The Sprigmaster II- How It Works

The Sprig Master II was designed to be used with an agricultural tractor with a minimum of 35 horsepower. It should be equipped with two sets of remote hydraulic outlets and a 540-RPM Power Take Off (PTO). The Sprig Master II is towed by the tractor and uses a hydraulic pump attached to the PTO to provide power to the chopper motor. One set of hydraulic hoses attach to the tractor remotes that provide power to the lift cylinders for raising and lowering the Sprig Master.  The other set of hoses provide power for the hydraulic overdrive. The hydraulic overdrive allows the conveyor to run continuous while the Sprig Master is making sprigs in a stationary position, loading feeder at start up or when the rear drive tires come off the ground in a bridging situation.

Sod is placed on the feed conveyor, it can be slabs or in a roll, it is then fed into the chopper by the conveyor, which is powered by ground drive wheels. This keeps the feed rate constant regardless of the ground speed. The sod is torn into sprigs by the chopper and dropped onto the ground in front of spring loaded swivel coulters. These coulters are spaced on two-inch centers and cover a width of 48 inches. The depth which they press the sprigs into the ground is controlled by the drive wheels. The coulters pivot to allow turns up to 45 degrees without furrowing the soil. The drive wheels press the soil around the sprigs after planting, however, they do not cover the full area and a subsequent roller operation is required.

The Sprig Master II sprig planter processes slab or big roll sod to sprigs.  The equipment models are available in 48” or 52” widths, Models SM48 and SM52 respectively.  The Sprig Master II can be purchased with adaptable features to convert from slab to roll or vice versa if needed. An optional slab tray can be added to the sprigger to carry from 24 to 30 slabs into the work area.

Each Sprig Master II sprig planter can sufficiently plant various types of sod.