High Lift Equipment Loader

High lift equipment loader TRACTORS Loaders 15-6-11 "It'll pick up an 80 hp tractor weighing 8,000 lbs. and safely load it onto a truck or trailer," says Lynn Youngberg, Verona, Mo., about his "high lift" front-end equipment loader built out of an IH 806 tractor. Youngberg removed the front axle from his 806 tractor and replaced it with the rear steering axle off a International 915 rice combine which is much heavier built. The larger axle increases the length of the tractor by 2 ft. The "high lift" boom extends from the back of the tractor to about 5 ft. in front. A 3-stage, 6-ft. stroke telescoping hoist cylinder, salvaged from a dump truck, mounts at the front of the tractor to provide lifting power. "It can lift small combines and tractors up to 15 ft. in the air and lets us stack equipment on our trailer," says Youngberg, who buys salvage combines and tractors and sells them at auctions. "The end of the boom is equipped with a chain and there's also one directly over the front axle. We can use both chains at the same time. We use the chain closest to the tractor when the implement puts too much weight on the front end of the boom. To lift small combines such as a Massey 300 we wrap a chain around each side of the frame behind the engine. We lift the rear end of bigger combines and drag the front end on the ground. We also use it to lift combine headers, plows, and even dump trucks." Youngberg bolted siderails salvaged from a Deere 4020 tractor to the front end of the 806 tractor to support the lifting cylinder, tieing the add-on siderails to the front axle. "Most of the weight carried is on the front axle, not the frame of the tractor," notes Youngberg. To help counter balance the front of the tractor he added weights at the rear. He removed the tractor's pto shaft and mounted a steel plate over it, then used angle iron and plywood to build a box and poured concrete in it. He also replaced the tractor's original 18.4 by 38 tires with 20.8 by 34 tires because all the extra lifting was causing the originals to blow out. Youngberg custom builds the boom tractor for about $2,900. Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Lynn Youngberg, Youngberg Ranch Supply, Box 147, 103rd St., Verona, Mo. 65769 (ph 417 498-6511 or toll-free 1 800 447-8157).

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