Moving and storing implements

[hayden]

I've been trying for a while to figure out a good way to store my implements more compactly in my barn. There are only so many places where I can back up and unhitch something, then once the implement is on the ground they are not easy to move.

So, I took a trip to home depot and bought a few moving dollies and some individual casters. I've now got a dolly for each of 4 implements, and am in the process of making them for what's left. They work great.

I can now lower the implement on to its dolly, unhitch, then roll the implement to whereevery I want to store it. I can pack stuff together very tightly now and it all takes up much less space. When I want to put something on the tractor, I just rull over the implement and hook it up. It actually makes reattachment much easier since the implement can be easily moved into position for hook up.

I was able to use ready-made dollies for my chipper and snow blower, and I made one for the winch because it required a somewhat odd size. I'm now making one for the backhoe that will be a three wheeler with two under the main unit and the third supporting the bucket/boom.

This of course requires that you have a smooth enought work surface to roll things around, so it wouldn't work too well outside, but in a shop/garage, it works great.

I'll try to snap some pictures this weekend.

Peter

 

[MReeter]

Hayden,Very,Very good idea.I have read before where someone had done this,sounds like this would work great as long as you have a concrete or smooth surface floor.I plan on making a couple of dollies for our box blade and tiller one day myself.

 

[hayden]

I did a search after I posted this and found another post from a few months ago basically saying the same thing. Sorry for being redundant, but it does seem like a great solution as long as you have a smooth surface.

Actually, I think it could work on a rough surface too as long as you have large enough wheels. The problem would be that if the wheels get too big, the dolly would be too high to get the implement on it.

Peter

 

[TWINKLE_TOES]

Hayden,

That's a good idea. Would sure appreciate some pictures. In my area there is a surplus store that usually has pretty good supply of healthy castors. I really like keeping stuff out of the weather. In the northwest even if it isn't raining you get a heavy due most of the time.

outta room Al

 

[GlennT]

Just like to throw in my two-cents worth. I've got dollies under all of my implements. I did this for two reasons: (1) to be able to store a whole bunch of stuff in one bay in a garage, and (2) this saves wear and tear on my anatomy. After hooking up my shredder or even my scoop, my back and shoulders were killing me. Obviously the dollies are in part a concession to age. I used all-steel swivel castors which I purchased from Tractor Supply for under $5 each. They easily support the weight of anything which I have, they stand up to the wear and tear of a concrete floor, and they don't get flat on one side if they stand for a length of time under a heavy load. It takes a bit of time to construct the dollies, but if you use scrap lumber such as old pallets you can keep the cost down.

 

[Wheeldog]

This is a very relevant topic for me. I am working with some pretty tight storage space - one bay (about 9.5' by 15.5') of a smallish garage. I was enough of a geek to lay out the rough dimensions of my tractor and attachments on a CAD program before I bought, and I'm glad I did, because it barely fit. Even after quite a bit of cleaning, it still amounts to 10 lb of baloney in a 8-lb bag.

I have been planning to make a simple roll-around platform for my tiller, like a number of you had mentioned. For the summer I would like to be able to leave the tractor with just the rear finishing mower on it, but I need to have easy access to the loader too. Has anyone built a solid enough platform that a loader could be stored on (an moved around on)? I have never taken my loader off, so I have no idea if this would be feasible - maybe the down pressure, etc., involved with detaching the loader would make it impossible. Just curious.

- Rob

 

[Harv]

<font color=blue>I was enough of a geek to lay out the rough dimensions of my tractor and attachments on a CAD program before I bought</font color=blue>

Nice to know I'm not the only one, Rob. /w3tcompact/icons/blush.gif

I did it for my tractor and I do it whenever I need to arrange furniture in a room. Sure saves a lot of wear and tear on the ol' back. Back in my corporate America days, whenever we got moved to new offices, the first thing I did was to map out my office, the desks, tables, bookshelves, filing cabinets, etc. While I was casually trying different arrangements by dragging my mouse, I could hear the moans, groans and screeching of furniture all up and down the hallways. /w3tcompact/icons/frown.gif

Of course, now that I have a tractor with bucket forks, it's more fun to shuffle doghouses, bird coops, picnic tables, etc. directly. What is a tractor, if not a big mouse? /w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif

 

[Wheeldog]

Thanks for the reassurance, Harv. Having the layout made all the difference at delivery, when it came to getting the equipment off the truck and putting it away quickly.

