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Old Car Converted Into Low Cost Barbed Wire Unroller
I converted an old car wheel and axle, a fly-wheel, and a pair of disk blades into a low-cost barbed wire unroller. The spool of barbed wire rotates on the axle which extends vertically out of the wheel which lies flat in the back of a pickup or Jeep. It lets me put up fence all by myself and is easy to use. Also, the wire won't tangle up.
I removed the axle from the wheel and reattached the axle so that the wheel's lug bolts are on top. I bolted an old car engine flywheel onto the axle bearing, then slid a disc over the axle with the round side up and slid the spool over the axle. I cut 2 in. off the threaded end of a disk axle, then cut off the end of the car axle and welded the cut-off disk axle on. I placed another disc on top of the axle with the round side down to keep the spool from bouncing. A nut on top of the axle is used to secure the disc.
To unroll wire, I tie the wire to the fence and drive forward. To wind wire back up onto the spool, I hold the wire with one hand and turn a handle that's pinned onto one of the corners of the spool holder.
The flywheel rotates on the bearing and keeps it from getting warped. The axle re-mains stationary as the spool rotates on it. I placed the wheel with the lug bolts on top so that the axle is up higher and the spool won't contact the wheel. The spool stops turning whenever I stop the vehicle so the wire never gets tangled up. The flywheel always turns with the spool so there's no backlash. To wind wire back up, I pin a steel handle onto the top of the spool. I used the top railing from a chain link fence to make the handle. (Ewell Lee Trimble, 4532 Camargo Road, Mt. Sterling, Kent. 40353 ph 606 498-3474).


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1997 - Volume #21, Issue #5