KARL Nelson of Dodgeville describes his favorite tractor, a 1958 International Model 460, as a handy little workhorse. He purchased the ma-

chine, which originally sold for $2,000, in December 2006 from Charlie Miess of Daleyville for $3,000. Prior to that exchange, it went through an estate sale in Illinois. “I wanted a chore tractor to load, haul manure and handle snow. It sat outside the milk house, and two weeks after arriving at the farm there was sev-eral feet of snow, and the temperature plummeted to minus 30 degrees. The tractor popped right off and kept the yard clean the rest of the winter.” Rated at 45 hp, it has fi ve forward gears, reverse and a torque amplifi er, which doubles the road speed to 15 mph. It also has a live PTO and hydraulics, but no power steering. Besides a mower, other attachments include a back blade, 600- to 700-pound concrete weights, a set of chains, and a Freeman loader with snow and tine buckets. Nelson also uses the tractor to mow around fi elds, rake hay, bale, pull wagons, unload chopper boxes, and run the elevator for hay and ear corn. “There’s 5,800 hours on the odometer. I’ve overhauled the engine and made adjustments on the PTO,” he adds. “I like the tractor because it can pull its own weight and doesn’t back down from a tough, dirty job. It’s paid for itself several times over.”

To have your favorite tractor featured, send in a photo of yourself with your tractor, along with a 150-word write-up about the tractor, to: Wisconsin Agriculturist, 102 E. Jefferson St., P.O. Box 236, Brandon, WI 53919.

THE world’s largest free-span com-mercial grain bin was recently erected in the western Iowa town of

Arthur. The bin, manufactured by Sukup Manufacturing Co. of Sheffi eld, mea-sures 135 feet in diameter with a peak height of 131 feet. Maximum capacity of the steel structure is about 1.2 million bushels.

Most bins in this size range have some sort of center support structure. “Having a bin this large with a roof strong enough to stand on its own is an incredible benefi t,” says John Hanig, bin sales coordinator for the company. “There is no loss in capacity due to the center support system and no ad-ditional points for grain to get hung up. The roof is supported by a heavy-duty internal rafter and purlin system, as well as external roof rings. The roof is rated for 30,000 pounds evenly distributed with a 40-psi ground snow load.”

To contain such a huge volume of grain, the sidewalls have been beefed up. Sidewall sheet seams are laminated to ensure a strong bond, and Grade 8.2 bolts are used throughout. The stiffeners on Sukup commercial bins are made from 65,000-psi minimum tensile strength steel and com-puter-engineered to be the stron-gest on the market.

In addition to standard full-

BIG BIN: Recently built at the Platinum Ethanol plant near Arthur in western Iowa, this 135-foot-diameter, 24-ring commercial grain bin has a maximum capacity of 1.2 million bushels.

Big daddy of binslength stiffeners, this bin has interme-diate anchor brackets that serve as stiffeners for the bottom ring of the bin and also enable the bin to be unloaded in a single pass. Wind rings provide in-creased rigidity to the structure when it is empty.

Sukup Manufacturing Co. makes grain drying, handling and storage equipment. The product line includes farm and commercial bins, continuous-fl ow grain dryers, tower dryers, axial and centrifugal fans and heaters, and other grain handling accessories.

For information, contact Sukup at Box 677, Sheffi eld, IA 50475; call 641-892-4222; or visit www.sukup.com.

Source: Sukup

Photo by H

arlen Persinger

Photo by H

arlen Persinger

My Favorite Tractor

Your Farm Solutions StoreYour Farm Solutions Store Prices effective February 17–March 30, 2010 Precios efectivos desde Febrero 17–Marzo 30 del 2010

O’Reilly AW-32 Hydraulic Oil Aceite hidráulico de marca O’Reilly AW-32ORO 74309 5-Gallon Limit 3 unitsO’Reilly AW-46 Hydraulic OilAceite hidráulico de marca O’Reilly AW-46 ORO 74409 5-Gallon Limit 3 unitsO’Reilly 303 Tractor FluidLíquido de tractor de marca O’Reilly 303ORO 74509 5-Gallon Limit 3 units

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PB B’lasterPenetratingCatalystLiquido penetrante de marca PB B’lasterPBB PB16 16 oz.

2for$7Mystik Hi-Temp Tube GreaseTubo de grasa de marca MystikMYS JT6-14-HITEMP 14 oz. Limit 20 units

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Rotella-T Motor OilAceite para motores de marca Rotella-T

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ANCRA 5/16” Lever BinderHerramienta para apretar la cadena seguramente de 5/16” de marca ANCRAACR 45943-10

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ANCRA 1/2” Ratchet BinderHerramienta para apretar la cadena seguramente de marca ANCRAACR 45943-21

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O’Reilly Multi-Viscosity Hydraulic Fluid Aceite hidráulico de viscosidad multiple de marca O’Reilly

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Machinery & Technology24 www.WisconsinAgriculturist.com - March 2010