from scratch homemade loader

bal0123 · Aug 24, 2008

Let me say thank you all, I finished my homemade loader from some srap material and some I bought from the steel yard. I did not have a plan just drew some pics up and figured all the measurements out with a sharp eye. I bought my two boom lift cylinders from Northerntool, I tried to use a cylinder I got out of the trash at work for the dump cylinder but there was just not enough stroke. It was a steering cylinder off a Dynapack compactor. that is the black one in the photos. I ended up ordering another cylinder from Northerntool for the dump. All my cylinders are the same 16" of stroke and are all 2.5" barrels and 1 3/8" rods. Seem to work very well. I put this loader on one of my two John Deere 425 lawn tractors that already had hydraulic system all I did was added the proper hoses and fittings and the loader itself. I lifted a trencher out of the bed of my pickup and have moved several yds of dirt and compost with it since I finished and MAN I will tell you it is the best feeling in the world. I checked out the cad loaders and just seemed I could build one myself for half the money. I built this loader for a little over 600 dollars and it has been money well spent. Hope yall like the pics. Chris

bx24 · Aug 24, 2008

Awesome job. One of the reasons I think that most of us have equipment like this is the enjoyment of doing things. I cannot think of a more satisfying task than getting something done with equipment that you produced yourself.

Enough talk, when are you going to have the BH done?

bal0123 · Aug 24, 2008

Hey Paul, Thanks for the nice comment I like your ride there. I have been doing some thinking on the BH but I think I will build a loader for my yanmar now. I am just not forsure about all the weight on the rear transfer case of the lawn tractor. A backhoe is heavy with a lot of weight and don't want to break a axel or anything like that. Have you had any problems with yours. John Deere is darn proud of there parts and even though I work at a dealership I still can't afford most of the parts that go on my 425's and that is at cost.

shvl73 · Aug 24, 2008

I admire your ability! No plans? You just made it happen! That's really neat. I'll bet you had one heck of a grin on when you put it to work. Good going and thanks for sharing.

Aquaman · Aug 25, 2008

Great job Chris!! Some of the best creations I've ever seen were built without plans. Let's face it, sometimes when we start a project, we're not sure how all of the details are going to work out. Sometimes we have to....uh.....modify things a little bit.

Keep up the good work!

mjncad · Aug 25, 2008

Excellent work Chris! Looking forward to seeing more fabrication from you in the future.

joes_427_vette · Aug 25, 2008

It's green.... it has to work ! I like the one bucket ram theory. Small loaders don't really need two of them based on the capacity.
How is the movement response with the size cylinders you went with ? I'm collecting material for my loader project but haven't sized rams as of yet. There is a fine line between capacity and the right size rams for the most efficient rate of movement. A small loader can be a very useful asset.
Thanks for the pictures & information.

bobodu · Aug 25, 2008

Too bad about the green thing...but otherwise looks good!!

bal0123 · Aug 25, 2008

LOL! Bobodu about the green thing.
Joes427vette,, the cylinders I used I just picked them out of random looking at the size of rod stroke and diameter, and the length from pin to pin fully extended and fully retracted. I got the measurements out of the Northerntool catalog and then took a piece of pipe and welded basically like pin holes or eyelets to each end. Made two of them, one the full extracted length of what clyinders measurement was and one in the retracted position and those pieces of pipe were what I did my measuring from and it all seemed to work out. As far as performance goes boom raise is about 10 sec. and boom down is a little faster at about 6 sec. I did the single dump cylinder just do to cutting costs. If it did not work I would have gone back and put on a second cylinder but it works just fine. I did have to weld some stops onto the bottom of the bucket were the boom attaches to due to the little to long of travel of the bucket dump cylinder. It would extend all the way out and then go make the bucket roll back under the boom when dumping and was not able to retract the cylinder because it was wanting to go the opposite direction it was really meant to go. The welded bucket stop solved that problem. Thanks to all the nice comments and I look forward to seeing more of yalls inventions and gadgets and whatnots. LOL

bx24 · Aug 25, 2008

bal0123 said:
Hey Paul, Thanks for the nice comment I like your ride there. I have been doing some thinking on the BH but I think I will build a loader for my yanmar now. I am just not forsure about all the weight on the rear transfer case of the lawn tractor. A backhoe is heavy with a lot of weight and don't want to break a axel or anything like that. Have you had any problems with yours. John Deere is darn proud of there parts and even though I work at a dealership I still can't afford most of the parts that go on my 425's and that is at cost.

I cannot take credit for the image I posted .... I was simply trying to get you to keep building! The good news is that I use my FEL 10x as much as the BH. Nice job again ....