Home built skid steer

[ewepootoo]

Hi to all my fellow enthusiasts, I am in the early stages of building a skid steer loader to use under my neighbours ram shed to retrieve the manure for sale. The shed is about 32" under the floor joists with about 45" between the stumps so it needs to be very short and narrow to operate in this confined space. I have a vast quantity of junk and engineering equipment to use in the construction but little real knowledge of the design requirements of a working skid loader. As this loader is so narrow and does not need to turn around under the shed, I have made it 5' long between the front and rear axles and 40" wide. My question is "Will this turn easily on a hard surface with each side driving in different directions or will the long wheelbase be a problem?" Thanks Steve.

 

[magicheater]

I would contemplate an automated conveyor system since you seem to have the resources.
You have 32" from floor to ceiling? How long is this tunnel? Or is it a large room with many
"stumps" (posts?) What is the floor material? (dirt, concrete, other?) The floor above is grated?

 

[Craig Clayton]

Hi to all my fellow enthusiasts, I am in the early stages of building a skid steer loader to use under my neighbours ram shed to retrieve the manure for sale. The shed is about 32" under the floor joists with about 45" between the stumps so it needs to be very short and narrow to operate in this confined space. I have a vast quantity of junk and engineering equipment to use in the construction but little real knowledge of the design requirements of a working skid loader. As this loader is so narrow and does not need to turn around under the shed, I have made it 5' long between the front and rear axles and 40" wide. My question is "Will this turn easily on a hard surface with each side driving in different directions or will the long wheelbase be a problem?" Thanks Steve.

Dear Sir
I have concerns about the height of the area that you plan to work in. The fumes from CO are deadly. I was thinking of a cable operated bucket on two pulleys that are pulled by a skid steer then you can load the manure into the truck. There was a picture of a man killed when he went through a overhead door driving a large loader.
Craig Clayton

 

[Brad_Blazer]

Welcome Steve,
Are you thinking of a manned vehicle or a remote controlled loader something like a Toro Dingo? You could call it a $#!~ bot. If it's long and narrow it will have to skid more to turn.

On the conveyor side this company is well established and they seem to have some good technology in terms of alley scrapers.
Patz Alley Scraper

 

[Eagleview]

Are ewe planing on going both ways with it ? If not , the ewe poo will form lanes along the shed stumps in one direction . If ewe plan on cleaning both ways , a 5' wheel base will be too long to be nimble . I would also use a counter rotating broom on the front instead of a blade , the under floor of a wool shed is not smooth and will not be easy to work .

 

[Bikewanderer]

I would contemplate an automated conveyor system since you seem to have the resources.
You have 32" from floor to ceiling? How long is this tunnel? Or is it a large room with many
"stumps" (posts?) What is the floor material? (dirt, concrete, other?) The floor above is grated?

I have to agree - a conveyor would be the easiest and likely the cheapest. I would just do a slider bed conveyor, it would be very cheap.

 

[ewepootoo]

Hi Thanks for the feed back. The shed is a ram shed not a shearing shed and what I remove from there is more like black clay than the little dry balls you associate with shearing sheds. Ram sheds house sheep intensively and will build up 3' of wet manure in a year whereas the sheep are emptied out before entering a shearing shed and it will only be necessary to clean under a shearing shed at 10 year or more intervals. These sheds have slat floors and ceiling fans so ventilation is not a problem. I made up a Stainless Steel drag chain 30' long which I used for years with success but it still meant i had to venture under the shed to shovel the manure onto the chain. There is a man already cleaning under sheds useing a loader on which he lays down on to operate, he is booked solid at $500 a day from now till he retires so I figure why not give it a go? A remote control unit sounds good but I reckon in order to know what it is doing 30' under a shed, i probably would need to be under there watching it and then when it come out from under the shed and dumps to a truck, I am going to need to be nearby as well. There is a beaut unit called the Dugless 900 which is remote control but would cost an arm and a leg. I have components to build conveyors in my grave yard but these are not very portable and still need me on the shovel. Steve

 

[J_J]

Perhaps something like this.

YouTube - Remote Control Mini Skid Steer Project

 

[J_J]

Or this.

YouTube - LARGEST V8 RC SKID LOADER HIGH RPM

 

[Iplayfarmer]

Or this.

