Combine Used To Make Forklift

Combine Used To Make Forklift MISCELLANEOUS EQUIPMENT Forklifts 29-1-33 David Skornia of Boyne City, Mich. wanted a cheap, effective and fast way to load square bale stacks for his customers. He modified a Deere 95 combine to fit the bill. Actually, the combine wasn't of any use to him until he completely tore it apart and modified the unit to make the new machine. Skornia used the combine's engine, hydrostatic drive, cab, steering, wheels and axles, putting them onto a frame that he built out of 4 by 6-in. steel tubing. "We picked up a used three-stage forklift mast for a couple hundred dollars and attached that to it," he says. "It's used to move any type of material, but mainly square bales that are hand-stacked, 50 at a time onto 6 by 8-ft. pallets after coming out of a bale basket. We sell hay to small horse farms, so the forklift is a means of moving the hay into the barn and then picking it back up and loading it onto our customers' trailers." Skornia says he paid $750 for the old combine, but was able to sell $250 worth of parts off it that he didn't need. He had several hydraulic hoses made for the drive system and purchased most of the steel he needed new. "We've used it for several years now and it works very well," he comments. Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, David Skornia, 06028 Zenith Heights Rd., Boyne City, Mich. 49712 (ph 231 582-9944; fax 231 582-2046).

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