Daily Fabrication Thread

[mjeselskis]

I got this contraption for nothing. Apparently it's made to drag into a row of round bales and wrap them for the winter. From what I gather, it wasn't pleasant to use, so it got tossed in the bushes. I'm planning to strip it down,  narrow up the frame rails to 34", and make it into an off road log trailer. The frame rails are 12 ft long now, so I'll add a tongue to it and keep the 12 ft deck. I'm going to build a walking beam for it. It also had a pile of extra square and round tube sitting in it that will come in handy





The stub axles that are on it now are 1 3/4". They are stamped 3000. I'm wondering if they are strong enough for carrying a load of logs, or worse yet, if I add a dump body and subframe to it from a one ton like I'm hoping. If it's really a 3,000lb axle and hub, I should be fine.

Wishing for a plasma cutter right now.

I think the deconstruction stage is complete and it's time to start assembly. One of the 5x5 square tube "frame rails" had a nasty bend in it that was poorly patched before so that got cut out, joined, plated, and the frame rail extended. Both rails have a sweep in them that I'll have to straighten whenv the cross members are welded in. The main frame rails are 5x5x1/4 and the piece on the left is a piece of 5x5x3/8 I had in my pile that I'll use for the tongue.

[mjeselskis]

I got this contraption for nothing. Apparently it's made to drag into a row of round bales and wrap them for the winter. From what I gather, it wasn't pleasant to use, so it got tossed in the bushes. I'm planning to strip it down,  narrow up the frame rails to 34", and make it into an off road log trailer. The frame rails are 12 ft long now, so I'll add a tongue to it and keep the 12 ft deck. I'm going to build a walking beam for it. It also had a pile of extra square and round tube sitting in it that will come in handy





The stub axles that are on it now are 1 3/4". They are stamped 3000. I'm wondering if they are strong enough for carrying a load of logs, or worse yet, if I add a dump body and subframe to it from a one ton like I'm hoping. If it's really a 3,000lb axle and hub, I should be fine.

Wishing for a plasma cutter right now.

I think the deconstruction stage is complete and it's time to start assembly. One of the 5x5 square tube "frame rails" had a nasty bend in it that was poorly patched before so that got cut out, joined, plated, and the frame rail extended. Both rails have a sweep in them that I'll have to straighten whenv the cross members are welded in. The main frame rails are 5x5x1/4 and the piece on the left is a piece of 5x5x3/8 I had in my pile that I'll use for the tongue.

It's one of those days. Got it all squared up and started tacking the cross members in when I remembered that the frame width was supposed to be 34", not the 37" that's sitting in front of me... 
Man, that 5x5x3/8 was fun to cut and bevel the first time...

[mike_belben]

Either preheat the backside with a torch or watch your one sided welds pull it into dueling bananas. 

[mjeselskis]

Either preheat the backside with a torch or watch your one sided welds pull it into dueling bananas.

I'm pretty good at making bananas. I planned to jump around doing short welds to try to minimize the warping. Where would you heat? The main frame rails are capped so I can't heat the backside of the weld.

[mike_belben]

Youre welding the inside faces of the square tube so heat the outside faces.  The vertical planes facing outboard of the rungs.   

[g_man]

g-man: ya, but I bet the cab got a permanent air freshener treatment--the smell of spruce  :D :D.  How's this winter treating you up North?  All the best, Rob.

Permanent air freshener is right.
Doing good up here Rob, thanks. A good winter to get around in the woods so far. All the predicted big storms were fizzles for us here in the shadow of the White Mntns for coastal storms and no frigid weather either. So I'm just enjoying my normal winter spruce and fir thing. No schedules or dead lines - and a good thing too.


 
gg

Poet of White mountains  ;D Don't you think pals that his winter is colder than previous?

Hey - you give me to much credit. I'm no where close to being a poet.
When I said we were in the shadow of the Whites I did not mean it in a poetic sense, I was trying to describe a weather phenomenon that occurs here with coastal storms. They have easterly winds and as the air rises up the east slopes it dries and dumps the snow. So that means that us who live close in on the western side have dry air and little snow - like we are in a snow shadow.
And our weather here is warmer than last year. We've just had our 1st below 0 F weather this week. Normally it starts around Christmas or before. The cold might be where you are but not here which is a good thing  ;D
gg

[mudfarmer]

Have used the farmi winch mounted bale spear posted earlier a few times, working great.



 

It has saved more time than it took to build, sounds like a win and no need to bother building version 2.

[mike_belben]

The  SpileDriver©

[mike_belben]

And some much needed evaporator mods in progress. 

[mike_belben]

The evaporator mods came out pretty good.  It is also a grill, oven, cooktop and smoker now depending on how you set the pieces up, and im getting an education out of tinkering on that.  Ive made a handful of stoves but never like this










Meanwhile.. The govt keeps sending money i dont really need or want. So in an effort to keep the money local, i stimulated a nearby fellows bottom line on some 7.60-15 front rubbers that he had on a suzuki samurai.  





I put them on some free jeep cherokee rims and stuck em on the TSI peewee swing grapple skidder project with boy today.  Flawless fit.. Very excited to build this one for him. Or me.. Whichever  ;D

[Crusarius]

that thing is gonna be sweet!!!!!!

