Harrow type Thingy

[KyBlue 652]

Should work too. You draw better htan me!!

[Stigian 1,234]

Morning all

Ian,

Always excellent narration. I was wondering about those knife tips bending or dulling over time. Maybe you need to also add a weight box to the mix?

Cheers Terry in Mo

I didnt expect the cutting tip 's to last that long as they were, i should have waited until id finished building the harrow before testing it. But you know what its like, boys and their toys

As for the extra weight needed, well... I have a cunning plan

Just a thought, What about adding a strip of narrow steel that runs vertically along the front of each "tooth"? Say, 1/4 inch thick x 1 inch ( insert metric equivalents.) whtractor/whistling2.gif or so wide. These would act as cutting adges AND reinforcing ribs.

Good idea Jim

Oh, whats metric

I need to get a new smiley for "We Want Video" just for you Ian! Seriously though, it looks great you may need your triangle thingies a little more stout though.

Cheers Karl

A video will be happening, when the harrow is finished. A good excuse to try the camera tripod out that i slashed out a whole

[T-Mo-(Moderator) 4,337]

Ian,

Good idea on the gussets. That should strengthen the knives sufficiently. At least you have a "smoking" jacket that the rich would over. :whistle:

[Nick 13]

Ian, With each modification the harrow looks even more Those gussets should do the job unless you try to pull up some boulders.

I ran out of welding wire the other day also. After hauling in scrap metal at $300 a ton I should not have been surprised but a 33# roll of Hobart .030 with tax was $104 :whistle:

[KyBlue 652]

104 DOLLARS??? HOLY CRAP.... Uh this STINKS...

[BairleaFarm 339]

Been awhile since i needed wire but holy high dollar batman.

Looks good. Bend it, brace it, break it, build it and the cycle continues.

[Stigian 1,234]

Good morning all, sorry to all of you that have been in need of a Stig fix, but its been a busy few days again

Chapter 5 - More metal, concrete, and a video.

After the other days gusseting fun, i thought it was time i added a bit of strength to the harrow's tines just in case i find a battle ship buried in my garden and have to pull it out Well, there is stream at the bottom of the garden, so you never know what might of been washed up over time;)

Cutting 9 of these bits of box section was fun due to the rather tight angle one end

Here's 5 of them tacked in place

Some additional strengthening was also needed on the rear shock/trip spring mounting Its the green bit at the bottom of the er... green bit

You know him... You love him.... Yes it's the one and only Garry bolting the harrow back on so we can see how it looks

And this is how it looks, much stronger

Nope, it's not Garry making a big sand castle but mixing the concrete mix to add some weight

Stuffing the tines

The concrete was rammed into the tines to add a bit of weight and strength, the big box bar was also give the same treatment.

At this point i will say a big Hello and thanks to my friend Norman for taking this photo.

Of course some more testing was needed just to see if the latest work has made the harrow work better

Enjoy the vid, im off to add to more weight to the harrow

Harrow Testing video link Thingy

[BairleaFarm 339]

Great Pictures. Whats that thing weigh now?

[nylyon-(Admin) 7,114]

Thank you for the Video, great footage especially looking under the tractor from the front! Fantrastic work Ian!

[T-Mo-(Moderator) 4,337]

That harrow looks good, and judging from the video it's works pretty good also. Good job, again, Ian. :whistle:

[linen beige 14]

Man! Much more bracing and your lift wont handle it!. I haven't yet figured out how to post drawings, etc.,imstupid: but I would maybe have moved the square tines to the back and run a gusset along the fronts of them that reached from the teeth at the bottom all the way up to the horizontal part. That would have given you a narrow edge along the front with the square stock acting as bracing for them. Little tip on using concrete for internal weight. Just pour the dry mix into the tubing. The natural humidity will cause it to set up in a few days. Or, if rushed for time drop in an inch or so of powder, a few drops of water, another inch of powder, few more drops of water, etc. Adding a FEW drops of dish soap to the water helps it soak in by breaking up the surface tension of the water. Not quiet as much fun as making mud pies, but cleaner. Even easier to just fill the tubing with sand and weld a flat cover over the end. Again, not as much of the fun this is all about, but cleaner. AND, thanks for another well documented, very well narated, entertaining and informative post! : :whistle:

[HorseFixer 2,012]

:whistle: WoW after looking at that one I think Ill throw my Wheel Horse one in the TRASH! Nice Job Ian!

