My Home built Loader

[rhamer]

Well I have been slowly chipping away at this project, and it's starting to look a little more like a loader rather than just a collection of bits of steel.

I have a few more pics attached so you can see the progress.

Hopefully tomorrow I'll be able to mate the bucket up with the loader arms for the first time for a test fit. I've gone with what I believe is a JD style of quick hitch

I definitely underestimated the time required for this project. I seem to have spent an eternity turning bushes on the lathe, 40 so far with a couple still to go.

Cheers

Rohan

 

[MJPetersen]

That is a fantastic project and you are bringing it to completion in a very nice manner. Really great work. Your 4-in-1 is fantastic. I for one look forward to you finishing your project.

You are have it warm now while we freeze up here in the northern parts. fairdinkum job you got going there, Mate.

Mike

 

[irvingj]

Rohan-- just curious: most of my fabrication has been with wood, but now that I have a tractor I've been thinking about "making stuff" for it --though by no means as involved as your project, which looks great, BTW.

How are you cutting your pieces out? Plasma cutter, cutting torch? And how do you get those very nice looking edges afterward? I suspect I may have to be taking a trip to the tool store sometime...

I know what I'd do if I were making a model airplane, but balsa is quite a bit easier to work with than steel! A whole new world for me.

 

[David Devuono]

Looking good. Interesting to read about all the time spent making bushings. Bushings and pins were pretty inexpensive at the store I bought my cylinders. I would by a 5" bushing and cut it into 1" or what ever thinkness needed on the bandsaw. You can see an uncut bushing and a pin on the table in this shot.

 

[rhamer]

Looking good. Interesting to read about all the time spent making bushings. Bushings and pins were pretty inexpensive at the store I bought my cylinders. I would by a 5" bushing and cut it into 1" or what ever thinkness needed on the bandsaw. You can see an uncut bushing and a pin on the table in this shot.

I never really thought about buying it. When I started I had some 1 3/4 bar left over from my backhoe project, so I just started using that.

If I was to do it again, I would look to buy it pre made.

Cheers

Rohan

 

[rhamer]

That is a fantastic project and you are bringing it to completion in a very nice manner. Really great work. Your 4-in-1 is fantastic. I for one look forward to you finishing your project.

You are have it warm now while we freeze up here in the northern parts. fairdinkum job you got going there, Mate.

Mike

Thanks Mike, Positive comments keep me motivated

The weather this week has been a bit cool and overcase for this time of year, so I'm making the most of it, as my shed turns into an oven in the summer.

Because it doesn't get so cold in winter there is no insulation in the shed, which on the flip side would help keep the heat out in the summer.

Cheers

Rohan

 

[rhamer]

Rohan-- just curious: most of my fabrication has been with wood, but now that I have a tractor I've been thinking about "making stuff" for it --though by no means as involved as your project, which looks great, BTW.

How are you cutting your pieces out? Plasma cutter, cutting torch? And how do you get those very nice looking edges afterward? I suspect I may have to be taking a trip to the tool store sometime...

I know what I'd do if I were making a model airplane, but balsa is quite a bit easier to work with than steel! A whole new world for me.

I would encourage you to begin small.

Get some scrap steel and practice welding it together. If you don't yet have a welder, I would try and book into a simple home welding course somewhere and learn a bit before you decide what to buy.

One thing is for sure, you first welds will be useless, so having someone to teach you and show you where you are going wrong will most likely make the difference between you persisting or getting frustrated and giving up.

I cut out the flat stock using a Oxy/Accet torch to begin with, but then switched to Oxy/LPG (Propane) because the LPG is far cheaper.

With the parts that are made the same I cut out all the pieces individually, then stack them together and tack weld them into one thick piece. Then I use the angle grinder to clean up the edges. Once I'm happy I drill any pilot holes then split them apart again. Lastly I run the edges on my bench grinder belt sander attachment (like this one Multitool belt and disc grinder attachment at Van Sant Enterprises, Inc.)

Cheers

Rohan

 

[irvingj]

OK-- same as I do with my planes-- tack glue a bunch of ribs --or whatever-- together, then sand all at the same time, separate after.

Thanks, rhamer. Certainly I'll begin small! I had in mind a 3PH carry-all basket, that sort of thing. Nothing requiring critical welds for sure. I was just very impressed with your gusset (?) pieces.

I have an oxy-acetylene set, and the long-term loan of a Lincoln SP-125 Plus flux-core wire feed welder.... and I did enroll in a welding class earlier this fall/winter. Not an expert by any stretch, but I now feel quite comfortable with oxy-acetlyene, with or without filler (at least up to 3/16" thick), and can stick pieces together with the wire feed. An angle grinder I don't have-- yet.

 

[scarlo101]

Work well done building your FEL.
I am also currently building my own for a BX. (not that far advanced) One question I got is how do you keep your bushings straight and aligned after you weld them. I am assuming they will want to warp with the heat from the welding and the pins will be a tight fit.
thanx

 

[rhamer]

Work well done building your FEL.
I am also currently building my own for a BX. (not that far advanced) One question I got is how do you keep your bushings straight and aligned after you weld them. I am assuming they will want to warp with the heat from the welding and the pins will be a tight fit.
thanx

Tack weld them first in 4 places, then fully weld them.

Do all that with the pin in place.

One thing is for sure, no matter how hard you try, when you heat metal, it will move, so you have to know it is going to happen and work with the problem.

Cheers

Rohan