[PoginyHill]

So now with rain and mud, I move in the garage for some indoor projects. The pressure-treated plywood bed of my utility trailer lasted only about 7 years. I've not had good luck with PT plywood. So I've taken the opportunity to lengthen the 12ft bed a foot or so, and widen it about 10" to use the "dead" space between the frame and wheels. I will use 5/4" pressure treated boards for the bed and make new sideboards. So far, stripped the old stuff off and welded on the width extensions - 3" channel iron. If all goes well, I'll complete it this weekend.
Next on the agenda is a 16ft firewood table/trailer. I'll start a new thread. That'll be a bit more involved. Might even get a start on that this weekend.

The trailer as I outfitted it 7 years ago (bought the frame from my farmer neighbor for $50)


 



 

Stripped to the original frame:


 


Modified frame. Welded 3" channel iron to widen the bed.


 

[newoodguy78]

A little progress on the repower job I've been working on. The exhaust manifold is not ideal for this application but it should work with a little fabricobbing ,also had to extend the shroud on the radiator. Other than two clamps it was all stuff that was already on hand. Always enjoy making useful stuff out of repurposed items.

 

 

 

    

[mjeselskis]

I needed a roller to pack 5 acres of field that I tilled for reseeding. I couldn't find anything big enough, but this will work. Made from a 320 gallon propane tank. Weighs about 700lb empty and about 3,300lb full of water.

[Crusarius]

that is the nicest roller I have ever seen. I bet it will last much longer than a store bought one. The wall is 3 times as thick!

[Old Greenhorn]

That roller is a beaut! I have a small one I use around the yard in the spring and fall. I keep meaning to add a scraper bar that just lays on the top of it's own weight and knocks off the clods that stick to the roller. Have you considered that or is that kind of 'precision' not required for your work? 
 Mine is gonna develop a split one of these days, I have no idea how old it is, but 40-50 years seems about right. Don't even know what's in it. ;D

[mjeselskis]

that is the nicest roller I have ever seen. I bet it will last much longer than a store bought one. The wall is 3 times as thick!

Thanks. I was pleasantly surprised by the wall thickness on this. It's almost 3/16" thick so it should hold up well.

That roller is a beaut! I have a small one I use around the yard in the spring and fall. I keep meaning to add a scraper bar that just lays on the top of it's own weight and knocks off the clods that stick to the roller. Have you considered that or is that kind of 'precision' not required for your work?
Mine is gonna develop a split one of these days, I have no idea how old it is, but 40-50 years seems about right. Don't even know what's in it. ;D

Precision is not required on this first job, but I may modify it if too many clods stick to it. The square tube that runs parallel to the tank is just under 2" away from it,  so I could probably just add something to it if I need to.

[Ljohnsaw]

The square tube that runs parallel to the tank is just under 2" away from it, so I could probably just add something to it if I need to.

Pretty neat!  You could take a strip of UHMW and attach it to a piece of angle iron that is hinged to the tube.  The UHWM will wear (slowly as it is VERY slippery) and not mess up your paint job too badly.

[mjeselskis]

The square tube that runs parallel to the tank is just under 2" away from it, so I could probably just add something to it if I need to.

Pretty neat!  You could take a strip of UHMW and attach it to a piece of angle iron that is hinged to the tube.  The UHWM will wear (slowly as it is VERY slippery) and not mess up your paint job too badly.

Good idea. I think I have a piece of uhmw that is about the right length. It was on the bottom of the runners of my ice fishing shack, but they outlasted the shack. 

[Old Greenhorn]

For mine I figured something like a hinged piece of angle iron that would lay on the top of the roller but brag on it by it's own weight. If it hit something hard, it would lift up. I hate when a piece of mud is filled with small stones, then I pull off onto a hard surface and the thing is bouncing over that stone every time it comes around. Your experience and whether it is worth it or not for you, will be apparent pretty soon when you test it out. Nice job in any event!

[newoodguy78]

Great job on the roller I like it

[mike_belben]

Yes, top notch roller. 


I would rip a piece of 2x lumber into a ramp on the tablesaw then screw pieces of a cut up mudflap along the wood so it contacts the roller tangentially for a wiper.   If it needs more pressure you could do sheetmetal over, under or sandwiching the flap.  


 I made a dirt roller with wiper where a C channel directly contacted a heavy precision conveyor roll for the drum.  The channel was floating on threaded rods with springs, washers and nuts holding it down to the side arms.  The performance was impeccable but noise unbearable and the wiper was discarded. 


The plastic type flaps up front should be pretty silent and scrape well.  Plus that way the loose material gets kicked in front instead of the back and will be compacted again. Hopefully the compaction reduces erosion and seed loss in heavy rain. 

[mike_belben]

I like that 55G drum fan shroud too.  Clever. 

[mike_belben]

@PoginyHill  

I just noticed the upside down steer beam on your trailer.  Thats a clever lift kit.

[PoginyHill]

Yes. It came that way. Provides great clearance over rough terrain. Only downside is the bed is rather high for the wife - Hence the lower sideboards.