Home built skid steer

   / Home built skid steer #1  
E

ewepootoo

New member
Joined
Feb 27, 2010
Messages
4
Location
Western Disrict of Victoria, Australia.
Tractor
International B250
Hi to all my fellow enthusiasts, I am in the early stages of building a skid steer loader to use under my neighbours ram shed to retrieve the manure for sale. The shed is about 32" under the floor joists with about 45" between the stumps so it needs to be very short and narrow to operate in this confined space. I have a vast quantity of junk and engineering equipment to use in the construction but little real knowledge of the design requirements of a working skid loader. As this loader is so narrow and does not need to turn around under the shed, I have made it 5' long between the front and rear axles and 40" wide. My question is "Will this turn easily on a hard surface with each side driving in different directions or will the long wheelbase be a problem?" Thanks Steve.:)
 
   / Home built skid steer #2  
I would contemplate an automated conveyor system since you seem to have the resources.
You have 32" from floor to ceiling? How long is this tunnel? Or is it a large room with many
"stumps" (posts?) What is the floor material? (dirt, concrete, other?) The floor above is grated?
 
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   / Home built skid steer #3  
ewepootoo said:
Hi to all my fellow enthusiasts, I am in the early stages of building a skid steer loader to use under my neighbours ram shed to retrieve the manure for sale. The shed is about 32" under the floor joists with about 45" between the stumps so it needs to be very short and narrow to operate in this confined space. I have a vast quantity of junk and engineering equipment to use in the construction but little real knowledge of the design requirements of a working skid loader. As this loader is so narrow and does not need to turn around under the shed, I have made it 5' long between the front and rear axles and 40" wide. My question is "Will this turn easily on a hard surface with each side driving in different directions or will the long wheelbase be a problem?" Thanks Steve.:)
Click to expand...
Dear Sir
I have concerns about the height of the area that you plan to work in. The fumes from CO are deadly. I was thinking of a cable operated bucket on two pulleys that are pulled by a skid steer then you can load the manure into the truck. There was a picture of a man killed when he went through a overhead door driving a large loader.
Craig Clayton
 
   / Home built skid steer #4  
Welcome Steve,
Are you thinking of a manned vehicle or a remote controlled loader something like a Toro Dingo? You could call it a $#!~ bot. If it's long and narrow it will have to skid more to turn.

On the conveyor side this company is well established and they seem to have some good technology in terms of alley scrapers.
Patz Alley Scraper
 
   / Home built skid steer #5  
Are ewe planing on going both ways with it ? If not , the ewe poo will form lanes along the shed stumps in one direction . If ewe plan on cleaning both ways , a 5' wheel base will be too long to be nimble . I would also use a counter rotating broom on the front instead of a blade , the under floor of a wool shed is not smooth and will not be easy to work .
 
   / Home built skid steer #6  
magicheater said:
I would contemplate an automated conveyor system since you seem to have the resources.
You have 32" from floor to ceiling? How long is this tunnel? Or is it a large room with many
"stumps" (posts?) What is the floor material? (dirt, concrete, other?) The floor above is grated?
Click to expand...

I have to agree - a conveyor would be the easiest and likely the cheapest. I would just do a slider bed conveyor, it would be very cheap.
 
   / Home built skid steer
  • Thread Starter
#7  
Hi Thanks for the feed back. The shed is a ram shed not a shearing shed and what I remove from there is more like black clay than the little dry balls you associate with shearing sheds. Ram sheds house sheep intensively and will build up 3' of wet manure in a year whereas the sheep are emptied out before entering a shearing shed and it will only be necessary to clean under a shearing shed at 10 year or more intervals. These sheds have slat floors and ceiling fans so ventilation is not a problem. I made up a Stainless Steel drag chain 30' long which I used for years with success but it still meant i had to venture under the shed to shovel the manure onto the chain. There is a man already cleaning under sheds useing a loader on which he lays down on to operate, he is booked solid at $500 a day from now till he retires so I figure why not give it a go? A remote control unit sounds good but I reckon in order to know what it is doing 30' under a shed, i probably would need to be under there watching it and then when it come out from under the shed and dumps to a truck, I am going to need to be nearby as well. There is a beaut unit called the Dugless 900 which is remote control but would cost an arm and a leg. I have components to build conveyors in my grave yard but these are not very portable and still need me on the shovel. Steve
 
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