Trencher

[Ford960]

I hate to say this but that looks like a waste of good steel. It's about 3 times too big and the center is going wrap up in there like toothpicks since there isn't any radial bracing to take care of the torque. It may even dig a little in soft sand but mostly will just hop a lot and rattle the filings out of your teeth if used on hard soil. Rocks and roots will result in instant destruction.
Was this built as a school welding shop project? An instructor shouldn't allow the fabrication of a machine capable of causing injury or death.
On edit I see that you ARE the instructor....WOW!!!

I attended a vocational high school in the 60's and there were restrictions on what we could build. You couldn't build a mini cannon in machine shop, an electric chair or other device used to shock or harm another person in electric shop where I was, or anything that used a refridgerant for any purpose not designed as such in the HVAC shop. The auto shop had similar rules about hopping up cars that violated DMV laws.

The best thing to do with this contraption is to weld it solid so it can't turn and paint it nice as a lawn ornament. Or, you could remove the cage and widen the frame. Remove the gear box and build some buckets to mount on the ends of the spokes. With a nice flowing stream this would be a great water wheel for turning an alternator and generating electric power.

 

[sandman2234]

Having had the chance to build a similar one, and watched what the drawbacks to it are, I have a couple of questions.
1)
What type drive does you tractor have? Gear drive, forget it. Hydrostatic, maybe.
2) What type soils do you have around where you plan on using this?
We have pretty much a sandy type soil here and my trencher will lug a 13 hp tractor when at full cutting depth, and it is doing a 3" wide cut, and nowhere near that depth. Hopefully your tractor is hiding more horses under that hood than it appears.
Here is a link to my trencher. There are some very good points brought up during the course of this post, so take the time to read it carefully.

http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/attachments/71073-trencher-poorboys-stump-grinder.html

David from jax

By the way, I am probably the guy Mr Jimi was talking about, as I mentioned my first ride on the tractor when this implement hit the ground, without the guard. Didn't take me long to get to the pto lever, but forever for the flywheel effect to stop it turning. Dirt 40 foot in front of me makes it very hard to see! I am just fortunate that it was sand with no rocks or clumps of dirt.
WDM

 

[john_bud]

Wow, you guys are harsh. That, and you used up all the good adjectives!

Interesting project, but one that is probably not destined for greatness. Hopefully, it won't be seen prominently in next years "Darwin Awards"....


A mod with a 3/4" or better yet a 1" disc would be more robust.

jb

 

[Lynkage]

Sandman

That tail must have been pretty cool. HaHaHA!!

 

[BTDT]

Well, if it doesn't self-destruct, and you don't get the results you planned, at least you tried. If you had 2 or 3 of these wheels on the same shaft, would make a nice lawn aerator.

 

[sandman2234]

Lynkage,
The rooster tail was pretty cool for the guys watching me, but not too funny for the idiot sitting in the tractor seat. He got covered with dirt, and was lucky he wasn't killed by a well placed rock.
The shear power of it made me decide to use 3/16" steel for the guard instead of something lighter.
I have been known to hit a buried concrete block and not know it until I found it while laying the pipe.
David from jax

 

[Lynkage]

Sandman
I am not trying to make light of this situation but........

I find myself sitting here laughing when I think about watching someone doing this, getting covered in dirt saying "S%$#!! TURN IT OFF!! TURN IT OFF!!"

Does your tractor have FOPS?

 

[sandman2234]

Yea, but I was the one getting covered in dirt, and in control of the pto lever. Problem was, I neglected to realize that I could have just raised it up out of the dirt, but instead kicked the pto lever out of gear, which allowed the trencher to continue to spray me.
The memories a picture or video would have given me for years to come, and the laughs you guys could have had. I still laugh at my own stupidity when I think of that day!
David from jax

 

[kwolfe]

I can't wait to see that thing in action. With the right soil and operator, that thing looks like it could dig one heck of a trench. Put it to work and post some pictures no matter what the outcome.

 

[3RRL]

havoctec,
When are the action pictures coming?
I presume you are making some alterations to make it inherently stronger with all these comments? Even so, wear a hard hat and be super careful...even when first spinning it and not ground engaged.