road sweep rebuild

[Renze]

Sorry guys, i didnt take pictures from the start

My brother bought a road sweep for 100 euro. The brush rotor was 80% but the machine itself was an old, French built Gustin hay tedder.
It might have been doing hay for 30 years before it was converted to road sweep, i dont know if it was just plain old, or too light for its new job, but it fell apart:

i rebuilt it heavy duty style; OR actually, i built a new road sweep around an existing brush, and just transplanted the angle gearbox, shaft and sprockets from the old one.
I bought 2 new heavy duty caster wheels (600kg capacity each !) to use on the front. At the rear, i used a pneumatic caster wheel from another PZ hay tedder.
The square tubes used as longitudinal members came off the chassis of a Hagedorn self loading hay wagon.
The rear crossbar used to be a support leg of a pig feed silo, and the front crossbar/ 3pt mount used to be a light pole i could get for the taking, from the local boy scouts.
Oh, and i bought the spindle on the rear wheel from a local wrecker of ag machinery.

The only new steel is the 3mm sheet in the dirt catching bucket and rotor cover. The front cross tube including gearbox support, and the drop tubes from the front caster wheels, were also new steel

attached are some pictures, more description will follow when i have time

 

[bob_wood]

Sorry guys, i didnt take pictures from the start

My brother bought a road sweep for 100 euro. The brush rotor was 80% but the machine itself was an old, French built Gustin hay tedder.
It might have been doing hay for 30 years before it was converted to road sweep, i dont know if it was just plain old, or too light for its new job, but it fell apart:

i rebuilt it heavy duty style; OR actually, i built a new road sweep around an existing brush, and just transplanted the angle gearbox, shaft and sprockets from the old one.
I bought 2 new heavy duty caster wheels (600kg capacity each !) to use on the front. At the rear, i used a pneumatic caster wheel from another PZ hay tedder.
The square tubes used as longitudinal members came off the chassis of a Hagedorn self loading hay wagon.
The rear crossbar used to be a support leg of a pig feed silo, and the front crossbar/ 3pt mount used to be a light pole i could get for the taking, from the local boy scouts.
Oh, and i bought the spindle on the rear wheel from a local wrecker of ag machinery.

The only new steel is the 3mm sheet in the dirt catching bucket and rotor cover. The front cross tube including gearbox support, and the drop tubes from the front caster wheels, were also new steel

attached are some pictures, more description will follow when i have time

Great job you are doing on the road sweeper Renze. Thats ALOT of work. Sounds like you get your parts and stock much the way I do . Are you going to paint it when you are done the rebuild ? It would look like a new one. Please keep us posted on the progress !

Bob

 

[Renze]

Sounds like you get your parts and stock much the way I do . Bob

remember the motto is "keep your eyes open, or you'd have to draw your wallet open"
I kept the heavy tubes from the selfloading hay wagon for more than 8 years, i scrapped the rusty wagon but kept the heavy lengths of steel. They will allways come to use, if it isnt this year, it will be in the years to come

Are you going to paint it when you are done the rebuild ? It would look like a new one.

Off course, it would be a waste to leave expensive new iron, unpainted.. I use zinc-phosphate paint, which doesnt need a primer. So when the paint bladders off over years to come, you wont see a different colour of primer underneath.

It will get the same green colour as the bale trailer i built last winter. I decided that this will be my "factory colour"

 

[RedDirt]

Nice rebuild Renze. I like your stout construction. When you've got the power to drive it, nothing beats heft in aiding longevity.

I scrounge,disassemble, and keep parts and scrap for years too. Eventually it all finds a purpose and I'm always gratified to put it to a new use. Contentment is a well supplied bone yard. Happiness is having the time to use it.

 

[SkunkWerX]

Renze,
It looks like a real beast!

So it sweeps toward the front and into the "dust pan"?
I see the height adjustment at the rear. What keeps the "dust pan" from scraping the surface?

 

[bob_wood]

Renze

How does the dust pan get emtied ??

Bob

 

[GuglioLS]

Renze,

That thing is huge, looks heavy too. Are you rebuilding it for yourself or your brother? It begs the question, what in the word are you going to use it for? Do you, or your brother have long driveways to sweep off, or are you going to sweep roads for the fun of it. Did you make the top cover? I see lots of metal bending - looks good, Oh and the tubes for the TPH, nice work cutting and welding all those angles. The only concern I have is the caster wheels on the front, do they swivel by means of a cupped plate filled with little ball bearings? Those wheels will not take much punishment (zero tolerance for impact), such as will be encountered rolling over cobble stones or bricks with bumpy joints. They are meant for slow speed over smooth flat surfaces, like a work bench or metal cart to be used on a flat slab. Many here have tried to use that type of caster wheel as gauge wheels only to have them fall apart very quickly. I could be wrong and they are constructed better than the ones I've seen in the past.

