| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| indianakid |
Posted - 05/10/2014 : 22:36:15
Every time my wife wanted to start a new garden area or clean up an old one it was my job to dig out and sift out the rocks and weeds and what not. Im sure you all know the drill. Get out the screened frame, set it on the wheel barrow, throw in two shovel full of dirt and shake, shake and shake. Stop and empty the tailings. Rest a few minutes and do it again. Try three shovel full to make it go faster and it is just too heavy to move with out risking back pain later that night. What a hassle. And when doing the compost pile with things being a little on the wet side it was even worse. Looked into making a shaker table (I will not show any of those attempts as they were miserable failures) but that also involved stopping to empty the rocks and debris. Started looking at trommels. The design I liked had the drum supported by the drive belts. Some of the requirements I had was for it to be able to work with a wheelbarrow, portable, easy to store (very important requirement as it spends a lot of time in storage) adjustable screen size and adjustable drum angle.
So began the design. To keep things simple I used bicycle rims and thought I could use the welded wire fencing as the structural member by just using bailing wire to hold it all together. Didn’t work as it was not stiff enough in torsion. So I ended up making a set of 6 longerons that are riveted to the rims. This made a strong framework that I could then attach the 2x2 fencing. This also allows for finer mesh screen to be placed parasitically inside as required.
There are three main components. The support frame. The main frame and drum. And the motor with mount plate.
The support frame is 2x2 tube that I had laying around and wheels from HF.
The motor with mount plate is just that.
The main frame hangs from the support frame with one pin and has an angle adjustment screw on the back. The motor attaches to the main frame with one pin. The drive pulleys that the drum hang from are connected by a shaft so they are both driven by the motor. The guide wheels are from roller blades and are mounted in slots for adjust ability.
By removing the pins the whole unit breaks down into three components that weigh less than 35 pounds each and are easily managed. It can be placed into the back of a small mini van for transport. Also the motor and main frame can be stored in the corner of the garage where it wont get corroded.
It has been a tremendous work saver. And not just for the garden. I picked up an 11hp Briggs Industrial Plus engine that had the gas tank full of rust. So I put in a handful of gravel and a little oil, caped it up so it would not leak, wrapped it in a large rag and duck taped it, threw it in the trommel with the drum set level and let it run for 20 minutes and it came out looking like new on the inside.
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| 8 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| Paulcurtis3 |
Posted - 05/19/2014 : 21:17:24
Nice job on the pump ! You must be a full blown fabricator! |
| indianakid |
Posted - 05/19/2014 : 00:13:30
i will have to do a thread on my backhoe / front loader project. but in the mean time you are correct there is a front bumper to protect the pump. i also designed the pump mount to be able to use either a SAE A, SAE AA or a USA4F17 pump with a LOVEJOY coupling. that gives me lots of options for pumps.
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| Cvans |
Posted - 05/18/2014 : 22:06:05
quote:
i bet i could make a lot of money if i could change the design just a little so that it could painlessly sift out kidney stones !!!
How timely and I appreciate your thoughts. 
Those Kwik-Way loaders are nice. The buckets hold a lot and the self leveling feature is a plus. The way you mounted the pump looks great also. If it were me I think I would fabricate a small bumper to protect it from impact. Looks like you have four mounting holes ready for it.
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| B-16_IC |
Posted - 05/18/2014 : 20:19:48
Nice FEL! Color me jealous, that is an attachment I could sure use. I haven't heard of one in the area to fit anything I own, yet. |
| indianakid |
Posted - 05/18/2014 : 15:33:02
hi Rich, Michael and Chris,
it has been a most useful project. it is fantastic on sod clumps / root bound clumps. it is amazing how much ans how fast i can process material. it almost makes me want to go into business. the thought of making and selling sounds good until some one brings up the concept of potential law suits. this thing works great as long as you are paying attention. although i bet i could make a lot of money if i could change the design just a little so that it could painlessly sift out kidney stones !!!
i am still working on my backhoe project. i have the subframe complete and recently picked up a kwik way FEL that i adapted to the subframe. the FEL was to be a future project but when it showed up on CL within a reasonable distance and price things got changed around.
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| Cvans |
Posted - 05/13/2014 : 09:33:18
Congratulations on a successful design. That looks really good. I think if you were of a mind to, you could make some money selling those.
Thank you for sharing your project with us.
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| B112 |
Posted - 05/11/2014 : 04:24:03
Very nice project! Thanks for sharing. |
| B-16_IC |
Posted - 05/10/2014 : 22:45:26
That thing looks handier than sliced bread! If you would like to continue testing it bring it over, my garden could sure use a few less rocks! Would also be handy for sifting out sod clumps from the new strawberry patch I'm trying to build. |
