Posthole Digger PHD conversion to hydraulic??

[ss4010]

It's high time I update my own thread.

So after some input and searching what was available (mostly at Surplus Center) I ended up using a 6 ci displacement hydraulic motor coupled to my current PHD gearbox. I used a hydraulic motor to gas engine mount (of the shelf component) and did some minor machining on the drill press to make everything bolt together. I picked a motor with the same diameter output (1 1.4") as the input to the gear box. It is assembled with a solid steel coupling and a flywheel key on the motor side and a through bolt on the gear box side.

Here is a picture of the first test run with the auger attached to the rear.

 

[ss4010]

Bolstered by my success drilling some practice holes at idle and at PTO speeds, it seems the size of the motor was about right for the capacity of my rear remotes. At idle its a nice slow rotation. At PTO speed the auger spins fast enough to whip the dirt off the auger drive.

The next step was to mount the device to the FEL so I could drill holes up slope and deep holes down slope of the tractor. The receiver welded to the top of the bucket (idea "borrowed" from TBN), seemed to be a good platform for attachment. So a 2 way swivel was fabricated to allow the auger to remain plumb. A stop was added to prevent the motor / hoses from hitting anything during transport. And a pin on bracket was used to prevent the auger from swinging side to side during transport.

You can see the pictures of the project now under way. Essentially drilling deep footings on the uphill side of the deck to prevent it from sinking into the ground further. Over the course of time the up slope side of the deck has sunk into the ground more than 10". It appears that the existing (crazy shallow) footers are sitting on non compacted clay fill and organic matter.

Some of the lower footers will also be drilled at a slight angle from the access "road" that I cut below the deck in 2009. The FEL mount allow me to raise the auger up higher above ground level than I could before using the rear mounted version.

Today I picked up a combined 38 tons of CMix and base rock to begin pouring new footers and compacting the base rock in the dirt area under the deck to minimize water infiltration and settling. As you can see this small dimension on the deck is 28 foot long, so this redwood beast is over 1000 sf, so the replacement cost could be quite substantial should it "slide down the hill".

Here are the pics...

 

[ss4010]

For the safety police... It seem appropriate to add a picture of the rear ballast hanging out back (along with my latest mod, the tilt). This box beast came of a retired circa 1970 skip loader and has 3/8" thick steel. At 77" its way too big for the tractor, but it's main use is ballast and spreading base rock on the community road at which it does a fine job. Too bad the tail board was lost over two decades ago. My rears are also loaded, as you can see the hills here are SCARY!! I'll take all the weight I can get just above ground level.

 

[KWentling]

Good job! Thanks for the update.

Kim

 

[Sharkey71]

ss4010

Do you have the link to the exact motor you used?

If you dont mind what cost was involved, you started with a $450 budget.

Thanks

 

[quicksandfarmer]

Nice job SS4010.

I've often thought it would be handy to have a 3-point hitch and PTO on the front loader. The way I would make it is to put a front 3-point hitch adapter on, and a hydraulic motor with a six-spline output shaft. On the rear I'd put a PTO hydraulic pump.

If the hydraulic pump and motor have the same volume per revolution they would spin at the same speed.

It seems like there's a lot of implements that would be handy that way -- you get down pressure, float, much finer adjustment of angle, a greater range of height. The PHD would be handy, but what I'd be really curious to try is the rotary mower!

 

[ss4010]

ss4010

Do you have the link to the exact motor you used?

If you dont mind what cost was involved, you started with a $450 budget.

Thanks

Hi Sharkey,

Here's the breakdown on the parts (all from Surplus center)

https://www.surpluscenter.com/item.asp?catname=&qty=1&item=9-7490

9-7490 Motor 6.09 ci $135.50
1-3228 Hyd Pump Mount SAE A $37.95
9-6901-10-8 SAE 10M x 1/2 NPTF 90 swivels $11.00

****1-1563-G Shaft Coupler 1 1/4" $14.95 ****

Plus Hose, quick couplers, scrap steel and some bolts and pins for roughly another $100.00.


*** Note the shaft coupler was a mistake. The key way was not the same size as the key way on the hydraulic motor. So it had to be opened up to a larger size (8mm (roughly 5.16")) instead of 1/4" to fit the hydraulic motor.*** Surplus Center does sell the larger key way rigid coupler.


https://www.surpluscenter.com/item.asp?catname=&qty=1&item=9-7490

The motor was selected using two criteria:

1. The shaft type and diameter matched the size of the input for the Auger Gear box I already had. So a rigid coupler could be used.
2. The displacement was calculated using the gear ratio of the Auger Box and the output of my rear remotes (7.9 GPM) to turn at the desired rate of rotation depending on the engine speed. It's nice and slow at low engine speed and fast enough to sling the dirt out of my 15" auger at a high engine speed. I used the Surplus center online calculator to determine RPM at GPM.

Some minor (drill press) machining was required on the motor mount. The coupler needed to be cut to length, drilled and the key way opened up to the correct size. The swivel, brackets and rest were fabed and welded from roughly $30 of 1/4" steel tubing (plus some angle which I already had around).

All said and done the cost came in around $300 - $350.


Steve

 

[ss4010]

Nice job SS4010.

I've often thought it would be handy to have a 3-point hitch and PTO on the front loader. The way I would make it is to put a front 3-point hitch adapter on, and a hydraulic motor with a six-spline output shaft. On the rear I'd put a PTO hydraulic pump.

If the hydraulic pump and motor have the same volume per revolution they would spin at the same speed.

It seems like there's a lot of implements that would be handy that way -- you get down pressure, float, much finer adjustment of angle, a greater range of height. The PHD would be handy, but what I'd be really curious to try is the rotary mower!

I like that idea too! It was a little out of the scope (read budget) for my requirements. Plus I only have a 22 PTO HP machine, so something like a rotary mower (up front) would have to be pretty small to work with my hydraulic capacity after the conversion losses.