Still, overall your project is looking good.


Larry

 

[Renze]

Skunkwerx,

yes, the sweep rotates against the direction of travel, throwing it into the dust pan. The minor amount of dust that goes underneath, is picked up on the go and will end up in the dust bin eventually.

I have a spindle type height adjustment at the rear, and will drill extra holes in the droptubes of the front casters to make them height adjustable as well: The dust bin will be hung in similar style, so i can drop the whole machine in 2 inch steps during the wear life of the sweep rotor.
The dust bin and front casters only have to make the steps, and fine adjustment can be done with the rear spindle.

bob wood:

right at this time, it doesnt
Well that means i havent built the dust bin hinges yet. It will be hinged like the buckets of classic 50's frontloader buckets, with a latch lock, once opened it will dump on gravity, and relock when i drop the 3pt to the ground.
Please wait till i built it and took photos, its hard to explain without pictures.


Larry,

We use the street sweep to sweep just our property: my dad and brother have near 20 horses, and about 10 or 12 from other people that stall them here for a monthly fee. Getting horses in and out of stables, drags a lot of bedding onto the pavement. Its even worse when i have been spreading muck... It slings off the tires and covers every brick.

We use it for 2 years now, and it has been in reconstruction for 2 months now (too busy at work) and the family is getting upset now its not ready to use... They never want to sweep by hand anymore


I share your feeling about using "standard" casters as gauge wheels.
At work, we deal with a company that has a trailer axle division, and a wheel division. We deal with the trailer components division, but get the same 50% rebate on casters.

I called them and said what i wanted: they had a new type of wheel, especially suited to bounce over cobbles and pavers:
These wheels are rated for 600 kg each, and the turntables are ones with BALLS !! rated for 1000kg each.

The sweep will weigh max. 900 kg with full dust bin, so thats 300 kg per wheel , or 50% of their rated capacity.
I think i have overdimensioned the wheels enough to withstand the bounces of the street. They cost me 97.50 Euro per wheel. Not the price you pay for standard casters either


I am paying my hobby hours for it, and my brother pays the materials... It's at 450 Euro so far, so i estimate 500 Euro when 2 or 3 cans of paint are applied....

For a general farm sweep with the cheap 50 cm sweep diameter, you pay about 2800 Euro with dust bin
http://www.hekamp.nl/files/File/Veegmachines_3punt.pdf

Mine will accept 80 cm diameter heavy duty industrial sweep rings (the ones that road contractors use), and is built heavier, with super duty casters.

 

[Renze]

got some work done past days (i'm trying to get some rest out of my vacation, so i'm kinda slow: I am underpayd and overworked, thats why i need rest now, and will start at a new employer per septemer 1st: Both problems already taken care off )

welded a strong wear strip on the tip of the dust bin: its a 70x6mm flatbar. It will take some time before it wears out when touching the pavement on occasion

I also welded the hinge pivots. i want them to stay within the contour of the frame, because i'll use it to sweep alleys inbetween 2 stall walls....
That why i welded an M16 nut into it. Now i can put a bolt in from the inside of the bucket, with a bushing over it so i can screw it tight against the bushing of 21 mm wide, so the hinge of 20mm will still be free to turn.

since i bought a set of taps, M4 to M12, i will add 2x M8 tapped holes for grease zerks.

 

[Renze]

Got some work done today: Not that much work actually, but work that makes it visible where i'm going with this...

I hooked it up to my 3011 to test the hinges of the dust bin, and the latch lock:
I used an M24 bolt to make it adjustable.

Larry,

regarding your concern:

The only concern I have is the caster wheels on the front, do they swivel by means of a cupped plate filled with little ball bearings? Those wheels will not take much punishment (zero tolerance for impact)

In pic number 5 you can see, these are not standard duty Harbor Freight casters !!! The whole caster assembly weighs about 10 kg, and the bolt plate is 3/8" thick !
Are you still concerned ??

 

[bob_wood]

Renze,

Your sweeper project is coming along nicely. Great job. I have a york broom with no casters or dust pan. Your project is an inspiration for me to modify my broom. It sweeps real good as is but its a Pain to clean the mess up after !! Thanks for posting and updating us on your progress.

Bob

 

[RedDirt]

Great job Renze. Can you make us an action video?

I know what you mean by no one wants to hand sweep any more. Once I got my rakes built I rarely pick up a hand rake anymore. I tractor rake more in four hours now than I could hand rake in two days. Once we have these labor saving devices its hard to go back to the old style (and what use to be a chore is now fun!)

