Moving Implements

[FxdGrMind]

WOW! Nice wood working!

I'll have to build something like that for my chipper that is on it's way here.
I will no longer be able to store and back up to all the implements I have in my barn anymore once it arrives. I was thinking "how am I going to do this?"

And bingo you present pictures of my solution! THANKS!

24'x36' barn loaded with 23' Sailboat 10' wide on trailer 32' overall including tung, 84 GTI (in work), 2 4'x8' work benches, Garden tractor, 5' brush hog, Pto splitter, 7' grader blade, 58" tiller, misc lumber tools, and other toy's like a Racing Kart.. Just have to have toys.

 

[Wedgie]

Great looking dollies Nickle Plate!

I have been setting my heavier implements on wheeled dollies for several years. I just can't maneuver they around easily when it comes to hooking up the three-point and PTO on some of them anymore without the dollies. It also makes them much easier to store as you can move them around enough to get them into tight spaces.

I have my local welder make mine out of angle iron and plate steel. I get my casters at the local Menard's store.

George

 

[pat32rf]

I've gone the wooden skid/pallet route. I always seem to have something (besides firewood) that I want to store/move so its just easier to set heavy/bulky items on a skid. Ballast weights, snowblowers, generators, winches etc can get tucked out of the way, (set on shelves even) then brought out in the open when I want to use or work on it.
Some things get put on stored trailers for the winter, others get put in the barn.

 

[Diamondpilot]

I make dolly also either out of wood or steel. Just use what I have on hand and as others have mentioned I use the Casters from HF units. Buy them when they are on sale for $8 or so.

Chris

 

[patrick_g]

Hi, gang. I need to store my implements under cover in the barn. Since it is a pole barn, I can't really maneuver the tractor inside the barn, though I can drive straight in and out easily. How is this for a solution? First, get the Pat's quick hitch set up so I can drop the implements easily without a lot of redirecting the tractor. Then, build a little dolly for each implement so I can push it around in the barn and store it that way. Is this is a workable solution? What do you think? Another option might be to add on a lean-to to the side of the barn. Thoughts? Thanks!

The lean-to (shed roof on side of existing pole bld with supports far enough apart to let tractor maneuver) is a terrific idea as more storage is generally better. With concrete floors if you decide to put the implements inside the dolly idea is really good. I built some and put HD casters from HF under them. Furniture dollies were not on sale at HF when I bought the casters or i would have considered those. You need a really hard flat surface for those furniture dollies when you load them so if there is surface roughness or softness get big dolly wheels instead. It sure made hitching the box blade and heavy 6 ft brush hog way easier. Previously it would take me 5-45 min to hitch up the brush hog depending on luck (also it was prior to Pat"s Easy Hitch) and I broke a few 2x6 boards used as levers.

With an implement on a dolly you can easily move the implement instead of getting into the operator's position on the tractor, moving the tractor a little bit, getting to the implement and seeing what additional tractor movement is needed (lather rinse repeat, sometimes ad infinitum.) So a dolly serves another important labor saving task beyond convenient storage. I had a 50x21 foot shed on the side of my combo garage and shop and I used the dollies there to terrific advantage. Even when I parked implements in front of other implements I could rearrange them to get at what I wanted single handed fairly easily.

I have since enclosed the shed to make a 50x21 metal working shop and moved a 35x70 barn to a convenient nearby location. It is dirt floor right now but... it may become part or all concrete depending on how the following gantry idea works out. I really miss the ability to easily move implement laden dollies. My 35x70 barn is a pole barn made with pipe and has trusses made of pipe (all used oil field stuff.) There are no columns not in the walls so no obstructions mid span. I'm thinking of putting small wheels (sans tires) on top of the trusses with a bridle attached to support a hanging load. This will give me the effect of a gantry crane (with the addition of a cheap come-along or chain fall) I should be able to pick up an implement near the center of the bld and roll it via the gantry to the wall where it will be out of the way. This should be pretty cheap to build so I envision from 2-6 gantry roller thingies per truss except at the ends where they can't roll. There are three trusses available (not counting the ones unusable ones at the ends of the bld.) Of course you don't store the implements in the air, you lower them to the ground so the trusses are not over stressed should there be a big snow load or ...

Pat

 

[gumshu]

I've started building platforms for my attachments. The 2000 lb. 12" x 18" dollies go on sale from time to time at Harbor freight for under $8.00.

You can't get just the wheels for that money and all four are the 360* type casters.

I've taken them and attached them to 3/4" plywood that's cut to size with screws. The first was for the 400 lb snowblower. Now I can move it all around the polebarn with ease.

For the 60" mower deck I just put a dolly under each end with the same result.

Next I'll fabricate something for the BH6000 backhoe.

I use a Harbor Freight dolly on each side of my implements. I hold them together with 3/4 lumber and they work fine on concrete. If I had to roll implements in a pole barn with no pavement, I'd rig something similar with 2x's using Harbor Freight's larger wheels.

 

[Runner]

For my stuff that's stored on a concrete floor, I use home-made wood dollies with cast iron casters like others have mentioned.

I also have a "mezzanine" in my pole barn (with gravel floor) and one of the handiest things I've made was a loader-mounted quick hitch. With this, I can pick up things like my box blade and rear blade and set them on the shelf, off the floor and out of the way.

 

[some zilch]

why would something w/no moving parts like a york rake or rear blade need to be stored inside? couldnt indoor space like that be used for something more beneficial?

 

[Runner]

"why would something w/no moving parts like a york rake or rear blade need to be stored inside? couldnt indoor space like that be used for something more beneficial?"

Personally, I just don't like to have any more "stuff" sitting around in the yard than necessary. Also, don't like my "stuff" to be any more faded and rusty than necessary. That being said, my KK rake was rusty and faded when I got it, plus, no more room inside, so it sits outside....

 

[nickel plate]

why would something w/no moving parts like a york rake or rear blade need to be stored inside? couldnt indoor space like that be used for something more beneficial?

It's about what you, me or anyone else considers "benificial". I take pride and care of my tools and machinery and only want to buy them once. I have seen too many piles of rusted out farm equipment along side the roads that will never be used again. Stored and maintained properly, just hook them up and off you go regardless of their age-it's their condition that counts.