Front Loader from a Ford Truck

[nimblemotors]

Plenty strong, even too strong and heavy, but why waste a good axle?

I wouldn't call it wasted, it WAS being wasted sitting in a shed for 10 years. The guy had a lot of old trucks, so he would
have kept it if was needed/valuable. He gave me a trailer with another drop axle, get this, they WELDED the wheels to the axle. lol

So I ordered some 2in pins and bushings from mcmaster-carr for the boom pivot, they have almost everything on that website, but not surplus/junkpile/cheap at $200ish,

 

[nimblemotors]

My $1200 order of hydraulic parts should arrive on monday.
However, now I have been thinking of trying to build a smaller machine, more like a mini-skidsteer kind of machine.
I used one a few weeks ago, and just renting one this weekend to skim off dirt and spread gravel.
My thinking is I would be able to rent it easier if it was smaller. The 3ft wide feature makes it fit in tight spaces,
even though I don't particularly need this feature myself, a renter probably would.

I don't like the skidsteer drive, the work I did a few weeks ago, the tracks left skid marks all over the customers concrete driveway, he was not happy with that,
and today the skids digup the soft ground I'm working on pretty badly. So I'm thinking a different design would be better, one with rear wheels that pivot full rotation.
The truck steering can't do that.

What do you all think? BTW, I am planning to do a youtube series on building this thing, seems that is the way of the world now. lol

 

[aczlan]

So you want to build this and rent it out? Talk to your insurance broker first, you will need to see how much they will charge you to cover your liability in case one of your welds breaks and your renter's house loses a wall.

Aaron Z

 

[4570Man]

I’d never rent a real skid steer or any other equipment. Renting a homemade piece is a sure enough terrible idea imo.

 

[rScotty]

So you want to build this and rent it out? Talk to your insurance broker first, you will need to see how much they will charge you to cover your liability in case one of your welds breaks and your renter's house loses a wall.
Aaron Z

That may have something to do with where you live and what the local philosophies are there. Your concern seems a foreign and somewhat strange worry to me. .... or maybe it is generational.

All I know is that when and where I grew up you you couldn't avoid homebuilt and owner-repaired equipment. Heavy equipment of any kind is inherently dangerous. Anyone using any kind of power equipment was aware of the possibilities. It is up to the user to evaluate his own risk.
Otherwise no small farmer or contractor could get much accomplished.
I'd like to think that philosophy is still common.

OTOH, I am very careful who I lend equipment to - and I certainly wouldn't rent it out. But that has more to do with how I want it treated than any legalities.
rScotty

 

[texasranger556]

IMO, if you continue with the build, build it do what you want/need it to do. Use, break, fix, re-design, repeat. Then if you have close friends or family that have similar needs you could rent it to them, or what I would do is offer to perform the work because your limited budget is going to lead to compromises in safety, reliability, and intuitive operation that equipment manufacturers spend a lot of time and money developing.

 

[nimblemotors]

I agree renting would be much better served buying equipment, almost bought an old Gravely small skidsteer with a trencher and auger attachments at $8k.
The Boxer I rented was brand new, this place nearby is now getting into renting equipment, as the local homedepot stopped their renting operation,
so there isn't anything close by. The boxer on high-speed is dangerous! The controls should self-feather, you can whip it around and kill yourself.

Probably just continue with the truck, however, I did find the front u-joints are toast, axle broken one side, and one hub (maybe both) are toast. Hey, it was $50, not complaining, but the parts are not so easy to find now. I could remove the hydraulics later if I want to build something different.

 

[MossRoad]

If you build it and rent it out, you're nuts. You're taking on a HUGE liability. I doubt you'd be able to get insurance. Now if you hired out your services and used your homemade machine yourself, that's a different scenario. But you still better have good insurance.

 

[LD1]

This whole thread is nuts. I thought the idea of making a loader with a Ford ranger power train was crazy....but though....could be done if someone really has nothing better to do.

But now the notion of wanting to build it so it can be rented....just nuts

 

[4570Man]

This whole thread is nuts. I thought the idea of making a loader with a Ford ranger power train was crazy....but though....could be done if someone really has nothing better to do.

But now the notion of wanting to build it so it can be rented....just nuts

That’s exactly what I thought although I originally kept the negative thoughts to myself.