Daily Fabrication Thread

[Nebraska]

Looks to me if you fix the trencher and that backhoe maybe add a utilities  locator(and a little insurance) you could have a side business digging  in septic systems and other misc trenching in pretty short order. 

[mike_belben]

Yeah for sure.  The hoe came off a 4wd deere that was the primary machine at a septic company across the street from where i grew up.  They put a new replacement woods on that same deere in place of this one, which is what i fixed the bucket on to get this old unit.  Someone had too much wacky tobaccy [my stepbrother] and forgot to set the brake.  It rolled down a hill and smashed a tree.

I dont know what the future will hold.  For the next few years i need to just play it by ear. For instance, hank came home sick from school just now and the rule is he has to stay out tomorrow.  Obviously covid had them home for like 5 or 6 months this summer and who knows about this fall, school could close any day.  I might be homeschooling next month.   Theyve cancelled school here a day in advance over snow predictions that amounted to zero but stayed closed anyway.  Its a farce and i cant be a reliable contractor with whimsical schedules like that.  Maybe when he hits 10 or 12 and can stay home alone.  Daughter is already pretty good about that but until she can keep a pistol i dont want to leave here here alone.


I need to build several houses and develop 2 properties we have, ours and my fathers a few doors down, for his retirement.  These are the years where i get the iron ready.  After that id like to buy, develop and sell land.  My equipment is dependable enough to do things on my schedule but not on a hired jobsite. And i dont want to get into the 'need a better looking dozer/skidsteer/tractor/truck..' game. My junk is fine if i dont try to put it in the wrong setting.  


For the coming years a firewood processor is the right business because its a wide open schedule and mostly at home.  I can log or buy in TT loads to feed the processor any time at home, and make deliveries with them after the bus comes.

Once a shop is up, hire them and their friends for the wood side ... i go back to machine/fab/repair and custom machine building. Easiest money i ever made was selling a product design license and ive got notebooks full of that stuff ive wanted to do.  I like prototyping and hate production.  Develop prototype, refine it, sell units, refine it more, put the supplier accounts and book keeping together, sell the whole thing then do another.   


A lot of it will depend on what the kids wanna do.  If they say lets landscape then it'll be a yard full of zero turns.  Maybe we will be a rock crushing and mulch screening/bagging operation.  If they wanna raise pigs, we'll raise pigs.  I can build anything and dont care either way. Ill put a custom slaughter house here if thats what they wanna do. I dont care.  It only takes one $13/hr job to support the entire family. 



For today, its dishes laundry and sick kid.  

[Bruno of NH]

Mike I wish I was better at fixing equipment never was tought.
My family had the biggest swiming pool repair and maintenance business in the area.I can fix anything on your pool or build you a house from the ground up.
But fix equipment never learned.
On the pool business I was offered in didn't like the work or type of customer. 
My uncle just sold it it.
He has 3 houses one on a lake I built one in NV.
7 new vehicles ones a Bently .
I guess I should have liked the pool business  :D but it wasn't for me.
You have to stay to clean and wear sun glasses , not for me.

[GRANITEstateMP]

Bruno,

I usually wear safety sunglasses from the local tractor dealer, but staying clean is something I struggle with on a daily basis!

[mike_belben]

Just gotta endeavor to play the hand youre dealt i guess.  Once upon a time i thought i wanted to be a cop.  Turns out mechanics are more popular these days. Go figure. 

[mike_belben]

So i ended up having 3 kids all of friday thru sunday and didnt get much accomplished until yesterday.  


Made the missing guage wheel forks for the finish mower but screwed up and made the stems about 2" shorter than id like.  So i got lazy and just welded some random chunks of chain link flush at the top to get max height from what ive got.  The bottom sleeves are adjustable but its gonna stay where its set forever.   










Cuts nice.  On to the next one..


Flushed the backhoe again on diesel and so glad i did. Cant believe the trash i got out of this thing.  That tank was spotless.  Im now very happy i chose to keep it separate from the tractors hydraulics. 







I whipped up some shoes for the stabilizers from stuff in the junk bin.  Ones mans trash as they say





They bite right in, and with the diagonal braces now locking out the 3point, the backhoe legs will lift the tractor right up.  Be handy for changing tires.





