Hydraulic lift for travel wheels on Aerator

[hwp]

Has anyone tried putting a hydraulic lift cylinder for the travel wheels on a Brinly tow behind aerator? I recently bought have a Brinly that I tow behind my F2400. It works fine except I find it a nusance to have to stop and get off the tractor every time I want to lift or lower the travel wheels. I am thinking about converting the manual lift for the travel wheels to a hydraulic lift. Getting the hydraulics to the unit is not a problem. Any comments would be appreciated.

 

[hwp]

I just finished the project and it works great. Atached is a photo of the wheels in the travel position.

 

[hwp]

This is with the wheels up so the tines are engaged.

 

[Bud]

This is a Ryan tow behind aerator. This was getting too heavy, and I was getting too old to crank it up and down, so I put brackets and a hydraulic cylinder on it. Made life a lot easier.
Bud

 

[hwp]

Nice job Bud. That's quite a unit. How long are the tynes? How much penetration do you get? Do you have to add ballast or is it heavy enough as is to get good penetration? What do you tow it with? It looks like it could take quite a bit of power to pull it.

 

[Bud]

hwp,
The tines are 5" out of the wheels. Those tines are shiny over 4". I don't have to use extra weights for penetration, those wheels the tines are in are solid cast iron. If the lawn is too damp I lower the wheels to keep the tines from going too deep. If the lawn is soft and the tines go in over 4" it tears the lawn up. I tried pulling it with a garden tractor with chains, not bad on the level, but it pushes the tractor down a 15 percent grade, so I had to pull it with a Power King.
The reason I put the hydraulic on was to cross over the driveway and side walks. Saves a lot of turning.
I have that aerator for sale.
Bud