tractor trix

[wroughtn_harv]

I thought ya'll might like what my little JCB165HF can do when she sets her mind to it.

I've had her a year and she's pushing a hundred and seventy hours, gonna wear her out before I die.

If you go to http://photos.yahoo.com/wroughtnharv and look down to the album called Iris you might see what happens when an unbridled imagination collides with pure t laziness.

I'm contrary enough where I have no choice but to work by myself. So I use tools. A lot of them I make cause everyone else has someone to help. Tools are better and they don't call in sick or get their feelings hurt just cause some loose cuss words landed too close for comfort.

 

[Spencer]

Thanks, I enjoyed the pics. I was thinking of setting my poles the same way with my New Holland TC33D. I am interested in the electric winch setup. Can you explain it to us.

 

[dummy]

The pavillion and arbor projects are fantastic looking pieces of craftsmanship.

 

[wroughtn_harv]

Wow Spence that's a neat tractor. I looked it up so I could have a reference point, comparing apples to oranges you understand.

I had acquired a twelve volt thirty five hundred pound Superwinch from a friend in one of those trading thingys. It sat there out of the way for probably two years before I found a use for it.

I want to replace it with a hydraulic winch. The reason I want to replace it with a hydraulic is control and simplicity of operation. The electric came with a remote for forward and reverse. But it is either off or on. There is no feathering.

To provide power to the winch I purchased some good jumper cables and mounted one end permanently to the winch itself. When I am using the gin pole assembly I drape the cables over the cab of the tractor and attach to the battery which is at the back of my machine. I then put the remote in the cab with me.

With the hydraulic winch I could attach to my remote hydraulics and use the foot control and feather when applicable, say like when that quarter of an inch is the most important quarter of an inch in the county.

The problem with hydraulic winches is I can buy a nine thousand pounder from a couple of different sources for about seven hundred or so. But to drop to a lighter and smaller one the cost doubles and triples. Then you add the quick connect couplings for the hydraulics at ninety plus the hoses.......someday.

With the extension in the gin pole extended and the forks all the way up my shiv is twenty six feet off the ground. That gives me the capability to set a forty foot pole if it's not too heavy.

Since my gin pole is made to fit my forks I have a section fo the forks sticking out. This allows me to pick up and place over the hole the post like a conventional forklift. I try to place the post so that my pick up point is in the middle of where I'm placing the gin pole.

For some crazy reason like sheer terror I try to NEVER EVER move the tractor while there's a load on the gin pole. The lifting is done with the winch alone. It might be wussitis but the thought of a twenty five foot piece of six inch pipe going it's own way scares me to death.

The bottom section of my gin pole is schedule eighty three inch pipe (three and a half inches o.d.) The top section is schedule eighty two inch pipe (two and three eighths inches o.d.) I have a spacer welded to the bottom of the top section to keep it centered in the three inch pipe as it extends in and out. I have the same sized spacer welded to the top of bottom section to keep the top section centered as it moves.

I have holes every foot perpendicular to the direction of pull in the top section for pinning so I only have to extend it as much as I need to for that particular job.

The reason I made this assembly is I make custom gates and entryways. A typical entryway will have six inch pipe posts and a fourteen foot high overhead piece of six inch pipe. I try to get a minimum of eight feet deep for the posts. This means I'm placing a twenty five foot piece of pipe in the ground.

What I used to do was to dig the hole, place the butt ofthe post at the edge of the hole. Then I'd take the tractor and start at the top with the forks cradling the post. I'd place a small chain around the post to keep it in the cradle formed by the forks. Then I'd drive up the post. It worked every time.

But, and this butt is huge, there was always this moment when I'd went past the point of no return when the post was in control. There would always be this image of it going it's own way and destroying something including me or the tractor. Seconds of sheer terror I know but they take years off of your life.

Now it's much easier. I dig the hole. I place the post with the pick up point which is usually about eighteen inches beyond the middle of the post over the center of the hole. I extend the gin pole and drop the winch line. A necessary note, there's ten pound lead weight just above the hook on the winch line. Gravity works. I attach the line to the post. I stand to one side and let the electric winch do the lifting. When I have the post with the butt off the ground it's no big thing to move it into position with one hand while the other operates the winch. I let it down. I just added as many years to my life as I did when I quit smoking.

When I set the overhead in place I set the pipe next to the two posts. I extend the gin pole and drop down the line and attach it to the pipe. What I do since I'm usually by myself is I attach the line about three to four inches just off of center. This makes one end a little heavier than the other. On the lighter end I attach a line that I can use to guide the pipe in place.

It's like taking candy from a baby. The pipe goes up scraping against the two posts because the shiv is above the center of the two posts. When it gets within a couple of inches of the top I pull down on the line and guide the heavier in to sit in the crotch I've cut for it. I then lift the lighter end on up and it just sits down in it's own crotch like the kid you weren't in school.

A nice thing about having the ten pound weight on the line is the hook will slide down when the winch line is let out so you don't have to put a ladder up against an unsecured pipe to undo the line.

 

[wroughtn_harv]

Thanx.

My biggest problem is I'm greedy. I want to work with wood, iron, and rock. I know I'll never be real good at anyone of them but heck, I'm doing it for me. The luck comes in with finding customers who are willing to pay for it.

 

[chim]

Harv, I spent some time looking around your site. It was worth the trip. Neat stuff.............chim

 

[Harv]

Thanks, Chim.

I swear that some day I'm going to bring it up to date, too.

 

[stuckmotor]

I thought ya'll might like what my little JCB165HF can do when she sets her mind to it.

I've had her a year and she's pushing a hundred and seventy hours, gonna wear her out before I die.

If you go to Selamat datang di Flickr and look down to the album called Iris you might see what happens when an unbridled imagination collides with pure t laziness.

I'm contrary enough where I have no choice but to work by myself. So I use tools. A lot of them I make cause everyone else has someone to help. Tools are better and they don't call in sick or get their feelings hurt just cause some loose cuss words landed too close for comfort.

Wroughtn_harv
I realize this is an ancient rhread but, I ran accross it and have been trying to find the photos at the link provided. It takes me to Flickr and I'm lost after that. Are they still up? If they are, how do I access them?
Thanks,
Stuck