Wheelchair Lift Converted To Front-End Loader

Wheelchair Lift Converted To Front-End Loader MISCELLANEOUS EQUIPMENT Handicapped Equipment 32-5-18 Tom Chaney, Chrisman, Ill., converted an electric-operated wheelchair lift - designed for a school van - into a quick-tach front-end loader for his Deere 214 garden tractor. The bucket measures 5 ft. wide and handles loads up to 500 lbs. It can reach up to 6 ft. high. "I built it after I started raising chickens and needed a small loader to handle manure and move gravel. It works great and cost less than $500 to build," says Chaney. He got the electric-operated wheelchair lift from the local school where he works as a mechanic on school buses. The lift was originally equipped with two metal arms and a 30-in. wide metal deck, which lifted wheelchairs into a van. It was operated by remote control. An electric-operated, screw-type cylinder was used to raise and lower the deck and was operated by a motor inside a metal box attached to the deck. He cut the deck in half and welded in new material to widen the deck to 40 in., allowing him to drive the garden tractor over the deck to hook up to it. He cut the arms and mounted them backward to look like real loader arms. He bought a 5-ft. wide loader bucket from a Massey Ferguson dealer for $150 and welded it onto the arms. He attached a homemade mounting bracket to the top of the wheelchair lift's deck. Three 5/8-in. dia. hitch pins are used to attach the loader to the garden tractor - two for the loader arms and one for the deck. A metal rod extends from the mounting bracket to the back of the garden tractor. "As a result the loader is always driving from the tractor's hitch," says Chaney. He mounted the wheelchair lift's remote control box on a pedestal within easy reach of his right hand and wired it to the tractor's battery. He uses a trip lever to trip the bucket. "The screw-type cylinder wasn't built strong enough to handle the pressure of the bucket going up and down, so I removed it and installed the trip lever. I plan to install a heavy duty hydraulic cylinder so I can raise and lower the bucket hydraulically," says Chaney. "The wheelchair is rated at 1,000 lbs. but I rarely lift more than 500 to 600 lbs. Commercial loaders are available for this tractor but they sell for $4,000 or more. "The metal box that contains the hydraulics also contains a hand pump, so if the tractor battery ever loses power I can use it. "The load on front can cause the tractor's rear wheels to spin, so I bolted a pair of 50-lb. front-end weights for a Deere 4010 tractor on back," notes Chaney. Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Tom Chaney, Sr., 14732 E. 1800th Rd., Chrisman, Ill. 61924 (ph 217 269-3507; tomchansr@yahoo.com).

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