YouTube - LARGEST V8 RC SKID LOADER HIGH RPM

I just got a new project to add to my list of things to make someday. I wonder if you could fit a turbocharged Detroit diesel in one of those.

 

[ewepootoo]

Thanks for the link JJ, when I get my internet useage back I will watch it to the end. This blokes skid steer looks like a good jigger but way to high for what I am after. I have nearly finished one side of my machine and it is only 2 feet high and will probably be controlled from the rear from a platform made from a piece of heavy conveyor belting supported on chains so it can follow the ground. This tractor does not need to be nimble or fast, just be able to get a few hundred pounds of this heavy wet manure out from under the shed each trip to the outside world where the farmer can access it with his front end loader.
Cables and winches sound beaut except these sheds are already packed up to the floor boards with wet manure with no way of feeding cables or scoops from one side to the other.
The bloke who does it around here for a living has a machine similar to a Gokart and can only remove a barrow load each trip, my machine weighs around 1000lbs without counterweights as the main frame is 5/8" plate so it should have a much bigger payload.
My next challenge is to use a car power steering pump to raise the bucket only as the drives are mechanical with clutches. Steve

 

[Iplayfarmer]

I'd love to see some pictures of this machine you're building. It sounds like there is a lot I can learn from your design.

 

[Brad_Blazer]

Sounds like you are on your way! For sure post some pics.

If you are planning to squat on a platform behind the loader I think that will get old pretty quick with a 32" ceiling. Put a seat on the back and your weight will help counterweight the loader. Make sure you have a roll cage higher than your head in case you grab too much and the rear lifts up.

If you are planning to make good money with this machine it might be worthwhile to invest in gear pump that will provide higher pressure than a power steering vane pump.

Brad

 

[smiley]

It sounds like a nasty, backbreaking job any way you do it.
If I understand the layout of these buildings correctly, A machine I saw in Tampa Florida might work and all of the work would be done from outside, except for final clean up, then you could go under with your little machine and finish pushing it out.
You got me thinking of a house moving operation I watched in Tampa in the 70's. I searched for photo's I took and online but found none, so will try to describe it.
They had a regular mid size front end loader, fitted with what looked like a real long (25 ft) set of forklift forks, that had a plate welded on the bottom for almost the full length. The forks started at about 6ft wide and tapered toward the front to about 41/2 - 5 ft. It was rounded or maybe worn down V shape on the front. About 4 ft of the back where it attached to the loader was open, to facilitate dumping the load. They would start poking it under the slab on ground houses, then back out and turn toward they stockpile area then tilt the forks back so the material would slide to the back and out the open area in the rear. They'd keep poking under until the forks were all the way in, then go around to the other side of the house and do the same until they had tunneled completely underneath. Then it was just a matter of poking their I beams under until they had enough to lift the house.
I also thought about a regular loader bucket of the correct size mounted out on the end of I beams to do the same thing but probably slower.

Just some thoughts!!

 

[Scotty370]

32" Headroom???? Now I know why he makes $500- a day!!! We've got a guy (Mike Rowe) doing a TV show called "Dirty Jobs"! This would be right up his alley! What's this stuff worth when you 'mining' Ram-Poo! How big are these sheds, length and width? ~S

PS- Is the value in the 'Product', or just getting it out of there!

 

[whitworthsocket]

Hello Scotty,
I am not the original poster. But as a fellow australian, I am pretty safe in saying that the value is in removing the stuff.
Rams are bred for the quality of the wool for example and a prize ram can be sold for astronomically high figures.
So keeping these rams healthy would be of prime importance.

Regards Whitworthsocket

 

[Scotty370]

Thanks WWS! I just find it interesting in the different challanges that are brought up on this board, and the way they're dealt with. Seems to me that initially building a structure to house livestock, with slotted floors, and no reasonable way to extract the waste, is just.......well..........

 

[Brad_Blazer]

Yeah, shortsighted. I would say the real opportunity would be in building or retrofitting ram sheds with automated manure handling systems.
Panoramio - Photo of Willandra Station Stud Ram Shed, Wiilandra NP, NSW

Barn cleaners have been around for a long time.
STABLE CLEANER - Google Patent Search

 

[J_J]

Is this raised floor sitting on post in the ground, or, sitting on post on concrete. If the bottom floor or base is solid, then I would think a high pressure fire hose would do a good job at cleaning all the doo doo from under the two floors and collect it for fertilizer.