Manure Conveyor Made From Bale Elevator

Manure Conveyor Made From Bale Elevator MANURE HANDLING Equipment 24-4-20 Delmer Hering figures pig pens are a better use of space in hog buildings than alleyways. The Bruno, Saskatchewan, hog and grain farmer helped his father put farrowing pens into an old hip roofed cattle barn several years ago. They found they could best use the space by putting in three rows of pens, but that left only a narrow alleyway. It was wide enough to walk through, but not wide enough, for even a wheel barrow to haul out the bedding and manure. Herring, who was just 14 at the time, came up with a solution to the problem. He converted an old hay bale conveyor into a manure conveyor. This lies across the top of the pens, with the top end stuck through an opening in the barn wall. As he cleans the pens, he throws manure and used bedding onto the conveyor and it's emptied into a spreader or a pile outside. "It was just an ordinary 40-ft. bale elevator," he says. "I replaced the chain in it with no. 80 roller chain, and put steel cleats every 3 ft. to move the manure. I had a local machine shop weld the cleats on to the chain, since it's a fairly delicate job, welding on the chain without ruining it," he says. The cleats are cut from 1-in. by 1/4-in. strap iron. He added a sheet metal floor under the chain so the manure stayed on top. That didn't last long, though, so he replaced the sheet metal with arena -or puck-board. (For you non-hockey people, that's the heavy plastic boards used for siding hockey rinks.) He also made sides for the conveyor from the same material. "Arena board is light, but very tough and slick. It resists manure acids and wears well, even where the chain rubs against it," he says. "You can fasten it in place with self tapping screws, or you can just use wire." He found that the idler shaft at the top of the conveyor wasn't heavy enough. "The original one was a hollow tube. I replaced that with a solid rod," he says. Since the conveyor is not mounted solid, it can be slid anywhere on top of the pens, making manure handling as easy as possible in the bedded barns. The Herings like the system so well they've built a second 24-ft. conveyor for a shorter barn. "I wouldn't use metal for the floor of it again," Herring says. "It just didn't hold up. Also, I've found that we can extend the life of the chain by oiling it once a week with used engine oil. "Since we didn't have to build in a manure handling system or widen out the alley ways, we can use most of the space for pig pens. Alleys need only be wide enough to chase a sow through," he says. Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Delmer Hering, Box 249, Bruno, Sask. Canada S0K 0S0 (ph 306 369-2825; fax: 306-369-2351).

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