There's only one thing better than an idea that works effectively when put into action — and that's an effective idea whose cost is minimal. Tim and Tony Hought accomplished that enviable objective several years ago when they were looking for a way to help protect their emerging sugar-beets from strong early spring winds on their west central Minnesota farm. "In our ground, we need to leave lumps out there, or we blow," Tim affirms. The Houghts, who farm near Fox-home, Minn., with their father, John, came up with a simple yet highly effective solution. They took a bunch of old press drill disks, welded small perpendicular flanges on them, and mounted the modified disks on shanks — with hubs and bearings intact — for installation on their planter. The result? Homemade "stingers" that rough up enough soil to help blunt strong winds and thus guard those young beets. "We don't get the soil lumps as large as we would with a ripper," Tony relates, "but it's still enough."
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机译：付诸实践时，有一个想法比有效的想法更好，而且这是一个成本最小的有效想法。蒂姆和托尼·霍夫（Tim and Tony Hought）几年前实现了这个令人羡慕的目标，当时他们正在寻找一种方法来保护其新兴的甜菜免受明尼苏达州西部中部农场遭受的早春狂风袭击。蒂姆肯定说：“在我们的地面上，我们需要把团块留在那儿，否则我们就要吹了。”在明尼苏达州福克斯-霍姆附近耕种的Houghts和他们的父亲John一起提出了一个简单而有效的解决方案。他们拿起一堆旧的压力钻盘，在其上焊接了小的垂直法兰，然后将经过改造的盘安装在柄上（轮毂和轴承完好无损），以便安装在播种机上。结果？自制的“刺耳”，可以使土壤变粗糙，帮助钝化强风，从而保护那些年轻的甜菜。托尼说：“我们得到的土壤团块不像裂土器那样大。”
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