Duke

[Stigian 1,234]

Good morning all, bit of a long update this time

Q&A's first though

Great Pictures. Whats that thing weigh now?

After the concrete stuffing just the main harrow part on the bench weighed in at 39.5lb.

Thank you for the Video, great footage especially looking under the tractor from the front! Fantrastic work Ian!

Thanks Karl The under WH footage involved some rolling around in bunny s**t on the grass but worth it to see the dirt folding over itself

That harrow whtractor/thingy.gif looks good, and judging from the video it's works pretty good also. Good job, again, Ian. whtractor/thumbsup.gif

Ta muchly Terry

Man! Much more bracing and your lift wont handle it!

Its more like, will my arm handle it? Things have just got a lot heavier

I would maybe have moved the square tines to the back and run a gusset along the fronts of them that reached from the teeth at the bottom all the way up to the horizontal part. That would have given you a narrow edge along the front with the square stock acting as bracing for them.

I get what your saying Jim but as always im a cheap skate and like to use what metal i have about the place.. This month it seams to be loads of box section.

Not quiet as much fun as making mud pies, but cleaner

Mud pie-ish photo coming up

Chapter 6 - Yet more concrete and a bit of angle iron.

As you might have spotted on the video, the harrow works much better with a Garry hanging on the back for cutting into really hard dirt.

Garry didnt fancy being welded to the back of the harrow, some more "person friendly" weights were needed

No, its not the start of a WH rocket launcher but some plastic drainage pipe i found hiding behind the workshack

With a couple of 1ft length bits of pipe cut off, some pc case came in handy for making ends to be duct taped onto one end of each bit of pipe.

I dont think the pc panel wants to be cut up by the look on its face

Add a Nigel to mix the sand and cement together.

Chuck in a couple of "non grown up" nutters to mix in the water by hand

Pour the mix into the bits of pipe.

Nice action shot by the way Garry

And leave to cook at Sun mark 7 for a couple of days

Time to make another cup of coffee, back in a mo with the metal work :(

[Stigian 1,234]

Coffee made, fingers crossed this one will wake me up a bit

After my lathe this big disc cutter must come as one of the best ways to spend a few

[kpinnc 10,676]

Awesome work Ian!

You never fail to amaze me!

Kevin

[T-Mo-(Moderator) 4,337]

Ian,

I like the weight bracket and the weights. Hmm, the quiz? Could it be part of an office chair? :whistle:

[Rollerman 290]

Ian looks like you have another to be proud of......for your tractor of course.

Its not what it looks like at first glance

To help you guys out here's a small clue

Another Ian mystery. :whistle:

[KyBlue 652]

I see youve got it outside have ya tried it out yet?? Looks like some great tweaking that ya did to the design. Love the weights

[linen beige 14]

Ahhhh! Gas charged lift assist piston, I like it! :WRS:

[mailman 1]

Ian,

Your posts are always a great read. Nice job on the harrow thingy!

Too bad you guys are across the pond. You guys would be great to have around and share a couple pints with! Not to mention the fact that you have all those neat tools!

Eric

[rustbucket 4]

saw the vid of you testing your harrow on you tube that thing is sweet and looks like it dose a killa job.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vPc9xepchGc

[Stigian 1,234]

Good morning all, more of an update for you fine chaps to peruse over

But first........

Awesome work Ian!

You never fail to amaze me!

Thank you very much Kevin

Ian,

I like the weight bracket and the weights. Hmm, the quiz? Could it be part of an office chair?

Cheers Terry Yep you got it in one, part of an office chair

Guess i made the clue too easy

Slightly off topic this, just reading through your mower list.

Is your Troy Bilt TB1086 XP Push Mower the upgrade from a Troy Bilt TB1086 Windows 98 Push Mower

I see youve got it outside have ya tried it out yet?? Looks like some great tweaking that ya did to the design. Love the weights

Hi Scott, yes i did try the harrow while i had it out in the garden and it works great.

