Pedal-Powered Wire Winder

2013 - Volume #37, Issue #4, Page #19

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Winding up two strands of electric fencing at a time is easy with Larry Kropf’s pedal-powered wire winder. Similar to a stationary bike, it quickly pulls in and wraps up a quarter mile of fence at a time.
  “Another fellow and I ran sheep, and we used lots of temporary fencing,” says Kropf. “We used 17-ga. wire as it was less expensive than poly wire. The pedal-powered winder pulls two wires in at once.”
  The winder looks like a bicycle because most of the parts came from one. Kropf recycled various pieces of bike frames, often repurposing them or reversing their positions.
  The main frame is mounted on angle iron to two 2 by 4-in. skids. A saddle recycled from an old tricycle sits on the bike seat tube. The top tube that normally runs from the seat to the handlebars was removed. A support pipe angles back from the seat tube to the rear of one skid.
  The drive is reversed with the rear hub sprocket mounted forward of the seat. A shaft extends through the hub to bearings on support plates at either side. The flat bar plates (approximately 2 by 8 in.) extend forward from a joint of tubes that extends up from the front skid cross bar and forward from the bottom bracket shell.
  “We welded pieces of 2-in. dia. pipe to the shafts to hold the wire spools,” explains Kropf. “We designed it to use with welding wire spools made from cardboard composite. Plastic spools didn’t work nearly as well.”
  He also mounted the head tube that normally holds the handlebars, to the front of the frame. However, instead of handlebars, he mounted a pipe with a cross bar at its top through the head tube. A smaller pipe extends forward from the bottom of the “handlebar” pipe. Wire guides are mounted to a crossbar at the forward end of the lower pipe.
  “If the wire isn’t wrapping evenly, I can adjust the position of the guides by turning the handlebar pipe,” says Kropf. “We also mounted a short crossbar just ahead of the frame. It acts as a stop so the operator doesn’t accidentally turn the handlebars too far to either side.”
  The one thing the wire winder didn’t have was a brake to maintain tension on the wires when the operator stepped off the bike. The oversight was handled by attaching a vice grip to lock the spool shaft in position.
  Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Larry Kropf, 62641 Lower Cove Rd., Cove, Ore. 97824 (ph 541 910-1016).

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Pedal-Powered Wire Winder FENCING Miscellaneous Winding up two strands of electric fencing at a time is easy with Larry Kropf’s pedal-powered wire winder Similar to a stationary bike it quickly pulls in and wraps up a quarter mile of fence at a time “Another fellow and I ran sheep and we used lots of temporary fencing ” says Kropf “We used 17-ga wire as it was less expensive than poly wire The pedal-powered winder pulls two wires in at once ” The winder looks like a bicycle because most of the parts came from one Kropf recycled various pieces of bike frames often repurposing them or reversing their positions The main frame is mounted on angle iron to two 2 by 4-in skids A saddle recycled from an old tricycle sits on the bike seat tube The top tube that normally runs from the seat to the handlebars was removed A support pipe angles back from the seat tube to the rear of one skid The drive is reversed with the rear hub sprocket mounted forward of the seat A shaft extends through the hub to bearings on support plates at either side The flat bar plates approximately 2 by 8 in extend forward from a joint of tubes that extends up from the front skid cross bar and forward from the bottom bracket shell “We welded pieces of 2-in dia pipe to the shafts to hold the wire spools ” explains Kropf “We designed it to use with welding wire spools made from cardboard composite Plastic spools didn’t work nearly as well ” He also mounted the head tube that normally holds the handlebars to the front of the frame However instead of handlebars he mounted a pipe with a cross bar at its top through the head tube A smaller pipe extends forward from the bottom of the “handlebar” pipe Wire guides are mounted to a crossbar at the forward end of the lower pipe “If the wire isn’t wrapping evenly I can adjust the position of the guides by turning the handlebar pipe ” says Kropf “We also mounted a short crossbar just ahead of the frame It acts as a stop so the operator doesn’t accidentally turn the handlebars too far to either side ” The one thing the wire winder didn’t have was a brake to maintain tension on the wires when the operator stepped off the bike The oversight was handled by attaching a vice grip to lock the spool shaft in position Contact: FARM SHOW Followup Larry Kropf 62641 Lower Cove Rd Cove Ore 97824 ph 541 910-1016

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