Ideas to unload my 880 trac vac ??

   / Ideas to unload my 880 trac vac ?? #41  
It would be nice not to have fool with the door. Hingeing it sounds good, but the box is threateningly flimsy and a durable adaptation would be very challenging. Actually automating the whole thing within the strength and weight of the design will be impossible. The door is itself reinforced by, and also acts as reinforcement for the trailer "box" by interlocking with it in muliple places on its periphery. Without this strategic reinforcement the door would bend and the box would bulge and bend under positive pressure and bumps/tilts/etc. With automation you will have to add a bunch of complexity to preserve the present design ergonomy or else bypass it by providing independent excess strength. Look for the elegant KIS solution. :)
larry
 
   / Ideas to unload my 880 trac vac ?? #42  
I'm on the same page JJ , is there a way to get the pusher to run the length without using a 4 foot cylinder ?
Loop a cable back on itself. Fix one end to the cyl. Thread the loop over a pulley that you then push with the ram. Loose end of the cable will move double ram movement. You could do a double loop like block and tackle systems and get 4X movement.
larry
 
   / Ideas to unload my 880 trac vac ?? #43  
Maybe this:

Build a light cube frame to fit inside the trailer. the cube has a solid front panel (with cutout for the fill pipe) and a solid back panel (the door). this cube could slide out the back, pushing the contents out of the box (the cube frame does not have a floor). To carry the frame, use a heavy version of a drawer slide (tool chest, etc) or bearings.

The nice thing about this is that the frame with solid panels will keep the structural integrity (when closed).

To push and pull it, see SYDERLK reply or consider something like a garage door opener (chain / cable loop). You would only need one hydraulic motor to run the whole thing.

The other option I thought of is to remove the floor and replace it with a sliding panel. This might be prope to blockage depending on the opening size.
 
   / Ideas to unload my 880 trac vac ?? #44  
Actually automating the whole thing within the strength and weight of the design will be impossible.
Bingo - you get a cookie !

That's the exact reason that I'm looking to fab my own unit based on the design I posted a picture of, earlier in this thread.

Automating that design is extremely simple - since I already have rear remotes - all it would take is a single, fairly small diameter hydraulic cylinder & 2 hoses. It could easily be emptied without ever leaving the tractor - since the only thing required to dump is opening the door.

I'm almost finished vacuuming up the leaves and mowing the grass for the final time this year - and I'm between 15 and 20 cart loads at this point, this time around. If I had to guess, based on how much I picked up this time, when the grass was short, I probably did 40 or more loads when I cut and vacuuming the first time this year.

While I was able to get the unit to dump out fairly easily for about 1/2 of the loads this time, I still had to fight to do that - whether it was the steel flex pipe from the vacuum to the cart falling off, the front retainer pin mechanism not opening fully so that I could dump or undump, fighting the door to get it aligned, or very carefully cleaning all the crud out of the door latches so that they don't pop open out in the middle of the field.

I can't leave the fuel feed valve on the gas tank open for any length of time when it isn't running - otherwise it will flood the carb - and empty the entire tank of gas (needs maintenance, I know)

In the end, one could spend all kinds of time, money, and effort making a less well-designed and lightly-built unit do essentially the same thing - open and dump - that a well-built unit, using the design I posted a picture of earlier, will do easily ..... and in the end all you will have is a unit which is more mechanically complex (with potentially more chance of problems) and is still a very lightly constructed unit.

Not rain on anyone's parade, but I'd prefer to invest my time effort and money making something that has much better engineering, much better construction, and will hold up to many years of use. It just ain't that difficult to do - and when it's finished my TracVac will be for sale.

BTW, I checked TracVac's website and I was wrong about which unit I have - it's the largest cart, but only an 8 hp engine - so I have an 880.
 
   / Ideas to unload my 880 trac vac ??
  • Thread Starter
#45  
I gonna hinge the door first some lite 1 inch angle iron should do the trick , then I will add one cylinder to dump it , I will also need to strengthen the area where I mount the cylinder. Stay tuned
 
   / Ideas to unload my 880 trac vac ?? #46  
haven't read all the suggestions, but if you are going to push a plunger out to empty the cart, won't the plunger need to run in tracks? and, if so, I would forget the hydraulic push and leave a rope/cable/chain along the length of the cart, fasten to some anchor and drive forward, pulling the plunger rather than pushing it
 
   / Ideas to unload my 880 trac vac ??
  • Thread Starter
#48  
I didn't do much on modifying my cart last year. But I'm revisiting this as leaves are starting to fall.
 
   / Ideas to unload my 880 trac vac ?? #49  
I have a 1080 which I,ve had for a number of years ,Put A piece of 3/4 inch one side smooth plywood cut to the taper of the cart smooth side down in the cart fill the cart with leaves wet or dry doesn't matter. get off and unlatch the metal hose clip, take off the rear door, release dump latch ,the weight automatically tips cart ,move tractor ahead three feet ,plywood and full load slide out like a bale of hay, flip board ,replace in cart ,put door back on, relatch, and drive on to next load, three minutes max
 
   / Ideas to unload my 880 trac vac ??
  • Thread Starter
#50  
That's a good idea KAZZ ! But I'm looking to stay in the seat to increase cycle time.
 

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