Hydraulic angle landscape rake?

[MtnViewRanch]

It just looks like the geometry is all wrong...I still think the clevis will not allow the travel you are hoping for. I guess we will see when you get the cylinder...I wish I could draw or explain what I am thinking better



And I do not think you need that amount of angle, usually about 30* is adequate.

I think what you are seeing is that the bracket is going to bind in the bottom of the clevis. I agree, that is going to happen if things aren't changed. But changes are easy now.

 

[dirtworksequip]

Kennyd, I just went out and looked at it again. I think I know what you are driving at. The clevis will bind against the straight part of the link end and end its travel and not allowing it to angle to its fullest extent. I think I can remedy this by grinding a notch in the link to make it rounder and this should permit the clevis to travel further. I realize once I get the cylinder in place some things will become evident that I am not seeing now. I'll just have to work the bugs out of the design at that time. I understand what you are saying about the geometry looking wrong. I was going for somewhat of a cam action on the brackets.
As far as the rake angle in degrees at full angle, I am just going by how much I could get when it was manually angled and pinned before. I'm not trying to get anymore than what I had before. I do appreciate your input and I may have to redesign the whole thing before its over. It takes a lot of real life experience to be able to look at a picture and see what any problems might be. Thanks again.

MtnVRanch, yes that is what I was thinking as far as the cylinder wanting to rip off the mounts. How does a stroker reducer work? I'll check out the Landpride site. Thanks!

Sincerely, Dirt

 

[Wayne County Hose]

Dirt, if you don't mind, I would like to give an opinion. Looking back on post 8 pic 2 on page 1, I would have both mounts parallel to each other and the mounting holes an equal distance from the centerline of the rake's pivot point. This would negate all the issues previously described. I don't know what others it may create, but it might be worth trying it and see how it looks.

 

[dirtworksequip]

WayneCountyHose, I hear what everyone is saying about how the brackets should be, but what you are not factoring in is the length of the cylinder retracted and fully extended.The brackets have to be set up to work with the cylinder length and stroke. Its easy to say how the brackets should look, but factor in the cylinder and it changes everything. Its not about looks its about what will physically work and funtion properly. My friend that will do the welding I'm sure will have some input also as to how the brackets are set up. He has a great mechanical mind about how things work.
We will all just have to wait and see if my design works or doesn't work. I'm not saying it will. Once the cylinder gets here everything may change. Thanks for your input, I do take everyones suggestions into consideration.

Sincerely, Dirt

 

[MtnViewRanch]

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MtnVRanch, yes that is what I was thinking as far as the cylinder wanting to rip off the mounts. How does a stroker reducer work? I'll check out the Landpride site. Thanks!

Sincerely, Dirt

It is nothing more than a collar that is clamped onto the end of the ram below the clevis. Hydraulic bottoms out with the clamp between the clevis and the cylinder cap. I think that they come in 1/2" increments, not really sure though. You might be able to put them inside the cylinder also, thus being able to control the stroke in either direction.

 

[dirtworksequip]

MtnVRanch, thanks for the info on the stroke reducer. I had not seen that in use before. I guess I need to set up the brackets so they are at or just beyond maximum stroke to prevent ripping off the mounts. If thats not possible maybe I can have a couple of stops welded onto where the rake pivots. Or I could order a hydraulic angle kit from York Rake for $385.00 delivered.

Sincerely, Dirt

 

[MtnViewRanch]

MtnVRanch, thanks for the info on the stroke reducer. I had not seen that in use before. I guess I need to set up the brackets so they are at or just beyond maximum stroke to prevent ripping off the mounts. If thats not possible maybe I can have a couple of stops welded onto where the rake pivots. Or I could order a hydraulic angle kit from York Rake for $385.00 delivered.

Sincerely, Dirt

No, no, no. No kit, you can do it yourself for less $$$. Once you have the hydraulic and your welder friend comes over you will see that it won't be all that hard. The hydraulic needs to be parallel with the main beam at mid stroke to get this to work. Once you get the hydraulic, then you can mess around with the mounts. It is easier than it may seem.

 

[JerryG]

I have always thought that someday I would set my blade up like DDT's. He has several pictures of how it works here
Of all the ways that members have added hydraulic cylinders to their blades and rakes on TBN over the years, I think that Dana's linkage arrangement is the best.
My Hardee blade came with a removable / adjustable bar which I replaced with a hydraulic cylinder. The problem with a cylinder installed this way is that it doesn't have the same travel in both directions. The direction with the least travel tends to pull the dirt more forward than to the side. It is even more pronounced when moving snow. Thank goodness we don't get much snow.

 

[dirtworksequip]

JerryG, thanks for the input. One thing I was looking for was to have equal and maximum angle to both right and left. I guess my design is off kilter with most other self built or factory designs. I'm not saying my design is better,because its not. I think it will work with the recycled materials I have and the cylinder I am buying.
I could start from scratch and have my friend weld up some custom brackets and design it more like a factory hydraulic angled rake, but that wouldn't be as much fun.

Will the design work?
Will the design need changed?
Will the design give me equal angle left and right?
Will the design hold up when under use and abuse?
Will the design work as I pictured it would in my mind? PROBABLY NOT

Right now these are all unanswered questions. Hopefully the answer to most of them will be YES. I should know most of the answers in a week or two.