Big braces in. This thing is a pain to hitch up.






Hopefully i will get the tank permanent mounted tomorrow then start working on the wrist, H link and bucket.

[Crusarius]

My dad has an old kelly 30 3pt he put on his Minneapolis Moline. until he figured out the trick it was a pain to hookup now its a 20 minute job. get close, hook up the hydraulic pump then use the outriggers and bucket to place it where you can get the pins in.

[mike_belben]

Oh yeah having the hoe running is basically a must.  This thing was dead on the ground and flopping all over with no fluid or lockouts when i first pinned it on and lemme tell ya that was an hour with a bobcat and two people.  Real easy way to get hurt.  And real frusterating without flat ground.  


A quickhitch lift arm would cut the effort in half but i dont want to reduce the lift capacity any worse.  And the hoe purposefully has a top link bracket too narrow for any top link so you have to use the rigid one they make.  In the long run it is for your benefit performance wise, but being able to adjust the top link to align the pin bore just right would make it easier.  

With power to the hoe and things going right i can hitch it in about 10 minutes now that ive done it a few times and have a sequence figured out.  Not something i want to swap daily though.

Someday in the future i will probably make an adapter for the bobcat to the backhoe but that machine needs too much work to bother right now.   Problem is i only have one bobcat and just cant be without it!  I got the tractor in large part to have a machine with a bit of overlap to get me by while im without a skid steer.  Still have to add lift pins to my fork rack and do a boompole.  Most of my junk is on pallets and when the dirtguy calls out of the blue with a nearby project, it can be 20 loads dropped in 2 days so i have to be able to scramble the whole yard on short notice.  

[donbj]

My dad has an old kelly 30 3pt he put on his Minneapolis Moline. until he figured out the trick it was a pain to hookup now its a 20 minute job. get close, hook up the hydraulic pump then use the outriggers and bucket to place it where you can get the pins in.

Exactly. I have a LONG brand three point hoe. The first thing I do is hook up the pump to the pto and mounting is a breeze, just a couple minutes.

[mike_belben]

I did get the tank stuff done yesterday.  Tank was from a scrapped CNC spindle chiller unit and was also the chiller base that everything was built above like a skyskraper, so it has lift sling hooks at the corners for picking the entire machine by crane out of tight quarters.

  I suspended the tank entirely by those so that it floats.  It cant move in any direction more than a half inch because the 3 point has it trapped, but it is allowed to move up if i hit a stump or something, this will hopefully prevent the tank from being crushed or punctured.  It doesnt jiggle around or anything when driving around, there are little detents to keep it still in the tabs. 


The other reason for a floating mount was if i ever start using it on the skid steer this pump and tank would need to be removed anyway.  There is nothing in the way of that other than two 4" ratchet strap hooks welded to the frame as hangers.   just undo two hoses and pluck the tank and pump together.  Or if i need stationary hydraulic power off the tractor for something short term like powering a dead machine function. same thing, two hoses and grab the hydro unit off the backhoe.   
















To drain the tank just unhook the chain, tip it down on a block and pull the plug.  Should also be pretty good about draining any junk inside.  Filter upside down isnt my favorite but it will drain back to the tank and get changed when the oil does.  






Boy played in the mulch pile for a while with rpm turned up about right in high pto gear.  Hydraulic speed is pretty decent on the .73 cu-in/rev pump and it never got warm.  I need to change all the joystick heims, theyre shot. very hard to get just one function.  But it was nearly free so cant complain!

[mike_belben]

So i have a good bucket sitting in mass if it hasnt been stolen yet, i think its 16" iirc.






But that doesnt help me now and i dont want 16" trenches for 1" water lines.  Working on a 10" jawbone style bucket as my normal every day attachment.  






This is the jaw, which id already built previously for the tractor to cut trenches and grub sappling root balls, never planned any of this out, i didnt have the backhoe at the time.  






It has a removeable back wall so ya just drive and the spoil flows through and loosens,  Then scoop out soft dirt with a shovel.  Not great but its what i had. The attachment cuts and grubs very well because the small teeth make very high psi out of low HP.  But it'll easily dig a hole the tractor couldnt back out of.






