Dirt Scoop and 3 pt as first project

[MJPetersen]

Well It worked so very well. I have most of the sand relocated that i waned to relocate at the church. I had one big pile left. I eased into it and hit what felt like roots, gave some throttle and lifted up the 3pt and the next thing you know one of the lift arms is doubled over.

I took it all apart and straightened the arm on a press that my friend has and back to work--first pass and again the same lift arm is folded up. My friend was not home so I took a big hammer and straightened it out, but this time i welded in a second layer of metal about 6 inches long where the side link attaches. 3rrl also bent a lift arm and I remember how he put a T back on it, but I did not have room for that, so I simply added a second piece of steel. So now in that section the lift arm is 60 cm (2 3/8) wide and 2 cm (3/4+) thick! I gave it a go this evening and I think that will be good now. But I lost my phone/camera--hope I can find it when it get light tomorrow I took some pics, but for now they are lost.


Mike in Warsaw

[sandman2234]

If you lost the phone outside, pray it doesn't rain tonight.
Keep an eye on ebay for lift arms, in case you want to replace them.
I guess I will have to keep an eye out for a set also, as my Ford made it home today, finally!
David from jax

[MJPetersen]

I found my phone/camera where it had fallen as I talked to a neighbor who came over to see what I was doing--great. Sandman--no rain here in sight--it is SOOO dry right now. This kind of soil probably looks mighty familiar to you--nothing but sand!!

Here are pics of the bent arms and the strengthening that I gave them. We will see if it is enough, but they are 2x as thick as they were in that one 6 inch section.

What I tried to scoop which bent the arm was a section of cast iron drain pipe buried in the sand. Well as scrap it will help to pay for the piece of metal that I added for strengthening.

Have a good one guys!

Mike in Warsaw

[Harvey7]

Nice work Mike

[MJPetersen]

Thanks for the kind words Harvey, Czech et al. Yesterday I had a chance to spray some paint on the scoop. Now it matches the Yanmar. I thought about giving it a yanmar model number maybe YM 75 (75 is centimeters in length or 30 inches). That would look good in off white on the top element huh? Maybe Yanmar would not want to claim it. Oh well--I had several people ask me why I was painting it only to scrape the paint off again--maybe they are right. This I do know that I spent more time preping this thing that it deserves--you would think that I was painting a Ferrari or something--well the color is not too far off.

Mike in Warsaw

[BTDT]

Very nice job. Looks factory to me. That will help if you ever need to sell it. Then you can buy materials and build something else.

[sandman2234]

In all of your pictures the scoop shows to be in the reverse mode. Or, in other words, you load it while the tractor is in reverse. If you made it exactly like the Yanmar, then you should be able to turn it around, and you should simply because of what you have already done to your lift arms. When you turn it around, you are pulling on the arms, and not pushing against them. They tend to bend a lot less frequently with the tractor in a forward gear.
I have pretzled several bush hog uprights learning that lesson, but fortunately no lift arms.
David from jax

[MJPetersen]

Sandman,

I have turned it around and used it that way too. But what I was doing most was digging in a pile, which I did not want to climb over. When it came to clean up I switched it around, but I cannot lift it quite as high because it will get into my tires. I made my lift arms a little bit short I think. However, I have ordered some proper rebuild ends for cat 1 lift arms and when they get here and I weld them on I will lengthen the arms a bit.

I know that lift arms were made to pull not push--well mine were fabricated by me so I believe my modification cured the bending problem, if not then I will modify again.

I bent the arms when I hooked something with the one corner of the scoop, was lifting up and at the same time pushing back. If I had not been pushing I would have easily picked the front end off the ground. Something was going to give and that time the weakest link was the link arm. (what I had hooked was a section of cast iron sewer pipe buried in the tangle of roots.)

I was not as satisfied pulling the scoop to level things out. it would dig in too much or just float too much (depending on top link adjustment). but with the scoop back wards the flat back side of the scoop leveled pretty well. So I decided that for final leveling I need a box blade--new project and new implement. Now if I could only find a source for scarifiers.

Mike in Warsaw

[gary1611]

If you need scarifier their is a great place here in the us called agri-supply
BOX BLADE PARTS Available at Agri Supply® where we have something for everyone. Their Cheap but a great place i have been to one of their stores. Maybe you can get them to ship to you no charge from myself. If not and you can't get them locally i could get them shipped to me and ship them to you. I am a eBay seller and have shipped around the globe so international shipping is not no big deal. But some company's just won't do it. I love it because although I'm making money i provide a invaluable service to those overseas who are unable to get things any other way. And i've met such great people through my sales. Thats the number one thing i love about the net. It brings people from thousands a miles away together in one place. Good luck and i enjoyed the pics greatly And thank you for posting them.

[MJPetersen]

Thanks Gary for the very kind offer--I would just hate to ship steel. I will look around. I think that things like that are available in Germany and Italy, just not here, yet. If I cannot find them I may give it a go on making something that would work. We will see. I have lots of other things going besides my play time on the tractor.

I really enjoyed building the scoop and I have drawn up plans for a box blade similar to the rollover Gannon only sized for my tractor. Sure could not be something simple like a common KK box right?

Mike in Warsaw