In The Field

TracPacker In The Field

The patented TracPacker fills and packs pivot tracks in two individual stages, with the full weight of the tractor tires compressing the soil back into the track in each stage.

Other "pull behind" track fillers with "pull behind" roller packers are limited to the small area of contact of the surface of one rolling barrel or packer that is limited in packing ability by the original field surface. Look at the finished tracks and you will see a raised area about 14 inches wide and 3 inches high. This is soil that did not get put back into the track.

The TracPacker has a combined front and rear tire packing force of 4,100 pounds per square foot packing soil into the bottom of the track. Look at the pictures in the photos page and you will see a finished track that is level with the field surface. This means more soil is packed into the track. This also means that your season ending tracks will be shallower during and following the irrigation season.

A shallower track means less dirt and clods taken into the combine or windrower, resulting in cleaner and higher quality soybeans and hay.

TracPacker Videos		Ridge Knocker in action
Click here for a short video clip showing the TracPacker in action in a corn stalk field.	Click here for a short video clip showing the TracPacker in action in an alfalfa field.	The Ridge Knocker is a concept that has been developed on the farm and in the field by and for TracPacker owners in Ridge Till systems. The new Ridge Knocker does just what it says, it knocks the top 3 to 4" off of the ridge in front of the left front tire to smooth out the ridge till ride. Click here for more information on the Ridge Knocker feature.
Click here for a short video clip showing the TracPacker in action in a bean stubble field.	Click here for a short video clip of the Ridge Knocker in action! (Click here for larger video)
We use the TracPacker on about 700 acres of pivot-irrigated alfalfa with great success! The tracks are smooth enough to allow us to go up and down the field instead of in circles, and the chronic problem of tracks getting deeper in legumes over the years has been solved! Great work! Tom Herink, Herink Farms, Leigh, NE Read more customer testimonials here.....
Before and After - Pivot tracks in three fields that have been filled with the TracPacker (click any picture for a larger view)
Pivot Track in an Alfalfa field before using the TracPacker. Notice how deep the ruts are. The same Alfalfa field pivot track after the TracPacker has been used.	Pivot track that has been made in a corn field. Notice how the mud has been pushed up and out. Same corn field track after the TracPacker has been used. Notice how level the track is after a single pass	Pivot tracks that have been cut in to a soybean field. Filled pivot track in the same soybean field. Notice how smooth the edges of the track are.
End of Season - Pivot Tracks that were conventional closed (previous year) vs tracks closed with the TracPacker (previous year) (click any picture for a larger view)
End of season pivot tracks in a bean field where a conventional track filling system had been used. Notice the depth of the track. With other track fillers season-end tracks are deep, with unpacked soil squishing back out. This displaced soil covers up crop and ends up in the combine grain tank at harvest. Deeper tracks and more soil out of the track make for more bounce and jolts, more wear and tear on equipment End of season pivot track in bean field where the TracPacker had been used the previous year. Compare the depth of this track to the other field. TracPacker filled tracks at year-end are less than half the depth of other track fillers used. This track is on an 8% slope and has been TracPacked for six years.
Three methods of closing pivot tracks - Which one looks best to you??? (click any picture for a larger view)
Pivot track that has been disked shut. Notice the cut edges and the unpacked soil. This track will return to the original depth after the first pass or two of the pivot.	Pivot track that has been closed with the leading "pull-behind" track filling system. Notice the ragged edges, the fluffy soil, and the depression that remains.		Pivot track that has been TracPacker closed. Notice the smoothness and evenness - even in the corn ground!.
ServiceMan Comments: A September 2000 lightning strike short circuited the navigation system on one of Leo Gillespie’s pivots. Towers one through nine locked on, causing the system to go out of alignment and pull the wheels out of the pivot tracks perpendicularly. My first comment on arriving at the field was “I know what happened here but I don’t know why this system is not laying in a pile”. The shallow pivot tracks allowed the towers to slide out of the tracks. That late in the year pivot tracks are usually much deeper and towers buckle because the wheels cannot escape the deep tracks. The TracPacker saved Dan and his Dad from having to pay for expensive late season pivot repairs in a field of maturing soybeans. Jim Strahm, Service Foreman, Elkhorn Valley Equipment Tilden, NE Read more customer testimonials here.....