Howard Rotovator wanted

countyhouse

Looking for second hand Howard rotovator, not much work to do so not looking to spend for than €800 approximately. What do I need to look out for when checking ones for sale. I am in Donegal.

Buford T. Justice XIX

countyhouse wrote: »

Looking for second hand Howard rotovator, not much work to do so not looking to spend for than €800 approximately. What do I need to look out for when checking ones for sale. I am in Donegal.

You'll be hard pressed to find a working one for that kind of money, I think. You might be lucky and find a narrow one though, maybe 60 inch?

I bought one a few years ago, imported from the UK by a guy who was keeping an eye out for one for me and he was looking for over a year to find one.

The main thing is to check there are no oil leaks. I wouldn't be too confident of buying one that might have been worked without oil in the gears. And make sure the PTO shaft is whole as mine has a heavy duty shaft that is next to impossible to find a replacement for if it's lost.

Nekarsulm

The chain cover on the left side can get worn through, and will lose all the gear oil that the chain runs in.
Usually causes by a loose chain, and also by running the machine without a lower guard, so that the ground wears the bottom of the housing.
Chains stretch and start climbing up on the gear teeth, and eventually the gear teeth wear and become "hooked" at their points.
Make sure you get both pieces of the PTO shaft, and that it stays on the tractor pto shaft properly.
They used to be common-place in farm auctions, but have become very rare.
Set up an alert on Done-Deal for ads, watch eBay.co.uk, and watch the small ads in Classic Tractor magazine and Farmers Weekly. Your local newsagent might have Farmers Guardian newspaper too, worth having a look if you see it.

Could be worth contacting machinery dealers who attend Cambridge Sales, and other UK auctions.
Derek Johnston in Longford is one such, and Aidan Shaughnessy ( also in Longford) is another.
Could be worth a phone call.

Base price

I saw two, a 60" and 72" sell in Cavan auctions a few years ago. From memory they went around €1,500 and €1,800. I cant remember if both parts of the shaft were with them. Sold as seen and no comeback.

countyhouse

Base price wrote: »

I saw two, a 60" and 72" sell in Cavan auctions a few years ago. From memory they went around €1,500 and €1,800. I cant remember if both parts of the shaft were with them. Sold as seen and no comeback.

Thank you, was hoping to rotovate a field which has not been ploughed in my lifetime (60 plus years). It has quite a lot of shallow stone drains which I have repaired and laid other new ones. Any advice on the best approach, when to rotovate and reseed and can there be an issue with the blades leaving compressed soil underneath. Would 3 - 5 inches be ideal and should the soil be damp or dry!

countyhouse

Nekarsulm wrote: »

The chain cover on the left side can get worn through, and will lose all the gear oil that the chain runs in.
Usually causes by a loose chain, and also by running the machine without a lower guard, so that the ground wears the bottom of the housing.
Chains stretch and start climbing up on the gear teeth, and eventually the gear teeth wear and become "hooked" at their points.
Make sure you get both pieces of the PTO shaft, and that it stays on the tractor pto shaft properly.
They used to be common-place in farm auctions, but have become very rare.
Set up an alert on Done-Deal for ads, watch eBay.co.uk, and watch the small ads in Classic Tractor magazine and Farmers Weekly. Your local newsagent might have Farmers Guardian newspaper too, worth having a look if you see it.

Could be worth contacting machinery dealers who attend Cambridge Sales, and other UK auctions.
Derek Johnston in Longford is one such, and Aidan Shaughnessy ( also in Longford) is another.
Could be worth a phone call.

Thanks for the detailed reply, I will follow up these sources. Thank you, was hoping to rotovate a field which has not been ploughed in my lifetime (60 plus years). It has quite a lot of shallow stone drains which I have repaired and laid other new ones. Any advice on the best approach, when to rotovate and reseed and can there be an issue with the blades leaving compressed soil underneath. Would 3 - 5 inches be ideal and should the soil be damp or dry!

countyhouse

Nekarsulm wrote: »

The chain cover on the left side can get worn through, and will lose all the gear oil that the chain runs in.
Usually causes by a loose chain, and also by running the machine without a lower guard, so that the ground wears the bottom of the housing.
Chains stretch and start climbing up on the gear teeth, and eventually the gear teeth wear and become "hooked" at their points.
Make sure you get both pieces of the PTO shaft, and that it stays on the tractor pto shaft properly.
They used to be common-place in farm auctions, but have become very rare.
Set up an alert on Done-Deal for ads, watch eBay.co.uk, and watch the small ads in Classic Tractor magazine and Farmers Weekly. Your local newsagent might have Farmers Guardian newspaper too, worth having a look if you see it.

