Poor man's aerator 3ph conversion

[RaydaKub]

I never learned to weld; maybe some day.
I bought an aerator this past spring. The handle is easy enough to operate, but it's way too far to reach from my BX seat. I used it once and pulled on a rope to lift it, but while turning or avoiding my invisible fence, etc. it just was way to difficult to hold up. I had 160 lbs on top, so you had to grab on to the rope pretty good.

I really wanted to let the tractor do the work. Maybe next year I'll find somebody to weld up a regular 3 point mount for me, but for now, I decided to try out a cheap way to accomplish my goal. I had about 7 feet of small cable and a couple small pulleys. I bought one more pulley, a couple clamps, and a few eyebolts. I opened the eyebolts to loop the pulleys on and then clamped them shut again. I replaced one bolt on the hitch with the eyebolt and drilled a hole for the second one on the side. I drilled a hole in the lever, threaded the cable and clamped it. I then put it through the 2 pulleys.



Next I made some loops to thread between the clevis on the lift arms. I used light screw-type chain links to lasso the cable and fit through the clevis. The cable hangs down enough to avoid the 3rd arm. The primary lift cable is clamped to the 3rd pulley which runs on the loop cable to allow it to adjust from side to side as I turn.


I anticipate I may have to adjust the cable lengths some more, but at least in the garage, it lifts up pretty well. My total investment is about $6. What do you guys think? Will this work? Any ideas to improve it?

 

[mpham]

Looks ok I guess. Let us know how it works. There are all kinds of ways to get a job done.

 

[oldballs]

For six bucks you can't miss. Sometimes a gerryrigged arrangement has to have the bugs worked out for your satisfaction. My Dad used to say, "Poor boys have poor ways". Good luck with the plan. If it wasn't so embarrassing, I'd show you my poor boy fuel siphoning arrangement hanging with a pulley from a tree. .....but heck, diesel really doesn't taste that bad.

 

[RaydaKub]

Well, the verdict is in.
Once I put 150 lbs in the tray, the behavior changed a bit.
1) I need to either wrap the cable around the lift lever once or use a 2nd clamp on it. It wanted to slip out and then it wouldn't lift off the ground. I didn't dare tighten the clamp any more for fear of stripping the tiny little threads on it.
2) A second clamp on the vertical cable so it can't slip there either.
3) I would start with fresh cable that wasn't so kinked up. It had been part of a winch.
4) I need to put the 2nd hitch bolt back in and drill a new hole for the eyebolt. The eyebolts seem strong enough, but the nut came loose on it and the top of the hitch swiveled to the side.

After Saturday's 1/2" of rain, the aerator was able to sink in about 1 1/2 inches and I did the lawn 2 passes. Last week when I was experimenting, it didn't even scratch the surface.

Not as easy as a full 3ph hook up, but this works. It would lift high enough that the teeth would scrape the ground and if I double the clamps I think it will lift the weight just fine. I was worried the pulleys might not be strong enough, but they seemed fine. And it beat the heck out of trying to pull on a rope!

 

[EE_Bota]

Your aerator is almost identical to mine, but mine doesn't have that place to put a pin to keep the lift lever in a certain position. I like your cable approach, and that never occurred to me. I am going to get a 3-pt hitch one some day. But there is right much life in my existing one (like yours) so I would like to convert it and finish wearing it out before I buy another.

 

[CHDinCT]

I did something similar with my old pull behind core aerator. Put eyebolts on each side and ran some chain from one eyebolt through each swivel eye of the 3PH lower arms over to the other eyebolt. I tow it from the hole in the tractor frame and use the 3PH to raise it for transport or turning. Set up my old dethatcher the same way.