Towed vibrating roller

justractors · Apr 22, 2002

I am considering building a towed vibrating roller for packing a track for pulling Garden Tractors.
I attached a Works drawing of what I have in mind which is a smaller version of a towed unit I saw a a local golf course.
There are a couple of mistakes in the materials list but this is the general idea. I will probably go with a 48" unit instead of the 36" but am concerned with the trailering weight.
Any suggestions would be appreciated.
Thanks,
Bill

RobS · Apr 22, 2002

Bill, I'm not at all familiar with how a vibrating roller works. Can you explain for the curious among us? This might be a good implement for maintenance of dirt/gravel drives /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

centex · Apr 22, 2002

Is your plan to mount the 6" pipe off center or mount it on center and weld/bolt on the 1" stock to unbalance it? It would be good to have an easy way to adjust this. Maybe it would be easy to just add/remove stock to adust the eccentric weight. I would not think that it would take much weight to provide the right amount of vibration. I would probably forgo the external weight and devise a way to provide an adjustable offset for the 6" pipe.

If the roller is to be towed from a single point, I wonder if it would track very well without any crown on the roller. This could be problem going down a slope. I wonder if commercial rollers have a crown. If you mount it rigidly on a 3PT hitch you would have to lift it to make turns so it would not work too well on a curved path. Still it looks like a good design to me. I might build one myself but I would look for an old tank for the roller so the ends would be rounded and not sharp (and easier to handle empty.) I would use scrap materials to keep the cost down and do a lot of experimenting to get it right. On the other hand I have too many more important things to get done first so maybe I can learn from you and save the experimenting.

justractors · Apr 22, 2002

Yes the plan is to weld the 1" square to the 6" drum.
The amount of vibration will be controlled more by engine RPM than anything else.
It will be used primarily on flat level groud so crown is not important in this case.
I also plan on being able to fill the large drum with water for the added weight.
The well pipe I intend to use is 1/2" to 3/4" (depending on what is available then) in thickness and the end pieces on the larger drum will be about 1" smaller in diameter than the roller and after they are welded on the weld will be ground down enough to allow easier turns. The thick well pipe will be used to stop dents in the drum from allowing bumps in the finished product and for the extra weight.
Most of the material will come from the local metal scrap yard except for the pillow blocks, engine, sprockets, and chain. As soon as the snow up here decides to stop I will be walking the scrap and wrecking yards looking for that good junk others throw away.
I an using a Briggs and Stratton cast iron 8 hp engine for power and since it weighs about 100 pounds I will add a counterbalance to the other side.
Bill

PaulT · Apr 22, 2002

A friend bought a 6 foot 24" roller that weighs about 1600# empty, but can also be filled with h20. I had thought about converting it to a vibratory roller by welding a bar from each side up and across the roller. On this bar, I thought a rented tamper, fastened to the bar somehow, might be the best source of vibrations. Thoughts??

justractors · Apr 22, 2002

Sounds like it would wrk.
The rental of the tamper would be a concern plus the rack that holds it will have to be strong enoug to support the weight and constructed well enough to take the constant vibration.
I will use several 1/4" gusset plates on the one I am building.
Yours would also be hard to pull around with a garden tractor.
Bill

PaulT · Apr 23, 2002

<font color=blue>Yours would also be hard to pull around with a garden tractor.</font color=blue>

I would think so, too, but another friend just finished rolling his lawn with it using a garden tractor. It didn't have a vibrator, and I doubt he could have controlled it if it was filled. He said it worked well for him. I think the rolling resistance is much less than its weight would lead you to believe, even downhill, when the lawn is soft.

MODEERE · Apr 23, 2002

Looks like a good project, you might think about a belt drive. Chains do not like high rpm/ feet per second. When they are run fast they make a lot of noise, are hard to keep lubed, and will self destruct. I found out the hard way with a 101 cub puller, put a 25 hp twin cylinder on it with a double 60 chain from the motor to the input shaft on the trans. It worked until I rebuilt the motor with a few up grades ie TURBO. The chain lasted about ten seconds, motor came up on boost went to about 5000 rpm, chain made a exit through the custom hood that once looked like a IH 560. Now has 4in wide 8mm toothed belt .

Taylortractornut · Apr 24, 2002

Im a heavy equipment operator by trade, I used to operaste and old International Duo Pac roller that looked like a scraper. it had a hydraulic motor that was hooked to an ecntric shaft vi a 2 grove v belt. the one thin that was key to a vibrators life it the rubber engine/ motor mounts.ive been thinking of buildin one for my small contracting service. bst regaurds

chim · Apr 24, 2002

Sounds like a fun project, but how will you isolate the roller from the tractor? It would seem a metal-to-metal hitch would transmit the vibrations to the tractor..................chim