I'm looking for a lawn roller and need some help.

I've been looking at both Poly and Steel. 

I've read that poly will give alittle and may not get some of the humps out.

I've read that the Steel most of them have weak frame work and need bearings (which they don't come with) and rust out easily.

Both the poly and steel really don't get very good reviews at all.

I'm so confused at which one to get. It seems as if it doesn't matter which manufacture you go with they will all sooner or later going to need to be reinforced or fixed up.

I'm going with either 24"x 48" or 18"x 24" roller

Any help what so ever will be appreciated. 

Edited November 19, 20178 yr by Ron Dudelston
Added tags

I have a roller built of steel, I had a roller built of steel, I turned it into a pressure tank for pumping out of the lake. It is, was, four foot long and 2 foot in diameter

  I think the people who sells them missleads the public a smidgen.

The best thing I use is a ten or twelve foot section of chain link fence. I start out with a few concrete blocks, the 8x8x16" piled on top of the chain link. Plus a few feet of good rope or chain. Then as the ground gets flatter, remove the blocks as needed , not all at once...I use my Kubota tractor or the riding lawn mower to pull it. The blocks actually help remove the bumps faster.

  Yes I am sure over the years quality has gone bye  bye especially when they realized their machines could make things thinner....

Patch, we use a commercial version of that. It has spikes that really loosen the dirt. It's 5X8 so, we use railroad ties for weight. 

Does a great job of leveling our lanes. But it tears up the grass pretty bad. But, it's just range grass. It grows back. Besides, no one sees it but us.

When we lived in IL, we used a big steel roller full of water. My dad got it in the 50s. The last time I saw it in the 80s, it was still operable. They made things good, back then.

 

Edited April 25, 20179 yr by Gene Howe

I was thinking about on of these the other day- planted some grass seed. My grandfather had a home made one. Somehow he cast one from concrete. It was the hand powered type.

I would think if grass is already growing it might be best to get rid of it with round-up then start all over.

  My experience was on 4 acres where I built a go-cart track and a golf coarse. I had hell getting rid of the mesquites which was all over the acreage which had never had anything done to it ever so my remedy was to cut the mesquites just a hair under the level of the ground, drill holes in the wood and fill the holes full of round-up. Some would go ahead and sprout new shoots later but being lower than a riding mower I would mow em down and start all over again with more holes and more round -up...This is when I got introduced to tire sealer. Mesquites are hell on flats.  I started on this 4 acres in 1980 and by the time I opened the track in May of 1984, most of the mesquites were gone except for the area where the golf course was to be and that opened in about 92 I think....I just worked out there all by my self so I didn't keep months or years on paper. When something happened, it happened...

Both Home Depot and Lowes rent them.  Rent one and see if it does what you want it to do.

You didn't say whether you are looking for a tow behind unit or a push roller. A heavier ,wider roller will tend to work better on a flat terrain but the heavier weight does need more than push power. I'd opt for steel, and when not in use, empty the water and store inside.

I inherited a steel one with my last house. It had to be 20 years old and was not rusted out. When  I checked the filling, it was (apparently) used motor oil. I gave it away fearing if it ever did leak, it would be a hazardous clean up site. (I fully disclosed my fears to the benefactor, whom didn't seem to worried about it.)

1 hour ago, Stick486 said:

 

A little on the small side, don't ya think?

32 minutes ago, Chips N Dust said:

 

A little on the small side, don't ya think?

 

there are stretcher for them things....

Larry, I checked at Amazon to see what they had, and what the reviews were . The best reviews " 4 1/2 stars " with 169 reviews were for the Brinly PRC24BH 270 lb. combo push/tow. It is a poly lawn roller.The biggest problem seems to be with the plug when screwing it in for the first time. A couple of reviews complained about warping when stored full. To me that's a common sense issue with a poly roller. Price tag is $154.00. You might want to check it out.

Thank you everyone for tuning in.

Al I'm looking for a 48" pull behind roller. 

I see that I wrote the wrong thing down at first

Either a 24" x 48" or 18" x 48" roller.

I wish I was talented enough to be able to make my own but I'm stuck with wood. And I don't think a wooden roller would be heavy enough. 

Stick I like your idea!!!! That sure would make the lawn smoother and wring all of the moister out of the ground!!!
I'm still looking. I hope to buy something by the end of the week. I leaning more toward a steel roller? 

1 hour ago, LarryS said:

I'm still looking. I hope to buy something by the end of the week. I leaning more toward a steel roller?

Larry,

I have the Agri-Fab model similar to the one in the first link below. Mine's probably 8-10 years old but doesn't appear to be much different than the new model. Can't say I've experienced the issues others have stated in the reviews but some people always seem to be able to abuse most anything. I do keep it drained when not in use. I purchased mine at Rural King although I think Big-R handles the Agri-Fab line too.

