HYD QUICK ATTACH GAUGE WHEELS

[3RRL]

We will keep Rob busy in the machine shop for months to come!
LOL... you guys kill me. They've been trying to keep me busy for 35 years, so that's nothing new.

Anyway, I like Mike's suggestion of an additional wheel or two.
Nice photoshop work Mike.
As a matter of fact, (I may have posted previously) that I have 2 pneumatic wheels that I was thinking of adding for moving it around easier. They would come off during use and would be used to move it around to and from the implements, just like Mike suggested.

The unit weighs, with wheels, hyd cylinder and hoses (I'm guessing) around 275 to 300 lbs., You probably saw how heavy duty the construction is? lol...and how easily I curled it up with one arm (as I busted a gut) hahaha. In the old days I probably could have done a delt raise with it. Anyway, that is another reason I was thinking of other uses such as a mini trailer or cart maybe, with those added wheels (post #23)...maybe even a dump cart, pallet jack or something neat? I nee d more ideas from you guys.

 

[PineRidge]

Rob my thoughts were that one removable wheel in the front (caster type) would hold up and make the whole assembly much easier to move around once parked. I'm not sure you would need 2 additional wheels as the back two should keep it stable like the Cessna tricycle landing gear more or less.

 

[SkunkWerX]

We will keep Rob busy in the machine shop for months to come!
As a matter of fact, (I may have posted previously) that I have 2 pneumatic wheels that I was thinking of adding for moving it around easier. They would come off during use and would be used to move it around to and from the implements, just like Mike suggested.

The unit weighs, with wheels, hyd cylinder and hoses (I'm guessing) around 275 to 300 lbs.

WHOA, that is some serious weight. Tail wagging the dog once you have a hold of it.

Removeable 3rd wheel is a great idea from Mike. if you did use 2 wheels, I would mount them clsoely together and have them swivel in parallel, but one should be sufficient.

How about a "swing down" wheel, that rotates UP, out of the way while main wheels are in use, (Landing gear) but then rotates Down, to touch ground, maybe held by a lynch pin affair, with down pressure/spring tension so that when you disengage the wheel assembly there is already a little bit of down force (created by the compression spring) to pick up the weight as it disengages the implement?

When the assembly rotates down, it would meet the spring assembly, and the last few inches you would actually be pushing down against the spring to slide the locking pin into to place. With trial and error you could find the sweet spot, where it is supporting the weight necessary, so that the entire wheel assembly slides right out of the implement, and stays somewhat parallel with the implement. Conversely, This would also aid in installation for line-up purposes.

Perhaps the spring tension mechanism would have a small crank handle, so that you could dial in the amount of tension and lift?

-Rotate wheel into Down position.
-Crank handle until spring tension starts impinging on the assembly enough so that there is some lifting created. At this point, the wheels are "bouyant".
-disengage from implement, should be relatively effortless?

 

[montejw]

Nice work Rob, very nice.

 

[srossman]

How about using a trailer jack with a wheel at the bottom. That way you would be able to raise/lower the front to get the proper height to attach the wheels. You would even get a hitch that folds out of the way and have no need to remove the wheel.

BTW: Great project. I'm always amazed at how great your projects turn out.

-Scot

 

[3RRL]

Mike, Skunk, Monte and Scott
Again, thanks for the great compliments.
Regarding the wheel(s) up front, I am definitely going to add something up there for moving and attaching primarily. You guys have given me some good ideas. Before I make up my mind though, I want to be sure one wheel will do. In case I ever want to use it for something other than just moving and mounting, like maybe a cart to pull behind the ATV or something like that. Don't know if that will happen or not, but the one wheel idea will for sure if I can't figure out a good alternative use for 2 wheels.
Thanks...

 

[JohnVa]

I'm a little late here, but it seems to me one of the crank down trailer wheels might be the perfect fit?

John

 

[Reg]

Nice work, nice projects, but every time I think of doing something like your projects I quickly realize that a) I don't have the skills b) I don't have the tools.
I could probably get close to a solution to both of these "show stoppers" by signing up for metal fab evening classes at the local voc tech, in fact I did auto body, machine shop I & II, and welding there several years ago.

Back to gauge wheels;
A) Is there a recommendation for how far behind the cutting edge (or tiller rotor center) they should be ?
I can see that "longer is better", but at some point the law of diminishing thangs cuts in.
B) Does that distance have some relationship to the distance from the tractor's rear axle center to the implement's cutting edge ?
Same distance sounds/feels about right, but is there some strange ripple riding effect that leads to unintended whoop dee doo scollops ?
C) Does the tractor's wheel base figure into A & B above ? (I doubt this one).

