Winch-Powered Mini Loader

Winch-Powered Mini Loader TRACTORS Loaders 28-4-11 "I was using a wheelbarrow to clean manure out of my lamb barn one day when I decided there had to be a better way. So I converted my old 1958 David Bradley garden tractor into a loader tractor. The tractor has no hydraulics or electrical power supply, so I operate everything on the loader manually," says Dennis Hartman, who farms part time near Williamsburg, Mich. He uses a hand-cranked boat winch to raise and lower the loader, and a long trip handle to dump the bucket, which measures 3 ft. wide and raises to about 4 ft. high. He made the bucket by cutting a section out of a galvanized steel water tank. A cutting edge made from 5-in. wide by 1/8-in. thick steel was then welded onto the front of the bucket. He used 1 by 2-in. tubing to build the loader arms. The sheet metal engine hood on the tractor was removed to make room for the loader and a counterweight bracket that mounts on back. There's a tripod lift frame at the front of the tractor with a pulley at the top. A steel cable runs from a boat winch up over the pulley and down to the loader arms. To raise or lower the loader, Hartman simply reaches forward to crank the winch. A long handle off an old farm implement mounts just ahead of the steering wheel. The handle is attached to a metal rod that's connected to a pivoting mechanism at the back of the bucket. "The bucket holds almost twice as much as a wheelbarrow. I wasn't sure how well the loader would work so at first I used a cable come-along (shown in the photo) which I later replaced with a boat winch. The tractor is small enough to fit through the barn door." Hartman built a metal bracket on back of the tractor where he carries two cement blocks to provide a counterweight to the loader. After the photo was taken he poured cement into the wheel rims to add more weight. Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Dennis D. Hartman, 8198 Cram Rd., Williamsburg, Mich. 49690 (ph 231 267-5107).

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