Could be worth contacting machinery dealers who attend Cambridge Sales, and other UK auctions.
Derek Johnston in Longford is one such, and Aidan Shaughnessy ( also in Longford) is another.
Could be worth a phone call.

Thanks very much for the detailed reply. I will follow up on the sources you suggest.

Thank you, was hoping to rotovate a field which has not been ploughed in my lifetime (60 plus years). It has quite a lot of shallow stone drains which I have repaired and laid other new ones. Any advice on the best approach, when to rotovate and reseed and can there be an issue with the blades leaving compressed soil underneath. Would 3 - 5 inches be ideal and should the soil be damp or dry!

countyhouse

Buford T. Justice VI wrote: »

You'll be hard pressed to find a working one for that kind of money, I think. You might be lucky and find a narrow one though, maybe 60 inch?

I bought one a few years ago, imported from the UK by a guy who was keeping an eye out for one for me and he was looking for over a year to find one.

The main thing is to check there are no oil leaks. I wouldn't be too confident of buying one that might have been worked without oil in the gears. And make sure the PTO shaft is whole as mine has a heavy duty shaft that is next to impossible to find a replacement for if it's lost.

Thanks very much, I will keep these points in mind.

was hoping to rotovate a field which has not been ploughed in my lifetime (60 plus years). It has quite a lot of shallow stone drains which I have repaired and laid other new ones. Any advice on the best approach, when to rotovate and reseed and can there be an issue with the blades leaving compressed soil underneath. Would 3 - 5 inches be ideal and should the soil be damp or dry!

Nekarsulm

If you are on any kind of heavier clay soil, rotovating it isn't the optimum choice.
I'd spray it off with RoundUp and get grass seed stitched in, personally.
The problem with getting a contractor in to plough such a field is that it's very hard to convince them to go shallow...

tabby aspreme

Modern ploughs cannot plough shallow, would you consider getting it disc harrowed

countyhouse

The ground would be poor in places and good in others. You will see from photos that some is peaty about 4-5 inches down. I sprayed off most of the rushes previously, however as it was alway wet prior to draining, it became inundated with moss in places and small flat thristlelike growth. Can spray all off with roundup before preparation.

Having regard to the photos of the ground attached, what would the ground look like if I got it disc-harrowed? Would the lumps be too coarse to roll and seed and what about the moss? Sounds good though. Any photos available of such ground disc-harrowed?

Tried to post this and the photos yesterday but got message back about some technical fault, will try to post photos separately

countyhouse

countyhouse wrote: »

The ground would be poor in places and good in others. You will see from photos that some is peaty about 4-5 inches down. I sprayed off most of the rushes previously, however as it was alway wet prior to draining, it became inundated with moss in places and small flat thristlelike growth. Can spray all off with roundup before preparation.

Having regard to the photos of the ground attached, what would the ground look like if I got it disc-harrowed? Would the lumps be too coarse to roll and seed and what about the moss? Sounds good though. Any photos available of such ground disc-harrowed?

Tried to post this and the photos yesterday but got message back about some technical fault, will try to post photos separately

Got this message again “ Oops: CSRF verification failed - no token received”

Buford T. Justice XIX

countyhouse wrote: »

Got this message again “ Oops: CSRF verification failed - no token received”

Boards is having a problem with the last while with some of its hardware so it can be difficult to upload and download to and from the site atm. Sometimes a different browser can help.

tabby aspreme

There is a 60" Howard rotavator for sale in Wexford on DD for €400, the add states it needs some work, it's included in an add for a Kohler generator, which is what you may search for to find it. Getting to Wexford at the moment could be difficult though.

countyhouse

countyhouse wrote: »

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Tried to post photos again, but failed. Message received strange


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BeginAgain

Does anyone in Ireland sell Asia Tech cultivator or tried importing one? They seem the future with all the attachments you can get.

1.40min in
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RpJCtq7Wto4

Buford T. Justice XIX

countyhouse wrote: »

Tried to post photos again, but failed. Message received strange


Oops: CSRF verification failed - no token receive

Have you tried using an app like Imgur or Imgur Android to upload the pic and then copy the link and paste it in your reply?

I use Imgur Android on my phone mostly and find it fairly simple to use.