How much water to put in roller

jacobl741

Member
Livestock Farmer
Location
Buxton
Just bought a 10ft twose ballast roller, just wondering how much water I’ll need in it, going to roll the mowing fields that the cows pouched up at backend last year. It’s 900kg empty
 
Put antifreeze in the water, it protect the roller from corrosion!!!
Some folks throw in a bit of waste oil or greese to save corrosion, but by the time the plate steel on a roller is rusted through the man who bought it new will be long dead, particularly since it's sealed.

I'd be more concerned about the frost bursting it. Which your antifreeze would help with.
 

Bloders

Member
Location
Ruabon
Some folks throw in a bit of waste oil or greese to save corrosion, but by the time the plate steel on a roller is rusted through the man who bought it new will be long dead, particularly since it's sealed.

I'd be more concerned about the frost bursting it. Which your antifreeze would help with.
we used old oil - no need for antifreeze then.
Its obiously not as heavy as water, but its good enough.
 

Wesley

Member
I
Some folks throw in a bit of waste oil or greese to save corrosion, but by the time the plate steel on a roller is rusted through the man who bought it new will be long dead, particularly since it's sealed.

I'd be more concerned about the frost bursting it. Which your antifreeze would help with.
I thought the oil was to stop it freezing
 

Ffermer Bach

Member
Livestock Farmer
Some folks throw in a bit of waste oil or greese to save corrosion, but by the time the plate steel on a roller is rusted through the man who bought it new will be long dead, particularly since it's sealed.

I'd be more concerned about the frost bursting it. Which your antifreeze would help with.
you can tell a roller that hasn't had antifreeze in, because the end plates are bowed out where it has frozen (I would take a photo of my roller but it's dark out now!).
 

Ffermer Bach

Member
Livestock Farmer
we used old oil - no need for antifreeze then.
Its obiously not as heavy as water, but its good enough.
apart from needing lots of oil, I was worried about pollution if there was a leak, and the problems that the EA would drop on me! And if I filled it with diesel that would be worth more than the roller!
 

Ffermer Bach

Member
Livestock Farmer
Fill it sand. Cement and water. Then you never need worry about freezing distortion and it will do a decent job
I am planning to do that, but sort of been putting it off, as it sounds a hard job! Question, is it heavier than with water? I never have got a flat roller stuck, but I always had in the back of my mind that if I did, I could open the bung and let the water out to make it easy to pull out. I think that idea is a hangover from when I was cambridge rolling drilled ground, and was told "if it starts to rain, head for the gate, otherwise it may not stop and the roller will be stuck there till harvest!!".
 

Exfarmer

Member
Location
Bury St Edmunds
I am planning to do that, but sort of been putting it off, as it sounds a hard job! Question, is it heavier than with water? I never have got a flat roller stuck, but I always had in the back of my mind that if I did, I could open the bung and let the water out to make it easy to pull out. I think that idea is a hangover from when I was cambridge rolling drilled ground, and was told "if it starts to rain, head for the gate, otherwise it may not stop and the roller will be stuck there till harvest!!".
From memory concrete is nearly twice the weight of water, need to get the mix right and may need to cut a bigger hole to pump it in
 

Ffermer Bach

Member
Livestock Farmer
From memory concrete is nearly twice the weight of water, need to get the mix right and may need to cut a bigger hole to pump it in
I was told cut a square out, fill with concrete then weld the square back in, I bet it will take at least two ton bags of mixed ballast, maybe even three for a small grassland roller. I wonder if the wooden bearings will cope with it?
 

BredRedHfd

Member
BASIS
Location
NE Derbyshire
Just bought a 10ft twose ballast roller, just wondering how much water I’ll need in it, going to roll the mowing fields that the cows pouched up at backend last year. It’s 900kg empty
If your ground's like ours, (clay) which I walked today, roller won't do bugger all. Unless you've bogs to roll ..it's dry.
 

Lofty1984

Member
Mixed Farmer
Location
South wales
I was told cut a square out, fill with concrete then weld the square back in, I bet it will take at least two ton bags of mixed ballast, maybe even three for a small grassland roller. I wonder if the wooden bearings will cope with it?
No they don’t like it and the frame prob won’t take the extra weight found out the hard way of filling an old twoose
 

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