Daily Fabrication Thread

[mike_belben]

The stubs will be fine if the stickout length is short.  So youll want to completely remove them from that frame and clean them back to round.  The get the pieces for your walking beam rockers.. Big square tube is best.. 3x3 by 1/4 would work.  Now drill measured out pilot holes straight through both faces of the square then come in with a holesaw at low rpm and well oiled to blow that out.  Insert your spindle stubs and weld both faces.  




   Do the same in the center for your pivot and make it a double capture like the equalizer in your leaf sprung car trailer, plates on each side. Except drill this set of holes out for a weld in bushing tube and a greased bolt or plate to go through.  3/4 is plenty for the bolt in double shear.  Dont go too crazy welding the bushing tube as in time you may need to cut and grind it flush to knock it out and replace. 


The pivot bolts should get tack welded or tabbed and bolted to the outside brackets so the bolt stays stationary and the tube sleeve rocks on the bolt shaft.  Sorta like how excavators pin the pivots in order that the intended part wears out exactly where it is intended to wear for longest service life.  

[mike_belben]

Fwiw.. A 3k spindle usually wont fail until 6k.  Insurance has made industry love a 50% safety factor. 

[mjeselskis]

The stubs will be fine if the stickout length is short.  So youll want to completely remove them from that frame and clean them back to round.  The get the pieces for your walking beam rockers.. Big square tube is best.. 3x3 by 1/4 would work.  Now drill measured out pilot holes straight through both faces of the square then come in with a holesaw at low rpm and well oiled to blow that out.  Insert your spindle stubs and weld both faces.  




  Do the same in the center for your pivot and make it a double capture like the equalizer in your leaf sprung car trailer, plates on each side. Except drill this set of holes out for a weld in bushing tube and a greased bolt or plate to go through.  3/4 is plenty for the bolt in double shear.  Dont go too crazy welding the bushing tube as in time you may need to cut and grind it flush to knock it out and replace.


The pivot bolts should get tack welded or tabbed and bolted to the outside brackets so the bolt stays stationary and the tube sleeve rocks on the bolt shaft.  Sorta like how excavators pin the pivots in order that the intended part wears out exactly where it is intended to wear for longest service life.  

Thanks Mike, appreciate the help. I'm pretty sure I have some 3"x3"x3/8" square tube in my metal pile buried under the snow that I was thinking about using for the walking beam rockers. 
I also have a 4ft length of 1.625" shaft that I was thinking about cutting down to use for the center beam pivot. I was debating using that to avoid the double capture so I could have 360° beam rotation if I needed it. 

[mike_belben]

If im picturing 360 beam rotation correctly, dont bother.  Youll never need it and when you do there will logs over the tires so it aint happening.  


My interstate 18DT has 3/4" equalizer pivots so clearly its enough for 10 ton.  

[mjeselskis]

If im picturing 360 beam rotation correctly, dont bother.  Youll never need it and when you do there will logs over the tires so it aint happening.  


My interstate 18DT has 3/4" equalizer pivots so clearly its enough for 10 ton.  

Yeah, I probably don't need 360 rotation. In order to make it happen, I'd have to keep my log uprights narrow enough to allow the tires to clear which would limit the load size. I likely wouldn't put my tractor through any terrain rough enough to require the trailer to have that much flexibility.

[mike_belben]

Definitely not.  


Now there is nothing wrong with using an axle for the bogie pivot so you can bolt the walking beams on to a suspension for dual purpose. 

Say quad tires on beams for the woods and then road tires singled up for the road.  Thats fine if you need dual purpose.  The bogie will halve the amount your trailer rises up over stumps and double the flotation but be a little harder to steer because of the spread. 

[Bruno of NH]

Ok I need some help
I want to build a sawdust conveyor old school out of 2x wood with manure spreader chain and wood paddles .
8" wide x 20'long.
Powered by a electric motor. 
What would I need for sprockets,  shafts , bearings and such to get it to work.
Thanks Bruno

[mike_belben]

Do you have any parts for it or buying all of them?  What motor hp and rpm?

[Bruno of NH]

I would be buying all the parts
Looking to save any way I could 
Look for used things 

[donbj]

Prowl around for an old bale elevator and use the chain and mechanics from it.

