Conveyor works Great!

[Oly's Stump]

Bought a new 5.5 hp Honda horizontal shaft gear reduction engine and mounted it on the conveyor and used a chain drive. Found the right sprocket for the #10 chain. Starts in first pull. I am very happy. I want to thank all you guys for responding and helping me and mostly: SWI Don, B-Edwards, erickjeeper, Patrick62 and Ford's Lawncare. Thanks again! I have attached some photos!

 

[ericjeeper]

Looks good.

Might want to add, just a small guard of some sorts.. to keep a pant leg out of it.. or a childs fingers. But otherwise it looks like it should do the job.,

 

[redprospector]

That looks like it should work real nice.
I've been working on converting an old hay bale loader into a conveyor, and it has been a p.i.a.
I wish I could have found one like your's, but I guess you've got to work with what you can find.

Andy

 

[Patrick62]

Very nice!

I kinda agree on a guard of some sort.

Engine should have plenty of power!

I can't wait... I have a line on one that a buddy of mine is going to bring me from "out there". Eventually.

Saves a bunch of lifting, and don't cost much to feed it.

-Pat

 

[SWI Don]

Always glad to help someone out.

You have quite the setup now. I will agree with the shield. The heck of it is that it probably came with a shield new.

Looks like you have a little bit of work for the pair built up.

Don

 

[B-Edwards]

Nice job!

 

[jerry wayne]

conveyer ???

got my sites on a P.T.O. shaft driven one just like the one from the other post.......but the guy wants $700 for the dang thing.My ? is ,are those cross carriers strong enogh to hold up, or did you reinforce them somehow?Also the one i am looking at appears to have them spaced closer together......did you remove everyother one or what

 

[ericjeeper]

cross bars

Closer cross bars designates am ear corn elevator to me. As long as there is no bolts or torn metal sticking out on the side rails it should carry wood up without damage to the chain.imho

 

[Oly's Stump]

Those paddles are strong enough with no problem at all. I did have to remove a couple paddles that got bent up because a piece of firewood got jammed between two paddles and instead of falling from the conveyor it continued underneath and jammed up at the bottom near the splitter. You don't need the paddles that close together anyway and your probably better off cutting every other one off anyway to avoid jamming.

 

[STLfirewood]

have a similar converyor I want to set up like that. Right now it's a PTO. Can you tell me what gear reduction you are using on that engine. I have a new 8hp I can use. Thanks. Scott

 

[SWI Don]

STLfirewood,

Since most small engines are 3600 rpm and typical PTO speed is 540 I would go about 5 or 6:1. With some additional reduction in the chain/belt drive to PTO stub shaft you should be golden. You may not need too much more ratio in your final reduction as running it at the end of a splitter or processor you could run about half of original speed which the 8 hp should be good for idled down.

Note there is 1000 rpm PTO but that would be very uncommon on an old elevator.

Don

 

[SWI Don]

Treeco,

That was what I meant. That would be the simplest. Last night I caught that he had the motor (8hp) and then insinuated that he go buy a new one.

In order to do it with an existing engine (3600rpm) a jack shaft is in order. You have a final ratio to the PTO shaft of 6.67:1 or just a little more. That would be best done in two steps. First one could be a belt drive and the second a chain drive. Shielding is important around the drives for safety.

I would look at both options and see what made the most sense. The new gear reduction motor is the cleanest and would require the least fab. The jack shaft will probably be cheaper but require more fabrication (bearing mounts, getting shaft keyed etc.)

Good Luck

Don

 

[Oly's Stump]

I use the Honda 5.5 hp 6:1 gear reduction motor. Northern Tool Item# 60596. I only idle the engine and its fast enough to keep up. Burns very little fuel compared to the splitter. Starts first pull every time!

 

[Corley5]

Nice setup. I've used two different hay elevators off the end of my 14-12 Block Buster processor. The 1st was an old pto driven Mayrath that I powered with a B Farmall. Worked OK. The tractor used more fuel than I liked even at an idle which is what a 4 cyl would do. The second was a McCormick Deering #21 which is really a Kewanee. I bought a 6.5hp Honda clone off E-bay to power it. Great little engine, has never failed to start even at 0 degrees F. and it was way cheaper than a real Honda. Hay elevators will get the job done but they'll drive you nuts too. We had to cut wood at 15" to keep it from from getting stuck between the chains and going around to jam things up underneath. Even then it would still happen. We might process a couple cords with no issues and then it'd give us fits for a couple hours. We torched bigger cleanout openings in the bottoms of each elevator. One toward the top end and one about a 1/3 of the way up. That saves lots a aggravation. It really sucks to have to run them backwards by hand all the way to the top to get the chunk of wood out. They aren't made for the kind of abuse that firewood gives them. I ran 600 or 700 hundred standard cords up them. The 1st one was toast after a couple hundred. The 2nd one needs new sprockets installed on the top end which I have. It's going to be the back up to the 24' Built-Rite purpose built conveyor I just bought. After the last break down I'd had enough. You should have some driveline protection like a slip clutch or a shear pin. Repairing elevator chains is a pain in the butt especially at below 20 and above 80 and when you're on a schedule for deliveries. If you plan on doing production firewood save your pennies for a real firewood elevator. I couldn't justify the extra cost when I bought my processor but as your business grows you'll find they'll pay for themselves by increasing your productivity. I'd recommend taking out everyother paddle if they're spaced at 16-18" You want them to replace the bent ones you're going to end up with. I speak from experience

 

[Oly's Stump]

Corley5....I know what your saying about the jamming and fixing the chain. When I bought the conveyor it had a broken chain and it was a ????? to fix in nice weather. I have cut off numerous paddles which helps on the jamming. It was jamming some before I cut some off now it works good with little jamming. I am looking for another conveyor anyway so I don't have to keep moving this one around as much. Probably will end up buying one made for firewood. Have a good one!

 

[ADAMH]

forget chain drives...... belt drive is the only way to go...

problem with chain drive is.....it does not slip...and 100% wood will get jammed in the canveyor..and then you have no way of slipping...it just breakes the chain...or paddles..or conveyor....

i went to a belt drive..with a tension adjustor..so that if wood gets jammed...the belt just slips on the electric motor...

i use a 30ft hay elevator as well...

Adam

 

[ericjeeper]

He is referring to conveyor chain

forget chain drives...... belt drive is the only way to go...

problem with chain drive is.....it does not slip...and 100% wood will get jammed in the canveyor..and then you have no way of slipping...it just breakes the chain...or paddles..or conveyor....

i went to a belt drive..with a tension adjustor..so that if wood gets jammed...the belt just slips on the electric motor...

i use a 30ft hay elevator as well...

Adam

Atleast I am pretty sure..Not the drive but the driven.The chain that carries the bales/corn/wood