Sincerely, Dirt

 

[dirtworksequip]

Hydraulic cylinder should be delivered on Thursday. I popped in a couple of grease fittings on the rake swivel while I was waiting for the hyd. cylinder to get here.

Sincerely, Dirt

 

[dirtworksequip]

Hydraulic cylinder arrived one day early. 3 inch bore is more than adequate......maybe over kill. 2 inch bore probably would have been heavy enough. Looks like I'll have to rework the mounting brackets to get everything to work out. Going to try and get the hoses and fittings tomorrow. Welder friend coming Friday to weld the mounting brackets.

Sincerely, Dirt

 

[3RRL]

Dirt,
3" cylinder is probably a good call. What diameter is the rod on that one. I'll bet it's what ... an inch and a half or so? That's what you want anyway, a good size rod, right? that didn't sound right?
What I mean is you want as much stability and durability from that cylinder since it will be taking all the shock load when you hit something. I know it's a rake, but stranger things have happened in case you snag the frame somehow.

 

[dirtworksequip]

3RRL, 3 inch bore is beefer than I thought. The FedEx guy was growning when he delivered it. (30 lbs)Yes, it has 1.5 inch rod. I think a 2 inch bore would have been plenty for the rake. I don't plan on changing the angle while I'm moving.
Anyway should have the mounts welded up Friday and we will see how it works. I had to completly reconfigure the brackets as everyone here was saying that they did not think the brackets would work as I had them. They didn't. So hopefully the reworked brackets will be okay. My welder friend may have some input on what he thinks.
Thanks again for everyones input. I'll post some pics as soon as I can.

Sincerely, Dirt

 

[kennyd]

I look forward to seeing the completed project

 

[dirtworksequip]

See Kennyd, I said you had a good eye for what would or won't work and you were right.The way I had the brackets before didn't work. The geometry was wrong as you said. I hope my redesign works okay. If not I guess I'll have to start from scratch and make some new brackets. I should have some pics posted sometime Friday night.

Sincerely, Dirt

 

[dirtworksequip]

After getting the hyd. cylinder it was evident that how I had the mounting brackets layed out wasn't going to work as good as I had thought.

The below pic is of the 3 in bore 12 inch stroke cylinder and hoses. I used one 36 inch hose and one 48 inch hose.

This is how the reworked cylinder brackets came out. We welded the rear bracket first since there wasn't much in the way of adjustment and position that could be changed.

Below pic is of the front bracket.

After the front bracket was welded in place we placed the cylinder on it to see what the range of motion of the cylinder would be and that would determine whether the rear bracket would need to be changed or not. After testing the cylinder to see how everything worked together, we tacked the bracket in place to see if it still worked okay. Everything seemed to be okay and had the correct range of motion and maximun angle both right and left. Then we welded up the brackets,cleaned and painted then and reinstalled the hyd. cylinder.

Below pic is of the front and rear brackets welded in place.

Here are some pics of the finished hyd. angle rake. Every thing seems to work okay. I'll probably eventually tweek the rear bracket so the the piviot point is a little more level with the front bracket. As it is......... the rake pivots to right and left really smoothly. I was suprised at how smooth it works. NO more jumping in and out of the cab to change the position of the rake.

Below pic is of rake angled to the left.

Below pic is of rake in the straight position.

Below pic is of the rake angled to the right.

Below pic is a view from the top of the hyraulic cylinder and finished brackets installed .

I'd like to thank everyone that gave me input on this project. It always helps to see how someone else looks at the same problem. Thanks again.

Sincerely, Dirt

 

[kennyd]

That my freind looks great! Sorry to be a PITA before-but I think you understand where I was comming from now

 

[dirtworksequip]

Kennyd,I never looked at you as being a PITA. The reason I posted the layout of the brackets in the first place was to see if anyone thought they would or would not work. As I said before you were able to see the problems I would run into by just looking at the pics. That takes a special person to see what will or will not work from just a photo. I appreciated your input.

Thanks again.
Sincerely, Dirt

 

[MtnViewRanch]

Looks good! Easier to see what your doing once you have all the pieces on hand. Now I need to get my but in gear and get mine done.

Job well done.

 

[dirtworksequip]

MtnVRanch, Thanks. It turned out well and I am pleased at how it works. Thanks again for everyones input. Like I said it still could be tweeked a little to get the rear bracket in the same plane as the front bracket,but it still works very smoothly. Take the time to do yours...........you will love it. Last night I felt like just going out in my tractor and running the rake back and forth,left and right just to watch it operate. lol.
If I had to do over again I could have gone will a slightly smaller bore cylinder, but the 3 inch really does'nt look all that out of place once it was on the rake. The 12 inch stroke worked out perfectly to give the rake full angle left and right.
All in all I had $100 in the cylinder with shipping, about $80 in the hoses,fitting and quick couplers. My welder friend only wanted $20 for welding it up,but I gave him $50. So, my cost would have been $250. Well worth the satisfaction and not having to get in and out of the cab when I use the rake.

Sincerely, Dirt