I have also heard that the rig you see in those photos had about halved the cost of root-ploughing from about $2.00 per acre to around $1.00 per acre in 2004 prices.

I'm not doubting that root removal became more efficient, but $1 per acre??? Fuel costs alone would have to exceed that.

 

[Deas Plant]

Per Acre Prices.

Hi, Steve.
Ooooppsss!!!!!!! Thank you for the 'heads up', Steve. I left a couple of rather important zeroes out of that post. It should have read "$20.00" and "$10.00". And I AM quoting from a magazine article of the time and we all know what the press is

By way of economy scale, that blade plough cuts 40 feet wide at a speed of 3 to 4 MPH, maybe even higher in lighter going. That gives fractionally under 5acres per mile times 4 would give you around $200.00 per hour in 2004. Even that would be borderline in those times, I agree. Now it would be a financial disaster in the making.

Thanks again.

You have a wonderful day. Best wishes. Deas Plant.

 

[Steve Frazier]

Thanks for the clarification. I'm still having trouble with these numbers though.:beatsme I would imagine that machine must cost well in excess of $1,000,000, it just seems even at $20 an acre it would take an awful long time to recoup expenses. Anyone know the fuel consumption rate of a D11 at work?

 

[Rowdy]

THe mining Company I work For runs 25 D11R tractors all with the 3508B engine they will use as much as 50 GPH in a good pushing situation, the average is closer to 40-45 when they have to do more digging than pushing. This all will change with operators as well.

 

[Deas Plant]

Costs.

Hi, Steve.
To the best of my knowledge, the man who owns that rig bought the D11 secondhand and converted it back in 2003-4. It would still owe him some bucks but probably a little short of new price.

He had the blade plough built to his specs and I suspect that he may have had it built in his own workshop. I'm told he owns a substantial workshop that he bought when a local power station closed down and everything was sold off. The person who told me left me with the distinct impression that the purchase included the workshop complete with the land on which it stood.

By the way, that is the second one that he has converted. The first only has an 1,000 hp Cummins in it.

And I'd bet that his prices per acre are a little higher these days due to the Ay-rabs, et al, turning up the heat on us poor under-oiled infidels.

Catchyalater.

You all ahve a wonderful day. Best wishes. Deas Plant.

 

[tuney443]

Hi, Steve.
To the best of my knowledge, the man who owns that rig bought the D11 secondhand and converted it back in 2003-4. It would still owe him some bucks but probably a little short of new price.

He had the blade plough built to his specs and I suspect that he may have had it built in his own workshop. I'm told he owns a substantial workshop that he bought when a local power station closed down and everything was sold off. The person who told me left me with the distinct impression that the purchase included the workshop complete with the land on which it stood.

By the way, that is the second one that he has converted. The first only has an 1,000 hp Cummins in it.

And I'd bet that his prices per acre are a little higher these days due to the Ay-rabs, et al, turning up the heat on us poor under-oiled infidels.

Catchyalater.

You all ahve a wonderful day. Best wishes. Deas Plant.

Love that one-''Ay-rabs''---You guys from down under keep her interesting.

 

[Billy X]

Price per acre is around $70au these days, anything under that you should be sitting at home going broke drinking **** rather than out busting your butt driving driving dozers.