What size, weight sheepsfoot could a L3400 pull?

[Chuck K.]

I am a 1/2 arse fabricator thinking of building a small towable sheepsfoot for up coming shop project. I have access to some scrap pipe and own a 175 amp mig welder

I am thinking of ~36" OD pipe, ~48" long fiilled with sack concrete, weld some 1" nipples on it at random, secure a crude hitch and ball coupler may even use the tongue and partial frame from an old boat trailer.

Do you think this would be too much for the little tractor to pull on level ground.. I have been out of school so long I will probably have to get my son to calculate how many bags of cement it will take in order to have an idea of approximate weight..

I think I can pull this off for less than a couple hundred dollars?

Thanks in advance for any ideas.. Chuck.

 

[Egon]

Most commercial sheepfoots are filled with water.

 

[BTDT]

Don't know how much compaction the 1" nipples would give you, seems like it would work more like an aerator with that setup. Maybe get some 3" square tubing cut into 4" lengths welded around, then weld squares over ends to seal off. Then like Egon said, fill with water.

 

[bobodu]

Quick math...
18 x 18 x 3.14=1017.36 cu in
1017.36 x 48 = 48833.28 cu in
48833.28 div 1728=28.26 cu ft
28.26 x 62.4 lbs/ft for water =1763 lbs
28.26 x 80 lbs/ft for cement =2260 lbs

Maybe....I pulled a 2000lb tree stump (dead weight)across the yard with my A/C WC.....pulled the front end up something fierce though.

 

[tommu56]

Chuck

I saw one made with rail road spikes head out and it seemed to work fine.
I don't think i would add weight till done and make it removable some how.

tom

 

[Chuck K.]

The reason I thought of using cement instead of water was for the additional weight while keeping the pipe down at 36", but water is much cheaper and can be drained to lighten the roller which could be helpful...

3" square tubing is a good idea as is the R.R. spikes, spikes would cut down on fab. time just have to find some...

Simple math for you maybe, I have been away from that stuff for too long Not saying I am getting old.... just dont remember things like I use to .. I think? Appreciate you showing the weight.

Thanks for all the input.. when/if I get a day off work I hope to get started will post some pics if the project turns out well...

 

[bobodu]

The math only looks simple from where you're sitting.I've got little numbers scribbled on every sheet of paper on my desk...and those are just the results from my calculator!! LOL.
Took me nearly an hour to find the capacity of the bucket on a loader I built,much of that time trying to find out what they call a quadrangle with no two parallel sides.It was easy to find the formula for the area of a triangle...then it dawned on me to draw the end of the bucket as two triangles... DOH!!
Amazing how little I really used applied math in the 30 years since high school...then I bought a welder.....go figure.

 

[Egon]

Pressure on the ground is what it is all about. If the sheepsfoot is light smaller feet will give you more pressure. The feet will work open or closed as they fill up with dirt.

Water filled and outside removable ballast would most likely work best as then it is easy to move.

 

[MJPetersen]

You could have some concrete blocks that you could add to a bracket on the frame of the rig.

I pulled a big sheep's foot behind a D-8h in a rock fill one summer many years ago. The frame around the roller part was extended front and rear to accommodate some preformed concrete blocks that sat in a row in front of and behind the roller.

Another thing, the tongue of the roller was pinned in two places so that the roller could run in the middle, a little bit off center, or way off center.

Mike in Warsaw

 

[john_bud]

Rather than cement of water, why not fill it with sand or dry dirt? It's cheap, heavy and removable.

A length of corregated conduit would give you some high spots and a bit of compaction. Not as good as a real sheepsfoot, but a lot easier to do.

jb