Sand Shooter Speeds Bedding

Sand Shooter Speeds Bedding DAIRY EQUIPMENT & IDEAS Dairy Equipment & Ideas If you need a fast way to bed cow stalls with sand George Edmond has the rig for you The Hillsdale Wis welder made a sand shooter for a neighboring dairyman The self-propelled cart can empty a 7 cu yd box of bedding sand in 5 min shooting the sand up to 10 ft out from the cart The dairyman has between 1 200 and 1 500 cows in the milking herd He needed something that would allow his workers to bed between 200 and 250 stalls per hour while the cows are being milked says Edmond The customer had specified heavy-duty components that could be easily serviced with parts found locally Edmonds got most of what he needed from a 915 IH combine and a Chief lime spreader truck We tore everything apart and then built it back up from scratch says Edmond The entire unit is about 25 ft long and 7 ft wide and 7 1/2 ft high Height was predetermined by a need to get under some rafters to be reloaded Edmond used the truck frame and a 414 IH engine out of the combine along with its hydrostatic drive The 414 is a very common IH engine so we knew getting parts wouldn t be a problem says Edmond We mounted it crossways on the frame with four bolts to secure it If there s a problem we just remove the bolts disconnect 6 lines and pull the engine out Front and rear axles also came from the combine However to keep the height down semi wheels were used instead of the taller combine wheels Edmond was surprised that it was easy to find wheels that matched the combine hub pattern exactly The box was from the lime truck but Edmond fabricated the conveyor with rubber belting and 2-in flighting After only 130 loads the cross conveyor had to be rebuilt due to the abrasive sand We used high-density polyethylene instead of the steel and it has worked well says Edmond as has the orbital motor that direct drives the conveyor The 40-gal fuel tank was cut in half and mounted to the side of the unit Where possible cables hydraulic hoses and other parts from the combine were used The sand shooter has worked out well says Edmond My customer was happy with it A commercial unit is available for around $120 000 but we built this for around $25 000 Edmonds says he s interested in building more sand shooters for anyone who needs one Contact: FARM SHOW Followup George Edmond 1363 7th Ave Hillsdale Wis 54733 ph 715 790-1964

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