 

[Renze]

Red dirt, bob wood,

Thanks a lot for the encouragement to keep going !!
Tonight i couldnt sleep because of the thunder weather. Today its terribly HOT i'm sweating like a horse, and i'm fed up with this road sweep. I wish i was finished but i've got work to do...
I've got a very troublesome past half year, company i worked for went bankrupt, i found a new job per september 1st because i want to be gone, before i get trouble with my new employer because we really cant get along.

All i want is just my hard earned holiday rest, and this road sweep just doesnt get any further !!

Anyways, your compliments are the extra encouragement i need, to continue and be done with it before the weekend...

 

[bob_wood]

Great job Renze. Can you make us an action video?

I know what you mean by no one wants to hand sweep any more. Once I got my rakes built I rarely pick up a hand rake anymore. I tractor rake more in four hours now than I could hand rake in two days. Once we have these labor saving devices its hard to go back to the old style (and what use to be a chore is now fun!)

Of all the attachments I have bought over the years, the Rake has gotten the most use. I didnt realize just how much I had used it til I broke a tine. I got another one at our local dealer and when I put it on the rake it was about 3 inches longer than the rest !! ( yes, I Did cut it off ) Thats how much the tines have worn down in 20 years. BTW that tine cost me $13 so buying them from our online sources for $2.99 seems like a good thing to do from now on.

bob

 

[Renze]

All right guys, i got the inside of the dust bin and rotor cover, painted in bituminous car underbody coating, marketed as "black varnish"

Its dirt cheap, and is so sticky that it keeps stuck on the metal even if you bend it.

I wanted to zinc coat both sheetmetal parts, but the zinc company is closed (We have holidays here right now in Holland) and zinc coating is 70 ct/kg which is quite expensive. Next to that, i'd have to drill holes everywhere so the zinc could flow out. Because of that, price, and time, i decided to use black varnish, i used that to touch up a reinforcement i made on the cultivator roller several years ago, it has been used to work in hog slurry, covered in mud and never cleaned, but the black sticky paint just sticks there

Tomorrow i'll take some pics, monday i'll paint the rest of the machine in that nice classic "farmhouse green" colour

 

[RedDirt]

Red dirt, bob wood,

All i want is just my hard earned holiday rest, and this road sweep just doesnt get any further !!

Don't you just hate it when a project is seemingly 98% done and that last "2%" takes 10% of the total time? I tell our new superintendents when they think their project is down to a two week punch list...count on two months!

 

[Renze]

Yesterday i painted the inner sides of the dust bin and sweep rotor cover with "Black Varnish", one of my favorite paints for parts that wont get in sight, because its cheap and acid resistant, and it doesnt let go when the metal bends because its flexible, but doesnt stay as sticky as car underbody coating.

I also lengthened the 3pt lower link attachments, because the caster wheels were touching the rear tires.... Because i didnt know which materials i was going to use (that means: whichever i had available for this project) i didnt engineer the whole thing before building, even though its my daily job...
Afterwards, maybe i should have, it would have saved me 1 or 2 unpleasant surprises (dirty grinding work) afterwards...

I dropped the idea for a swiveling top link mount ( so the sweep follows the street contour on its 3 wheels) because it is hard to achieve when lengthening it once more...
The two laser cut plates i had for the swivel toplink mount, i just welded them flat against each other. I will use a chain as toplink, it has unlimited swivel and is much easier to make

 

[Renze]

Today, the holiday also begun for a friend of mine. I was glad he helped me, and its a lot more motivating when you see the work progress of 2 people in a day

He painted the outsides of the sweep cover and dust bin, in the same "farmhouse green" as i painted the bale trailer last year: I decided this will be my factory colour for everything i build from now on.

We also spent some time derusting the frame. The longitudinal frame tubes were cut out of a self loading hay wagon, and then spent 8 years rusting under the bush.
My brother (who is the ultimate customer, because his horses make a mess, he needs the street sweep so he pays materials, but because its my hobby, i do the work )

In the evening, i prepared an improvised chain tensioner (a nylon bushing running around an M20 bolt, bolted into a slotted 20mm plate)

 

[Defective]

Nice, thorough coverage on the inside of that scoop Renze...

 

[bob_wood]

The road sweeper is Really shapeing up good Renze. Looks like it is almost complete now. I can appreciate all the work that goes into a project like that and you have rebuilt it to Last a long time. Great job !! Nice to have a friend that is willing to help out. Sure does make things go easier and faster. It would be real good if you could make an action video of the sweeper at work. Im very interested in seeing how the dust pan works and how it dumps when full.

Is that your buggy I see in the background ?? Think i saw one like it in Mad Max Thunderdome ?? Is that You or your friend with the paint sprayer? Always nice to see pictures of real people doing real work. That way we can relate better to the poster and the project. If I werent so old and ugly I would post some pictures of Me working in my shop / operating the machines

Bob