Ideas wanted for moving/blowing sawdust - Page 3

tommu56 · 11-08-2006, 07:24 PM

weedsportpete

What about having them dunp it under cover and then use some thing like a floor sweep to pick it up and then blow it in to the stalls from a central pipe and a drop in the middle of 4 stalls and all you need from there would be a 20ft flex pipe to reach stalls?

tommu56

TOMDUALLY · 11-08-2006, 08:15 PM

How about using a grain auger, the ones that are inclosed in a metal pipe, then with the right configeration you could fill up your upper storage bin from the dump site with one and from the bin deliver it to the wheelbarrow with the second one all with the ease of flipping a switch.

weedsportpete · 11-08-2006, 08:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tommu56

weedsportpete

What about having them dunp it under cover and then use some thing like a floor sweep to pick it up and then blow it in to the stalls from a central pipe and a drop in the middle of 4 stalls and all you need from there would be a 20ft flex pipe to reach stalls?

tommu56

what does a floor sweep look like / work like?

weedsportpete · 11-08-2006, 08:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TOMDUALLY

How about using a grain auger, the ones that are inclosed in a metal pipe, then with the right configeration you could fill up your upper storage bin from the dump site with one and from the bin deliver it to the wheelbarrow with the second one all with the ease of flipping a switch.

so thats a grain auger! I see them often around here, but I never knew what they were. Yes that would lift the sawdust up into the hopper, and maybe I can get one cheap.. don't know. It would leave a little pile at the end of the pick up operation, but I could just shovel that last bit.

Soundguy · 11-08-2006, 09:26 PM

So.. how much $$ do you plan on spending to just get out of shoveling some wood chips? Seems like an awfull lot of work, unless this is a farm with lotsa horses.

Soundguy

weedsportpete · 11-10-2006, 08:18 AM

Absolutely right, Soundguy. I don't want to spend any money. I'm willing to make some investment if I can get to a point where I'll spend the same amount of time managing sawdust that I am now spending managing pellets. I was hoping that a powerful shop vac could help somehow. I am looking for ideas on storage and movement so that I can see what it takes in time and money to implement whatever level of solution we come up with.

Right now we have bags of pellets upstairs, delivered and stacked by the deliverer, that I'll throw down the trap door into a smaller pile next to the hay bales (same thing - large hay storage above, smaller pile below. The smaller pile has to be replenished about twice a week). Throwing down hay and pellets twice a week takes about 30 minutes total a week. For daily stall work, I just walk over to the pellet bag pile, grab a bag and take it back to the stall, or about 1 minute.

Keeping in mind that I don't want to build another building, or keep the sawdust outside, I now have to use a wheel barrow to move the sawdust from the dumpsite to the storage site. If we get, say a 10 cy truck load, and I've got a 6 cf wheel barrow, thats a lot of trips. Its kind of early to do the math, but where I'm spending 0 minutes now on storing the pellet bedding, the sawdust will see me pushing 50 wheelbarrow loads at about 45 to 60 seconds each, or pushing close to an hour, not to mention somehow lifting it up into a hopper, which if done manually could another another 15 seconds, so thats definately an hour and some effort. I guess moving the sawdust to each stall is not so bad, time-wise - at least I won't have to throw down bags of pellets twice a week. We will have to worry about windgusts through the barn as we move sawdust around.

I know that adding another hour to my weekend is not such a big deal, considering that we should cut our bedding costs in half, but I am protective of my 'free' time (which I'd rather devote to projects around the barn).

I guess that now that I've put done some figures and estimates for the time it will take to use sawdust, I can weigh the options better. Maybe an hour is not so bad.. especially if I can get paid what we saved!

