Hydraulic Valve Makes Auger Easy To Shut Off
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Colorado farmer Roy Pfaltzgraff and his dad used to have to climb into their tractor cab to shut off the auger they use to unload semi trucks. Now they just press a button on a hydraulic directional valve, which they mounted on top of the auger and plumbed into the tractor’s remote outlets.
Pfaltzgraff bought the valve, originally designed for use on a log splitter, on Amazon for $50. He mounted the valve on a piece of metal, then drilled holes into a flange already on the 10-in. dia. auger and bolted the piece on.
“The valve makes the auger a lot safer to use if anything goes wrong because it lets me shut the auger down right away,” says Roy.
The 2 men use the same auger in their specialty seed business. They transfer seed out of a semi truck into a modified 3-in. dia. auger they use to fill tote bags. “After the tote bag is full, we shut off the auger at the semi, and then walk over and shut off the other auger,” says Roy. “It takes only about 15 min. to fill a 2,000-lb. tote bag.”
Their total cost was less than $150, including hoses and fittings.
The 3-in. dia. auger was originally a grain drill fill auger designed to mount on back of a truck. The Pfaltzgraffs made the auger portable by adding a metal undercarriage with an axle and wheels. They also replaced the auger’s original 12-volt motor with an electric motor purchased at Harbor Freight, where they bought the wheels, too.
“We used 1-in. pipe to make a 6-ft. wide axle,” says Roy. “The undercarriage is actually a 2,000-lb. low-profile transmission jack that we also purchased at Harbor Freight. The jack’s screw makes it easy to raise or lower the auger.”
Contact: FARM SHOW Followup: Roy Pfaltzgraff, 12189 Co. Rd. 7, Haxtun, Colo. 80731 (ph 970 466-1887; roy@pfzfarms.com).
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Hydraulic Valve Makes Auger Easy To Shut Off AUGERS Colorado farmer Roy Pfaltzgraff and his dad used to have to climb into their tractor cab to shut off the auger they use to unload semi trucks Now they just press a button on a hydraulic directional valve which they mounted on top of the auger and plumbed into the tractor’s remote outlets Pfaltzgraff bought the valve originally designed for use on a log splitter on Amazon for $50 He mounted the valve on a piece of metal then drilled holes into a flange already on the 10-in dia auger and bolted the piece on “The valve makes the auger a lot safer to use if anything goes wrong because it lets me shut the auger down right away ” says Roy The 2 men use the same auger in their specialty seed business They transfer seed out of a semi truck into a modified 3-in dia auger they use to fill tote bags “After the tote bag is full we shut off the auger at the semi and then walk over and shut off the other auger ” says Roy “It takes only about 15 min to fill a 2 000-lb tote bag ” Their total cost was less than $150 including hoses and fittings The 3-in dia auger was originally a grain drill fill auger designed to mount on back of a truck The Pfaltzgraffs made the auger portable by adding a metal undercarriage with an axle and wheels They also replaced the auger’s original 12-volt motor with an electric motor purchased at Harbor Freight where they bought the wheels too “We used 1-in pipe to make a 6-ft wide axle ” says Roy “The undercarriage is actually a 2 000-lb low-profile transmission jack that we also purchased at Harbor Freight The jack’s screw makes it easy to raise or lower the auger ” Contact: FARM SHOW Followup: Roy Pfaltzgraff 12189 Co Rd 7 Haxtun Colo 80731 ph 970 466-1887; roy@pfzfarms com
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