Vibrating Pitchfork Doubles As Sifter

Vibrating Pitchfork Doubles As Sifter LIVESTOCK Miscellaneous 25-6-36 Brent Butts of Holly, Mich., works at a horse farm where they use a lot of pine shavings in their stalls. Pine shavings stay drier than straw so they're often recycled by sifting them out with a pitchfork. However, the job requires a lot of time and work. He made the job easier by attaching a small battery-operated motor to the base of a standard pitchfork that was equipped with poly tines and an aluminum handle. He attached an offset weight - made by connecting a number of half-washers together - to a shaft at one end of the motor. The motion created by the rotating washers causes the tines to vibrate, causing the shavings to quickly fall to the floor. "It works great and saves a lot of time," says Butts. "It takes only about two seconds for the shavings to fall through. On average, it reduces the time needed to clean out a stall by at least five minutes. It also saves a lot of bedding, because otherwise most people don't want to take the time to sift out the shavings. I've never tried using it on straw, but I don't think it would work because straw gets too intertwined. I used JB Weld to attach the motor to the base of the pitchfork and also to fasten the washers together. A wire runs up through the handle to a switch about six inches from the end of the handle. I used a common 9-volt battery and a 9 to 18-volt motor which I bought at Radio Shack." Butts says he's looking for a manufacturer. Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Brent Butts, 2209 Houser Rd., Holly, Mich. 48442 (ph 248 634-1323).

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