 

If you have a Tractor Supply close, they carry the Ohio Steel brand. About $50 more than the Agri-Fab, but they are good rollers. A little more robust hitch design (although I think a bit close coupled) and I believe heavier gauge steel on the drum??? Full of water it weighs in at ~920 lb vs 910 lb on the Agri-Fab. My old roller (which had belonged to my dad) was an Ohio Steel. It finally rusted out but it had to have been 20+ years old when it did. It also had bronze bushings with grease zerks for the axle pivots...would have been easy to convert to pillow-blocks, I just never did. Both the Ohio Steel & Agri-Fab could be adapted fairly easy to use pillow block bearings with some angle iron and a welder if one wanted to.

 

I use a John Deere 316 (older version with single cylinder Kohler 16 HP with hydrostatic) to pull mine. I have 50 lb weights in the rear wheels. At ~1/2 throttle, ~1/3 ground speed on the hydro you know the roller is back there.

 

Anyway my experiences, thoughts and opinions. That and a buck will get you a coffee at McD's.

 

Rural King Agri-Fab Roller

 

TSC -Ohio Steel Roller

5 hours ago, Stick486 said:

No cab with heat, A/C or stereo...

4 hours ago, Grandpadave52 said:

No cab with heat, A/C or stereo...

 

got ya covered...

has a coffee bar and donut keeper too...

also has auto pilot/GPS so you can nap but a lav is optional...

 

3 hours ago, Stick486 said:

 

got ya covered...

has a coffee bar and donut keeper too...

also has auto pilot/GPS so you can nap but a lav is optional...

 

DONUT KEEPER!!!!!!!! SOLD!!! I'll be looking for one today!!! 

8 hours ago, Grandpadave52 said:

Larry,

I have the Agri-Fab model similar to the one in the first link below. Mine's probably 8-10 years old but doesn't appear to be much different than the new model. Can't say I've experienced the issues others have stated in the reviews but some people always seem to be able to abuse most anything. I do keep it drained when not in use. I purchased mine at Rural King although I think Big-R handles the Agri-Fab line too.

 

If you have a Tractor Supply close, they carry the Ohio Steel brand. About $50 more than the Agri-Fab, but they are good rollers. A little more robust hitch design (although I think a bit close coupled) and I believe heavier gauge steel on the drum??? Full of water it weighs in at ~920 lb vs 910 lb on the Agri-Fab. My old roller (which had belonged to my dad) was an Ohio Steel. It finally rusted out but it had to have been 20+ years old when it did. It also had bronze bushings with grease zerks for the axle pivots...would have been easy to convert to pillow-blocks, I just never did. Both the Ohio Steel & Agri-Fab could be adapted fairly easy to use pillow block bearings with some angle iron and a welder if one wanted to.

 

I use a John Deere 316 (older version with single cylinder Kohler 16 HP with hydrostatic) to pull mine. I have 50 lb weights in the rear wheels. At ~1/2 throttle, ~1/3 ground speed on the hydro you know the roller is back there.

 

Anyway my experiences, thoughts and opinions. That and a buck will get you a coffee at McD's.

 

Rural King Agri-Fab Roller

 

TSC -Ohio Steel Roller

Dave I have a TSC right in town. They only have 2 rollers in stock. One is to small and the other is a 52" roller.

I do have a Rural King about 26 miles away in Angola. Might have to check them out also.

I have been eyeing this roller also but it doesn't hold as much water as the two you mentioned.

http://www.truevalue.com/product/24-x-48-In-Steel-Lawn-Tractor-Lawn-Roller/42374.uts

34 minutes ago, LarryS said:

Dave I have a TSC right in town. They only have 2 rollers in stock.

Larry, I would think TSC would order you one and ship free to the store (or maybe able to do that on-line). They should be able to transfer from another store to your store. My SIL worked for TSC for a number of years and used to do both.

 

Other than being lighter when filled, the True Value model doesn't look too bad either at least from the picture & specs. Similar reviews compared to the Agri-Fab but again some folks can tear up anvils.

 

If you head over to Angola, appears they have a TSC...maybe they have the 24x48 in stock? While in Angola, you might check this out...https://www.freshsunrisedoughnuts.com/   

Good luck

6 minutes ago, Grandpadave52 said:

Larry, I would think TSC would order you one and ship free to the store (or maybe able to do that on-line). They should be able to transfer from another store to your store. My SIL worked for TSC for a number of years and used to do both.

 

Other than being lighter when filled, the True Value model doesn't look too bad either at least from the picture & specs. Similar reviews compared to the Agri-Fab but again some folks can tear up anvils.

 

If you head over to Angola, appears they have a TSC...maybe they have the 24x48 in stock? While in Angola, you might check this out...https://www.freshsunrisedoughnuts.com/   

Good luck

Dave you know I have drove by that Donut shop many times and didn't even realize it was their.

I guess my Donut sniffer isn't as good as I thought.