The Hunting Grounds Building the Food Plot Cover Crop Roller

This is the video everyone ask for - the building of our food plot cover crop roller! You'll need to be proficient with a welder - wire or stick. I have a HD stick/arc welder in our shop so that's what I use for most everything. Some would label me a grinder......not a welder. You'll need a torch to heat and shape the hitch pieces for proper welding.

Time - I would say I have about 20 - 25 hours into building this crop roller. I wanted to keep the reel simple, so I didn't go with a chevron design. I took my time dry-fitting the pieces together so as to not make any mistakes. Measure three or 4 times before welding it together! If I were to build another one today, I could probably have it done in 12 hours or less.

Before welding the frame together, make sure you've measured and drilled the holes on the 21" end pieces to hold your bearing supports. Also, when installing the bearing supports, use blue thread locker. The first time I used the roller, even with lock nuts they vibrated apart and the reel came off the frame. That may have been the point my axle shaft cracked, allowing it to break later.

Before assembling the reel, make sure you weld the bat supports onto the three frame plates. While I didn't make this mistake myself, I can see someone not understanding the importance of this part. It is very easy to weld these on when the frame plates aren't welded to the axle shaft!

I'll list the individual pieces needed below.

GENERAL SUPPLIES - - - - -
-Marking pen to mark measurements on the steel
-90* magnets to hold steel in place to weld
-Good welder
-Good torch
-Wood blocks to support components

REEL - - - - -
(6) 64" long, 4" wide, 3/8" thick flat stock pieces for the reel bats
(3) Hexagon shaped frame plates with a hole drilled dead center for your axle shaft
-Flat edges measure 6" long
-They measure 11" across, flat edge to flat edge
(1) 80" long axle shaft, preferably 1.5" thick or thicker
(18) reel supports - 1" angle iron cut into 2" lengths
(2) Pillowblock greaseable bearing holders, with appropriate bearings

FRAME - - - - -
(2) 68" 2"x4" the steel front/rear frame crossmembers
(2) 21" 2" x 4" C-channel frame ends
(10) 3/8" thick triangular flat stock frame supports
cut to allow the reel to pass easily past them
(1) 42" long 2"x4" tube steel hitch
(2) 6" long, 2"x4" tube steel axle supports
-cut out a 2"x2" square dead center to sit axle beam into
(1) 68" long 2"x2" axle beam
-cut slits on each end to weld axle spindles into
(2) 1 3/4" axle spindles w/hubs
(2) rims and tires to fit the hubs
(2) 3/8" thick, 3"W x 5"L flat stock for the hitch
-drill 3/4" or 1" hole for drawbar pin is same location on each