“Made It Myself” Conveyor Moves Manure Fast
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“Farmers around here have chicken buildings that are 60 ft. wide by 500 ft. long and the poultry in them generates about 300 tons of litter each year. That much litter makes for a lot of trips with skid steer or tractor loaders to clean the buildings,” says retired mechanic Richard Crabtree.
“A fellow who had worked for me in my shop as an 18-year-old approached me about building something to help load out the litter. Together we built a 32-ft. long conveyor that loads directly into a truck about as fast as a skid steer can fill the hopper, saving lots of time and trips.”
Crabtree came up with the conveyor idea and together with his helper built the device without any plans or blueprints. Says Crabtree, “We just started cutting 2-in. square tubing and welding it together to build a frame. It has a square bottom and angled sides on the top. We made 8-ft. sections and put 4 of them together to make the finished conveyor 32 ft. long. It rides on a steel tube axle. At times we decided something wasn’t going to work right so we’d change it and go another way. By the time it was finished all of the ‘bugs’ were pretty well worked out.”
The conveyor has head and tail rollers salvaged from a coal mine and smaller rollers purchased from a coal industry supplier. They guide the 30-in. wide rubber belt. The top of the angled sides are covered with sheet metal to keep material from falling off. A 5-ft. square hopper at the bottom end allows an operator to fill the conveyor with a skid steer or loader bucket. Crabtree fashioned a beater bar to break up chunks before material moves up the conveyor. He mounted a 25 hp. Onan gas engine on one side of the frame to power the beater, belt and hydraulic cylinders that raise and lower the conveyor. “The speed of the motor determines how fast the belt runs. When the engine idles the belt moves at 32 ft. a minute. The conveyor will load a semi in about 10 minutes, moving material as fast as someone can fill the hopper.”
Crabtree said building the conveyor was fairly easy because he spent more than 50 years working as a mechanic on gravel and coal conveyors. He knew how to set up the drive and idler rollers and how to connect the drive system because “basically every conveyor, whatever it moves, is made the same way.”
Crabtree’s first conveyor, which he painted Deere green and yellow, had people thinking it was made in a factory. “I told them it was made in my factory, which is a 25-ft. by 45-ft. building.” His first conveyor was so successful that he made another one just like it for a different poultry producer. “I think they’re made right because I know the first one has loaded probably 500,000 tons of chicken litter and never broken down,” Crabtree says.
Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Richard Crabtree, 1591 Highway 815, Calhoun, Kentucky 42327 (ph 270 570-0489).
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“Made It Myself” Conveyor Moves Manure Fast LIVESTOCK Poultry “Farmers around here have chicken buildings that are 60 ft wide by 500 ft long and the poultry in them generates about 300 tons of litter each year That much litter makes for a lot of trips with skid steer or tractor loaders to clean the buildings ” says retired mechanic Richard Crabtree
“A fellow who had worked for me in my shop as an 18-year-old approached me about building something to help load out the litter Together we built a 32-ft long conveyor that loads directly into a truck about as fast as a skid steer can fill the hopper saving lots of time and trips ”
Crabtree came up with the conveyor idea and together with his helper built the device without any plans or blueprints Says Crabtree “We just started cutting 2-in square tubing and welding it together to build a frame It has a square bottom and angled sides on the top We made 8-ft sections and put 4 of them together to make the finished conveyor 32 ft long It rides on a steel tube axle At times we decided something wasn’t going to work right so we’d change it and go another way By the time it was finished all of the ‘bugs’ were pretty well worked out ”
The conveyor has head and tail rollers salvaged from a coal mine and smaller rollers purchased from a coal industry supplier They guide the 30-in wide rubber belt The top of the angled sides are covered with sheet metal to keep material from falling off A 5-ft square hopper at the bottom end allows an operator to fill the conveyor with a skid steer or loader bucket Crabtree fashioned a beater bar to break up chunks before material moves up the conveyor He mounted a 25 hp Onan gas engine on one side of the frame to power the beater belt and hydraulic cylinders that raise and lower the conveyor “The speed of the motor determines how fast the belt runs When the engine idles the belt moves at 32 ft a minute The conveyor will load a semi in about 10 minutes moving material as fast as someone can fill the hopper ”
Crabtree said building the conveyor was fairly easy because he spent more than 50 years working as a mechanic on gravel and coal conveyors He knew how to set up the drive and idler rollers and how to connect the drive system because “basically every conveyor whatever it moves is made the same way ”
Crabtree’s first conveyor which he painted Deere green and yellow had people thinking it was made in a factory “I told them it was made in my factory which is a 25-ft by 45-ft building ” His first conveyor was so successful that he made another one just like it for a different poultry producer “I think they’re made right because I know the first one has loaded probably 500 000 tons of chicken litter and never broken down ” Crabtree says
Contact: FARM SHOW Followup Richard Crabtree 1591 Highway 815 Calhoun Kentucky 42327 ph 270 570-0489
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