I only did a couple of test runs though as the harrow is so heavy to lift

As for the weights, i was going to build a frame that would carry bricks but when i found the bit of plastic pipe behind my workshack plans changed a bit

Ahhhh! Gas charged lift assist piston, I like it!

Cheers Jim I'm not sure if it will have to power to lift the weight of the harrow by it's self, but you never know

Being gas charged has presented a slight problem though

The "do not heat" warning on the side means id best not weld anything onto it.

Ho-hum..

Ian,

Your posts are always a great read. Nice job on the harrow thingy!

Too bad you guys are across the pond. You guys would be great to have around and share a couple pints with! Not to mention the fact that you have all those neat tools!

Cheers Eric

Yeah, that big bit of water does make it kinda interesting when trying to meet up for a pint or two

It would be great to meet up with all you fine WH folk for a drink and natter, you never know one day it will happen

saw the vid of you testing your harrow on you tube that thing is sweet and looks like it dose a killa job.

Thank you Jason

Chapter 7 - A change of plan, Lots of ing, and a change of plan again.

Gas can be a wonderful thing

It can be used for heating, cooking, producing how water, oh and filling up lighters of course

However, when the part/object you want to weld is full of gas, gas can be a right pain

So plan A was put on hold, and plan B quickly came to life, a big spring

More bike parts came into play, parts of a GPz305 fork and spring were soon cut to size, and an unknown wheel spindle was turned on the lathe to make a piston.

After a bit of ing an easy way to mount the big spring to the chassis showed itself

When i built the snowplow/blade i made a bit of a cock-up with the measurements and cut the blade mounting pivot thingy a bit too short

Since that time blade pivot thingy no1 has sat in my parts pile waiting to be reborn as something else

With a small bit of lathe work it was made to fit into the middle quick hitch

And here's the idea mocked-up

It looked quite good, but i wasnt happy with the "on the side" mounting position on the lift handle

Also i must of been having a bad measuring day when machining that left the whole spring with so much sideways play that it would never work smooothly

But fear not readers, plan A makes a return

But.... Your all going to have to wait for me to post that part, got a Gent turning up any minute to collect an engine hoist tripod..

Sooo gotta go...

Chapter 7 - Part 2 coming up later today...

[Stigian 1,234]

Good morning all, yes yes, i know i said id finish the update yesterday..

Yesterday turned into not just a busy day, but also the hottest day of the year so far

Work and too much heat arnt the best of combo's

Chapter 8 - Back to plan A

Having decided to scrap plan B, the big spring was soon ripped off leaving me with this.

A bit more lathe work had it looking a bit like this, leaving a nice level bit of rod to weld some angle iron onto

Plonk the chair lift thingy onto the angle iron, stand back and for a bit.

And now the hard bit, working out where to mount the top of the chair lift on the lifting handle. I'm sure the is a way of working it out using a pencil, paper and some fancy maths but my maths isnt the great at the best of times

Now, if i make the top of the chair lift thingy adjustable in length and make up a top mount the clamps around the lifting arm, then i can work out the ideal place to clamp around the lifting arm taking into account the range of travel of the lifting arm and the gas assist lift

A quick look in my "handy bits of metal pile" or scrap as my wife calls it, failed to unearth a bit of thick-ish wall tube of the right diameter sooo time to make my own.

Some brushed stainless sheet all marked out for a bit of grindie cutting action.

I knew there was a reason i had kept hold of this old piller drill stand

very handy for shaping around. This stainless was a right pain to bend and shape, but worth it for it's strength.

After some sparky welding action and a tad of slot cutting the stainless tube fits a treat over the top of the lift assist. A couple of hose clamps should hold it in the right place.

That looks a bit more the right sort of length

That's all for now folks, i hope to get some more done today if time will let me.

Stay tuned for more "gas assist" madness :o

[Rollerman 290]

I like it Ian...I'll take a better look & read this afternoon.....running out the door to work now.

But you are RS's resident mad scientist. B)

[T-Mo-(Moderator) 4,337]

Ian,

Again great reading. I like your ideas, and the trial and error mentality or is it "Let me see if this will work" mentality. Sort of like that old advertisement slogan, "What if......!" Anyways, it looks like the lift assist is coming along.

BTW, if my Troy Bilt mower is the latest upgrade, I sure glad it's not the Vista version. B)