wood conveyour

[ms310]

Has anyone used a old grain elevator to hadle firewood? My neighbor has a 40' one for sale for 200 dollars and i was thinking of picking it up. ANy pros/cons , i have a 8 hp briggs i was thinking about putting on it if i buy it, would you guys run it direct drive or hydrulicly?

 

[savageactor7]

If you're selling firewood an elevator is an excellent labor saving device...and you can pick 'em pretty reasonable too.

 

[drmiller100]

i've used a couple of them.

They work GREAT.

A few hints. raise the low end off the ground a little, or pieces will start wedging the bottom pretty quick.

You really need to gear it down to use a gas engine. I had a pulley reduction and chain reduction on the one i used, and it was still plenty fast even at idle.

5 horsepower is a LOT for a conveyor. The second one I set at idle, and it ran just fine, and when it did jam, it killed the engine.

I have pushed probably 200 cord between the two i had. they both needed some maintenance and tinkering occasionally.

 

[redprospector]

A 40 footer is an awful long conveyor. It'll take a pretty good size area to utilize it. That being said; If it's in decent shape, go for it. You could always cut it down if needed.
An 8 horse is way overkill for a conveyor. The one I built has a 3 1/2 horse, and it is more power than needed.

Andy

 

[flxblx]

I vote for hydraulic drive.
Could be driven from a tractor, Or i've thought about using my log splitter.

 

[flxblx]

Wonder if a power steering pump could be rigged to drive it in a separate circuit than the main splitting hydraulics, but using the same reservoir?

Plumbing should be do-able. I have no idea about GPM available from power steering pump.
There are flow control valves available, to control speed of conveyor. You would need one setup for the type of pump being used (open center or closed center).

 

[kyle1!]

Most old grain conveyors are bolted together in 8 to 10 ft sections. Remove a couple of sections for a nice firewood conveyor. I had 3 conveyors that I simply unbolted and hauled away as scrap. They were too big to handle without large equipment. These conveyors are everywhere in farm country.

Brian

 

[yooperman]

I picked up a 32' conveyor last winter. I bought a 6.5hp honda engine on ebay for about nothing but like a previous poster noted I only let it run at an idle. Mine has the 2 detachable chains on either side with paddles connecting both. Once in a while a piece will jam. When this happens I learned to balance the motor so the belt slips instead of breaking the chains. I'd say get it. You really need one if your going to move alot of wood. If nothing else you'll find out what you'd want if you upgraded to a different conveyor.

 

[cantoo]

I have pics of mine on here. I have a generator so it was easier to just leave the electric motor on it and use the generator, uses next to no fuel at idle. Saved me a to of work.

 

[habanero]

I have a 20 ft elevator I use to take wood off the buzz saw with. As others have mentioned above, an 8 HP motor would be way too much. I originally had a 3.5 Briggs on mine, but it gave me enough trouble I swapped it out for a 4 horse Kohler. The only problem with a gas engine is slowing it down enough. I run mine through a 2 pulley reduction and it is really still too fast. It's hard on a little gas engine to sit there at idle all the time, too.

 

[jdboy9]

I think I have seen gear reducers for the small engines? Probably too expensive though.

 

[Butch(OH)]

As others posted unless there is something really wrong with the elevator it will take very little power to run it and too much power is not good as you will get tired of fixing the chain when something binds (and it will) Mine runs with a small Honda at dead idle and it dies when a piece of wood gets jammed. The Honda was laying around, if not for that I would run it hydraulically and limit torque with a pressure regulator or belt drive slipping. A Charr lynn (Eaton) motor and a couple hoses and quick connects is lots cheaper than any new small engine and the elevator will run happily when plumbed into your splitter return line. This assumes that the only time you need the elevator is when you are splitting?

 

[habanero]

I think I have seen gear reducers for the small engines? Probably too expensive though.

I've been thinking about that. I actually have one laying around off an old snowblower that might work. But, reducing the speed further is also going to magnify the torque, and like Butch alluded to, it gets old replacing chain links. I have my belt on the engine to the jackshaft as loose as I can possibly keep it and have it still move the elevator, and still yet I occasionally bust a link.

I do have a good (relatively cheap) source for replacement chain and links. I can dig up their contact info if anybody's interested.

 

[Butch(OH)]

I was thinking of a hydraulic drive when I posted my question.

If plumbed into the splitter return line you would need large hydraulic hoses.....due to the oil flow rate. I'm running a 28gpm two speed pump and I would imagine that kind of flow would be way high for a hydraulic motor on a conveyor.

My thought was a small pump, like a power steering pump, being driven off of the front of the engine. With a small pump and hyd. motor even 3/8 hydraulic lines ought to provide enough flow to power a conveyor.

I've seen hydraulic winches driven off of power steering pumps and they worked great. I'm just tossing my idea out there for comment.

Yes an old Eaton(Ford) type would work OK I would think. I just hate having any more motors to maintain than nessisary, LOL

 

[Butch(OH)]

Am I correct that a lot of small engines, those without pressure lubing systems, suffer from poor lube at low rpm's?

Correct again

 

[nametrux]

Link Breakage

My elevator is a work in progress that has been put on hold till spring. Just needs the bugs worked out. Started using hydraulic motor. To keep repairs down on chain etc. I put a 3/16 hex head through the pulley to act as shear pin. Seems to work OK. Easy to replace and quick. Will have to put hinges on chain guards for easy access.
Like the idea of using return line to power elevator. Do you guys think this will work? I used the hydraulics on my 350B crawler (over kill) to test it all out. Have an old Toro mower that has separate gear box that might work, but that would be another motor to mess with. Just thinking out loud.......

 

[habanero]

Am I correct that a lot of small engines, those without pressure lubing systems, suffer from poor lube at low rpm's?

That's part of what I was alluding to in my first post about it being hard on a small engine to sit at idle all the time. You'll also often end up fouling plugs unless you lean it out enough.

With my speed reduction, I run my 4 horse Kohler at about 1/3 throttle. It's still too fast for the elevator, but I think it's easier on the engine.

If they weren't such gas hogs, a little 1 horse (or less) 2 cycle would have about the right power for the application. But I'm afraid it would be difficult to get the gearing right for the RPM's.

 

[flxblx]

My elevator is a work in progress that has been put on hold till spring. Just needs the bugs worked out. Started using hydraulic motor. To keep repairs down on chain etc. I put a 3/16 hex head through the pulley to act as shear pin. Seems to work OK. Easy to replace and quick. Will have to put hinges on chain guards for easy access.
Like the idea of using return line to power elevator. Do you guys think this will work? I used the hydraulics on my 350B crawler (over kill) to test it all out. Have an old Toro mower that has separate gear box that might work, but that would be another motor to mess with. Just thinking out loud.......

Might need to use a flow control valve similar to NT Item# 20121 to control speed. This valve sends oil not used by hydraulic motor on conveyor back to tank. You would need a flow control with correct sized inlet/outlet and work ports for your application.

 

[johncinco]

I wish I had known you wanted one. One sold at auction last week, for about scrap prices. Over here on this side of the state, but we coulda figured out a way to make it fit on a trailer. If I see another I'll send ya a PM