Just hanging there for looks, the stick gets attatched to the back half that i need to build.  The dogbones are done and i need to order the clam cylinders now before starting on the bucket.










The clam bucket is a pretty big, pricey detour over just making a standard bucket, but in the long run a savings paid in health and wellness.  I like building stone walls.  But pharoah had a lot of disposable people to build his, and im the one getting used up building mine.  My elbows, shoulders and wrists cant handle it anymore, they hurt all the time and cost a lot of sleep.  the right bucket will do the hard work for me.  The big bucket is too big and i dont want the clumsiness of a thumb causing rocks to fall and crush someones hand or foot.  A jawbone can clamp a stone and then swing through the whole rotation with it to try a different face, because its all on one axis and the cylinders travel with it.  To roll a stone with a live thumb you need to work two valves simultaneously without dropping it.

[mjeselskis]

So i have a good bucket sitting in mass if it hasnt been stolen yet, i think its 16" iirc.






But that doesnt help me now and i dont want 16" trenches for 1" water lines.  Working on a 10" jawbone style bucket as my normal every day attachment.  






This is the jaw, which id already built previously for the tractor to cut trenches and grub sappling root balls, never planned any of this out, i didnt have the backhoe at the time.  






It has a removeable back wall so ya just drive and the spoil flows through and loosens,  Then scoop out soft dirt with a shovel.  Not great but its what i had. The attachment cuts and grubs very well because the small teeth make very high psi out of low HP.  But it'll easily dig a hole the tractor couldnt back out of.






Just hanging there for looks, the stick gets attatched to the back half that i need to build.  The dogbones are done and i need to order the clam cylinders now before starting on the bucket.










The clam bucket is a pretty big, pricey detour over just making a standard bucket, but in the long run a savings paid in health and wellness.  I like building stone walls.  But pharoah had a lot of disposable people to build his, and im the one getting used up building mine.  My elbows, shoulders and wrists cant handle it anymore, they hurt all the time and cost a lot of sleep.  the right bucket will do the hard work for me.  The big bucket is too big and i dont want the clumsiness of a thumb causing rocks to fall and crush someones hand or foot.  A jawbone can clamp a stone and then swing through the whole rotation with it to try a different face, because its all on one axis and the cylinders travel with it.  To roll a stone with a live thumb you need to work two valves simultaneously without dropping it.

That bucket setup looks like it will be well worth the time to build. What do you use for steel to build something like that? I've thought about building a root ripper for my John Deere 10A backhoe, but didn't know if 1" 36k steel plate would be strong enough.

[teakwood]

A 1" is way sufficient for a backhoe, my general purpose bucket for the 30to has 1" plates, of course they are hardox.


@mike_belben ,hey mike, can't you just drive up where you stuff is and bring a load home? 

[mike_belben]

hey mike, can't you just drive up where you stuff is and bring a load home?

No, the kids are in school and momma works 6 days a week so i have to be home every day.  When they are on vacations i can try but its 2 days up 2 days back with kids.  Which is good since they never see family but its a challenge on me.


In august Massachusetts put a travel ban on entry from anywhere south or west of new york [except hawaii which is an international travel layover so that makes zero sense for not bringing fresh virus.]  Either you need a 72hr old negative test, a 14 day quarantine which i wont do, or a $500/day per person ticket.  I am not letting anyone jam some chinese innoculant stick up our noses, im not sitting around for 14 days ontop of 4 driving and im not paying them another red cent.. They robbed me from 13 to 37 years old.


You cant travel through that state without passing plate readers, which will bring up my license then probably mail me the fines. Mass has recently dabbled in revoking licenses of people from other states by mail, but "because covid" there are no appeals being heard.  My CDL took years to get so i have to protect it.  NY already had me in custody and took my stuff once for nothing, im not going through all that jive again.

[mike_belben]

So i have a good bucket sitting in mass if it hasnt been stolen yet, i think its 16" iirc.






But that doesnt help me now and i dont want 16" trenches for 1" water lines.  Working on a 10" jawbone style bucket as my normal every day attachment.  






This is the jaw, which id already built previously for the tractor to cut trenches and grub sappling root balls, never planned any of this out, i didnt have the backhoe at the time.  