Soundguy · 11-10-2006, 02:18 PM

I hear you about free time.. but if it would really cut the bedding cost in half.. that may be worth it. Just figure what that hour of free time 'costs' you nd then go for it!

good luck

Soundguy

sandman2234 · 11-10-2006, 10:33 PM

That blower of mine might be overpowered for your job, but as far as overpriced(?), maybe not. I just started trying to sell it for what I saw one go for on ebay a couple weeks before. Not my bottom price, but shipping it to NY would cost a fortune, but we both already knew that, right?
I think the auger would do a better, less dusty job anyway.
David from jax

11-08-2006, 07:24 PM	#21 (permalink)
tommu56 Platinum Member Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: limerick pa lycoming county pa Posts: 788	Re: Ideas wanted for moving/blowing sawdust weedsportpete What about having them dunp it under cover and then use some thing like a floor sweep to pick it up and then blow it in to the stalls from a central pipe and a drop in the middle of 4 stalls and all you need from there would be a 20ft flex pipe to reach stalls? tommu56

11-08-2006, 08:15 PM	#22 (permalink)
TOMDUALLY Silver Member Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: NORTH CAROLINA Posts: 134	Re: Ideas wanted for moving/blowing sawdust How about using a grain auger, the ones that are inclosed in a metal pipe, then with the right configeration you could fill up your upper storage bin from the dump site with one and from the bin deliver it to the wheelbarrow with the second one all with the ease of flipping a switch.

11-08-2006, 09:26 PM	#25 (permalink)
Soundguy Super Star Member Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: Central florida Posts: 18,673	Re: Ideas wanted for moving/blowing sawdust So.. how much $$ do you plan on spending to just get out of shoveling some wood chips? Seems like an awfull lot of work, unless this is a farm with lotsa horses. Soundguy

11-10-2006, 08:18 AM	#26 (permalink)
weedsportpete Silver Member Join Date: May 2002 Location: Weedsport, NY Posts: 158	Re: Ideas wanted for moving/blowing sawdust Absolutely right, Soundguy. I don't want to spend any money. I'm willing to make some investment if I can get to a point where I'll spend the same amount of time managing sawdust that I am now spending managing pellets. I was hoping that a powerful shop vac could help somehow. I am looking for ideas on storage and movement so that I can see what it takes in time and money to implement whatever level of solution we come up with. Right now we have bags of pellets upstairs, delivered and stacked by the deliverer, that I'll throw down the trap door into a smaller pile next to the hay bales (same thing - large hay storage above, smaller pile below. The smaller pile has to be replenished about twice a week). Throwing down hay and pellets twice a week takes about 30 minutes total a week. For daily stall work, I just walk over to the pellet bag pile, grab a bag and take it back to the stall, or about 1 minute. Keeping in mind that I don't want to build another building, or keep the sawdust outside, I now have to use a wheel barrow to move the sawdust from the dumpsite to the storage site. If we get, say a 10 cy truck load, and I've got a 6 cf wheel barrow, thats a lot of trips. Its kind of early to do the math, but where I'm spending 0 minutes now on storing the pellet bedding, the sawdust will see me pushing 50 wheelbarrow loads at about 45 to 60 seconds each, or pushing close to an hour, not to mention somehow lifting it up into a hopper, which if done manually could another another 15 seconds, so thats definately an hour and some effort. I guess moving the sawdust to each stall is not so bad, time-wise - at least I won't have to throw down bags of pellets twice a week. We will have to worry about windgusts through the barn as we move sawdust around. I know that adding another hour to my weekend is not such a big deal, considering that we should cut our bedding costs in half, but I am protective of my 'free' time (which I'd rather devote to projects around the barn). I guess that now that I've put done some figures and estimates for the time it will take to use sawdust, I can weigh the options better. Maybe an hour is not so bad.. especially if I can get paid what we saved! __________________ Weedsport Pete

11-10-2006, 02:18 PM	#27 (permalink)
Soundguy Super Star Member Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: Central florida Posts: 18,673	Re: Ideas wanted for moving/blowing sawdust I hear you about free time.. but if it would really cut the bedding cost in half.. that may be worth it. Just figure what that hour of free time 'costs' you nd then go for it! good luck Soundguy

11-10-2006, 10:33 PM	#28 (permalink)
sandman2234 Veteran Member Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: Jacksonville, Florida Posts: 2,286	Re: Ideas wanted for moving/blowing sawdust That blower of mine might be overpowered for your job, but as far as overpriced(?), maybe not. I just started trying to sell it for what I saw one go for on ebay a couple weeks before. Not my bottom price, but shipping it to NY would cost a fortune, but we both already knew that, right? I think the auger would do a better, less dusty job anyway. David from jax

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