For "ease of fabrication".
{OK, I respect that the fabrication is a large part of the joy that some of these projects bring.}
I thought about trying to find a junk'd zero turn mower to cut the front casters off.
I have also looked at narrow trailer axles for such things as small row boats, jet skis and single snow-mobiles. I can get down to about 40 inches hub face to hub face.

Either of these would net me tires, rims & hubs, hopefully in a cheap package.
Is there a NEED to use casters, or would/could a short axle work as well (or better).

I have also though about a roller running the full width, but don't know how that would work out on a rake or rear blade when angled. I have one on the back of my flail mower, which is where the idea came from. I have also seen rollers built up as a cylinder of fairly small pipes with quite large gaps between them - as the last roller on an arena harrow IIRC.
Again, this is something that is probably beyond my current fab skills & tools.
I really LIKE the idea of that roller of pipes as a finisher for seed beds and something like chain link fence rails would probably provide cheap stock for it.

 

[3RRL]

I'm a little late here, but it seems to me one of the crank down trailer wheels might be the perfect fit?

John

Hi John,
Yes, crank down trailer wheels have been used by some and in theory would do the same as what I've done. However, weight of the implement (and size of your tractor) plays a big part in how heavy duty the construction should be. I went to the heavy side and used hydraulics to move them around from the tractor seat.

 

[3RRL]

Back to gauge wheels;
A) Is there a recommendation for how far behind the cutting edge (or tiller rotor center) they should be ?
I can see that "longer is better", but at some point the law of diminishing thangs cuts in.
B) Does that distance have some relationship to the distance from the tractor's rear axle center to the implement's cutting edge ?
Same distance sounds/feels about right, but is there some strange ripple riding effect that leads to unintended whoop dee doo scollops ?
C) Does the tractor's wheel base figure into A & B above ? (I doubt this one).

For "ease of fabrication".
{OK, I respect that the fabrication is a large part of the joy that some of these projects bring.}
I thought about trying to find a junk'd zero turn mower to cut the front casters off.
I have also looked at narrow trailer axles for such things as small row boats, jet skis and single snow-mobiles. I can get down to about 40 inches hub face to hub face.

Either of these would net me tires, rims & hubs, hopefully in a cheap package.
Is there a NEED to use casters, or would/could a short axle work as well (or better).

I have also though about a roller running the full width, but don't know how that would work out on a rake or rear blade when angled. I have one on the back of my flail mower, which is where the idea came from. I have also seen rollers built up as a cylinder of fairly small pipes with quite large gaps between them - as the last roller on an arena harrow IIRC.
Again, this is something that is probably beyond my current fab skills & tools.
I really LIKE the idea of that roller of pipes as a finisher for seed beds and something like chain link fence rails would probably provide cheap stock for it.

Hi Reg,
Man, you've an interesting idea, especially with that roller!
I'll try to answer you questions, but keep in mind I'm no expert.
A) I would think the farther behind the implement the less whoop-de-doos will affect the cut or grade or till. It's like having a longer based vehicle, I guess. I made mined fashioned after the existing rotary cutter wheel frame, using that as the length. It seems to work OK.
B) Again, I used the existing distance the implement sat behind my tractor. But in theory, the farther back your implement and wheels sit from the tractor, the less effect the tractor will have on it as far as whoop-de-doos I would imagine.
C) Ties in B above, and I'm sure would make some kind of difference, but I really couldn't tell you. Just make your length so it is affected as little as reasonably possible.

Your fabrication ideas using the easiest methods that will work are a good idea. As you can see from the beginning of this thread, I started to do the same by using the original rear wheel attachment. However, being a *********, I decided to make it more complicated.
A castor wheel is probably desirable since our tractors use a 3pt connection, so they "swing" the rear end of the implement and gauge wheels around, sometimes nearly 90 degress from the straight line of travel. With the way my rotary cutter and boxblade are attached, fixed wheels would scrape sideways when I turned the tractor. If it was a tow behind implement that could pivot at the trailer hitch connection, I don't see any reason they absolutely need to be a pivoting caster type wheel.

I like you idea of incorporating a roller type wheel. I would work on that because it would do more for you such as you say, for seed beds and smoothing etc. You could always lift up the implement and wheels during a turn. That applies to fixed wheels above too.
Thanks for your comments.