I'm not stopping either - I've got a layout of our new vegetable garden that I'm working on now/w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif.

- Rob

 

[campster]

FWIW. I bought my first pair of moving dollies from Lowe's for $30something each, then found them at Harbor Freight for $19.95

Appear to be from the same factory in the Far East...

 

[hayden]

I've gone hog-wild with the dollies for all my implements. Everything rolls now, including my 30 gal fuel drum and pump.

Attached is a picture of the "tricycle" dolly I built for my backhoe attachment. Works great. Now I can attach/remove the BH in the center of the barn, then roll it off into a corner for storage. Before I had to leave it sitting where I could still backup and hook up and it was very poor use of the space.

Next post is one for the logging winch.

<P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1>Edited by hayden on 05/14/01 09:01 PM (server time).</FONT></P>

 

[hayden]

And I'm alleged to know about computers - you'd never know.

Here's the picture of the BH dolly

 

[hayden]

This one's for the Farmi logging winch. There is a cleat under the lip of the plow to be sure it doesn't slip off. This one had to be custom built to get the weight distribution right so it wouldn't tip over.

 

[Boondox]

Peter -- Noticed you had the Kubota BH. Just out of curiousity, why did you choose that over the Woods? How satisfied are you with it?

Pete

www.GatewayToVermont.com

 

[Boondox]

All those toys...and snowshoes in the background. My kinda fellow!

Pete

www.GatewayToVermont.com

 

[hayden]

I like it, but the woods is a fine machine too. I used to have a B2400 with a Woods 6500. It was fine, but awfully small. When I got the 2910 I went with the Kubota rather than the woods 7500 because I wanted a 3PH model and my dealer would only rig the woods with a frame.

Not to start the religious war again, but I personally prefer the 3PH mount and that's really what drove the decision. The woods frame causes the BH to hang further out behind the tractor making the front end even lighter which I didn't like, and the frame hangs low to the ground reducing clearance. Although it doesn't matter to me, the woods frame is not compatible with an under belly mower so you might consider that and/or confirm if that's the case with your 3010. Clearly in favor of the woods and it's frame mount are consistent reports that the whole tractor/BH assembly has a "tighter" feel to it.

 

[hayden]

Sharp eyes. Those shoes got a lot of use this year. There was no other way to venture off the shovelled paths.

 

[hayden]

warning warning - cheap casters

I'm now paying the price for cheap casters on my dollies. The mover's dollies I bought at home depot for about $25 each seem to sieze up more than they roll. The casters wedge in a direction (never the desired direction) and it's near impossible to get them straightened out.

The only dolly that works like a dream is the one I built for the backhoe. I bought heavy duty casters to carry the weight, and they have two ball bearing races so they rotate and roll with ease. They were around $25 each which hurts, but they work. I can literally give the BH a light shove and it will roll across the barn in a straight line.

As a first measure, I'm going to try using two of the cheap dollies for each implement on the theory that less weight on each wheel will reduce the binding. Last resort will be to buy the expensive casters. My fuel barrel rolls around pretty well which indicates that lighter loading works.

 

[Bird]

Re: warning warning - cheap casters

I learned that the hard way myself, Hayden./w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif It's been awhile back, but I learned to be sure the casters are made to handle the weight I intend to put on them. In fact, I think I've still got a couple of cheap ones laying in the shop that I should throw away./w3tcompact/icons/frown.gif

Bird

 

[Wheeldog]

Re: warning warning - cheap casters

<font color=blue>I'm now paying the price for cheap casters on my dollies.</font color=blue>

I'll second (or third) that. I bought casters at Home Depot too - I believe they are rated for 150 lb each, which should be fine for the four corners of a stand for a 410 lb tiller, but they seem to roll pretty poorly. I'd like to get rid of casters alltogether and put on solid rubber tires if I can find them someplace. It seems like any type of casters are just going to pick up a small amount of grit, then get gummed up.

Rob

 

[scruffy]

Re: warning warning - cheap casters

Harbor Freight has hard rubber tires/castors as well as pneumatic tires/castors.