[snowstorm]

Ok I need some help
I want to build a sawdust conveyor old school out of 2x wood with manure spreader chain and wood paddles .
8" wide x 20'long.
Powered by a electric motor.
What would I need for sprockets,  shafts , bearings and such to get it to work.
Thanks Bruno

sander bed chain. where i buy mine he builds to order and will have the sprockets. if you want i can get his phone number. right now its time to go push snow

[mike_belben]

Sander chain is probably a great idea.  You could make the frame out of timbers and plank then skin the runway with steel sheet, just be sure the fasteners arent getting scraped by the chain. 



A small motor with low power consumption can do it if you gear down.  


Is this gonna be batch loaded by a skid steer or just have dust falling off the mill as you go?

[Bruno of NH]

Dust coming from the sawdust chute on the mill

[Crusarius]

Here is a dumb idea for you bruno. make a trough that the sawdust blows into and have a scoop hooked to the mill. As the head moves it will drag the plate that will slide all the sawdust down the chute. 

Simple and cheap. You may end up with a big pile at one end and a small pile at the other, but still better than all over the place.

[mike_belben]

Okay then ladder style salt chain may be overkill and quite expensive. Plus takes much heavier components and power to run it vs narrow rubber belting.  


A piece of gutter laid down as a trough with a plastic bondo spreader or something like that cut into a form fitting wiper off the mill carriage like crusarious suggest may be a cheap way to get the dust into bins at the ends of the mill.  Some old aluminum siding or flashing is easy to bend and rivet in place for baffles to catch it all. 



If a conveyor is a must maybe consider a narrow rubber belt.  TSC and agrisupply seem to stock belt for bailers or pickers maybe. 


A 4 or 6" wide rubber belt conveyor can run over lawn mower wheels on an axle with independent slide adjustment for tension and tracking at the idler end.  The wheels already have bearings so there is savings right there.. Just mount them on .750" shaft stock or whatever size spindles the mower had.  The driving wheel id just weld the bearing to the rim and shaft then weld a sprocket and hub.. Or a jaw coupler.  A right angle gear box will give you the reduction, the motor mount and motor coupling all in one package so that saves money.  




Here is a cheap small low power one that will probably work for a small rubber belt and light load

50:1 Right Angle Gear Reducer | Cast Iron Shaft Input Gear Reducers | Gear Reducers & Gearboxes | Power Transmission | www.surpluscenter.com






   Inflating tires after tensioning will help increase the tension too.  And it wont take much power to run.  I guess you just have to start pricing stuff and choose a direction.  

[Crusarius]

Gutter is a great idea. I was thinking PVC. But unfortunately PVC in 10-12" size which is where I would want to be is not cheap.

Could always used 2 6" gutters next to each other and just cut a flap to fit into both. All mounted together so it can't separate.

[Corley5]

Why not use a Harbor Freight dust collector blower?  That's what I use on my firewood processor.  I took the dust collector stuff off and just use the blower to throw the sawdust outside.  It's been in service since summer 2019.  Moved a lot of sawdust 8).  Cheap, simple, and effective    I bought the 28 month replacement warranty.  Haven't needed it yet ;) ;D   

[Bruno of NH]

I worrie about the wet sawdust in the winter when I'm running washer fluid. 
I use alot keeping the band clean and cool.
I notice it cuts much smoother with washer fluid in frozen logs.

[Crusarius]

That is definitely a very valid concern. With a metal tray you could add some heat tape to it if that becomes an issue. But no matter what you do you may still have that issue. even if its just a dust collector.

[Corley5]

Washer fluid doesn't freeze.

[Tacotodd]

Yes it will, but it's GOT to be cooolld!!

[Corley5]

Or REALLY cheap :D  ;D

[mike_belben]

Any of you guys brazing wizards?  Im having some issues trying to oxy-propane braze stainless to stainless with stay silv 45 rods.  The blue flux coated ones. 

[moodnacreek]

Never tried stainless. I used to do a lot of brazing. On thin stuff the tip size and pressure settings are important. As in soldering, if it will tin, it will braze.

[Crusarius]

hey @bruno, how bout using a piece of steel roofing formed into a U for the sawdust trough. Give you a larger trough and I think if you do get freezing in it, it probably won't effect the function very much. Plus it will warm up and defrost much faster than PVC.

Still go with the idea to connect a drag plate to the head and let the sawmill do all the work.