FEL carrie all, and work platform

[drajj5]

I like this idea. Cheap, widely available, light, it would be easy to make and store many sets of different lengths for various working heights. Good thinking. The question is would the PVC support the weight.

I have done this before and it certainly should.... I also owned an old Boat, that has the "inboard/outboard motor". Engine resides inside the hull and the outdrive (foot) is on the outside. It has two hydraulic rams that raise and lower the foot for transport and are used to adjust the trim when underway. This was an older boat and the rams leaked down and prevented transporting on the trailer safely. So, I used the PVC to support the rams when trailered. in the fashion I described. These (rams) were a lot smaller diameter than the rams on your loader and were only sch40. I have stepped on the foot which was supported by the small pvc numerous times to gain entry when trailered and it never failed.

The sch80 is much thicker and the larger diameter pipe would support a much greater weight. I wouldn't be surprised if you used two of them on your loader it would support it without issue. However; I am not an engineer and could not tell you what the rating would be before it failed.

I guess you could test the strength using a automotive press that has a gauge on it- after fabbing your "pvc brace" up. pvc is stronger when sleeved and it worked great on those leaky rams.

I sure do miss that old boat......

 

[NewLight]

That's for the testimony, it's certainly something I can safely test in a number of ways that don't require me being ten feet in the air. I'm going to try this I think and see. I'll let you how it goes.

 

[NewLight]

Finally work and weather have permitted me to make some progress.

I had just enough screws yesterday to get this far.

 

[NewLight]

Today I picked up more screws and did this...

I have a what I think is a pretty simple and easy way to lock it in place when I need the back and pull it out easily when I don't.

 

[NewLight]

 

[NewLight]

I will likely build at least one of the side extensions first to see how I will lock it in place and make sure my current idea will work.

 

[NewLight]

I made a little progress the other day. I finally decided on a method to anchor the back panel and it's working really well.

Both of these two methods work great to keep it locked down. Certainly the bolt and nut combo leaves no wiggle room, but I haven't had any wiggle either way.

No movement here either. It locks in quickly and comes out quickly.

 

[NewLight]

This isn't the first time I've used it, just the first picture. It's been very handy moving a number of loads of scrap(metal), trash, as well as loads of wood, and brush to the burn pile. I have also used it to reach a sliding barn door track that was falling apart. This door was locked, blocked, and unassailable from inside the barn and had been for a decade or two at least.

 

[NewLight]

Thread from the dead here. It's crazy to think almost a year has gone by sense this build and the last time I was even on the forum. This platform served me well, but i beat it up pretty bad last winter and decided to rebuild it, which turned into building a completely different one that corrected a number of issues i had with the with this one. I don't have any pictures of it, guess I should remedy that at some point.

 

[PhysAssist]

Thread from the dead here. It's crazy to think almost a year has gone by sense this build and the last time I was even on the forum. This platform served me well, but i beat it up pretty bad last winter and decided to rebuild it, which turned into building a completely different one that corrected a number of issues i had with the with this one. I don't have any pictures of it, guess I should remedy that at some point.

Ready and waiting for your updated pictures and thoughts about what modifications you made and why you made them.

Thanks for sharing
Thomas