It has a removeable back wall so ya just drive and the spoil flows through and loosens,  Then scoop out soft dirt with a shovel.  Not great but its what i had. The attachment cuts and grubs very well because the small teeth make very high psi out of low HP.  But it'll easily dig a hole the tractor couldnt back out of.






Just hanging there for looks, the stick gets attatched to the back half that i need to build.  The dogbones are done and i need to order the clam cylinders now before starting on the bucket.










The clam bucket is a pretty big, pricey detour over just making a standard bucket, but in the long run a savings paid in health and wellness.  I like building stone walls.  But pharoah had a lot of disposable people to build his, and im the one getting used up building mine.  My elbows, shoulders and wrists cant handle it anymore, they hurt all the time and cost a lot of sleep.  the right bucket will do the hard work for me.  The big bucket is too big and i dont want the clumsiness of a thumb causing rocks to fall and crush someones hand or foot.  A jawbone can clamp a stone and then swing through the whole rotation with it to try a different face, because its all on one axis and the cylinders travel with it.  To roll a stone with a live thumb you need to work two valves simultaneously without dropping it.

That bucket setup looks like it will be well worth the time to build. What do you use for steel to build something like that? I've thought about building a root ripper for my John Deere 10A backhoe, but didn't know if 1" 36k steel plate would be strong enough.

Whatever i got!  1" is plenty for a single tine. Youll open a relief or bend a rod before the tine cries. 

[Crusarius]

most buckets and stuff you see for smaller equipment is 1/4" plate and then sandwiched 1/4" on the edges making it 1/2". You can make it bigger and heavier but that sacrifices lift capacity. I recommend keeping it as lightweight as possible. Just know you may be able to move mountains but not necessarily in one giant bite. If you are concerned about breaking something take smaller bites.

You can always make cutting edges 3/8" or 1/2" if your really worried about it. but the back side of a bucket does not see the loads a cutting edge does so that does not need to be stupid heavy thick plate.

[Crusarius]

mike, that looks pretty sweet. I like the idea of removable back. I could use that for cutting trenches through my yard then just roll the sod up and carry it away.

[mike_belben]

Id never even thought of that but yeah, on the deere sod would come off like peeling a potato.  Then you could lay it back over the trenchline when finished like nothing happened.  I dont think it would work on the dirt here but its a cool idea.  I will have to try sometime.  

I laid the jaw down on a rusty steel table and made a chalk outline then a bucket sketch that looked okay..  and then flipped the jaw so the teeth face back at the bucket.  Long story short i think it has enough promise to put on hold until my tooling is set up.  It is a struggle to wait but i hate making mediocre things that could be great with some patience. 


So directions have changed and i hope to be stumping by dinner.  Gotta hustle while the weather is good.  Lunchbreaks over.  :laugh: 




 

[mike_belben]

It was a black spaghetti mess all day, but the base of my trenching and stumping bucket is outside. Need to try it tomorrow and make some decisions.

[teakwood]

Nice work Mike

Can anybody post some pics of their log height adjustment device on the sawmill?  where you get the small end of the log up so the log is centered. i need to fabricate a manual device and need some ideas

Thanks 

[mike_belben]

;D

[mike_belben]

Look at machine levelling pads, they just look like two felling wedges stacked ontop each other pointing opposite directions with a lead screw to push or pull them together or apart.   Its like a piece of dunnage that grows taller by a screw thread.  You could use a battery impact to adjust something home made like that pretty quick.  Two hardwood wedges with a steel nutsert and threaded rod probably work fine. 

[teakwood]

Good idea but too slow.

my logs don't weight much so i'm thinking like a roller axle and some lever which hooks in gradually, like a handbrake lever in a car

[Hilltop366]

I use to use a 2x4 and a few different thickness sticks, my DIY mill was cantilevered so the shim stick could be long and not interfere with the mill track, that way I could place the shim while being at the end of the 2x4.

Other possibilities?

Frontier Sawmills Attachments - Toe Board - YouTube

How to set up your toe board | B751 & B1001 Band Sawmills | LOGOSOL - YouTube

[mike_belben]

Make a cam and mount it to a shaft.  The more you rotate the shaft the more it raises the log.  Like one half of a ying yang symbol.


Nevermind that frontier piece is slick.