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Multi-Purpose “Power Bar” For Skid Loaders
The list of jobs that Howard Popp can do with his home-built, skid loader-mounted Power Bar is impressive - everything from breaking up packed snow and ice to digging trenches, moving trailers, and plowing snow.
     The patented Power Bar quick-taches to the skid loader and consists of a 45-in. wide, 18-in. high rectangular steel frame made from 1/2-in. thick steel. A 24-in. long, reinforced 3 by 6-in. rectangular receiver tube extends 24 in. forward, and is designed to accept a wide variety of attachments.
    Each attachment comes with a welded-on sleeve that pins on outside the receiver tube. A T-handle with bushings at each end runs through the receiver tube and is used with a cotter pin to secure the sleeve, which weighs about 20 lbs.
    “It saves money because there’s no need to spend money on a separate quick-tach plate for each tool,” says Popp, who plans to manufacture the Power Bar as orders come in. “I came up with the idea because the large dairy farm I work for needed something to break up packed snow and ice to keep cows from slipping and falling. I built the Power Bar frame and a 1-ft. square ice spade for it that digs into ice instead of sliding over it like a loader bucket would. It worked so well I decided to build other attachments for it,” says Popp.
    Here’s a summary of those attachments.
     Sand bedding leveler - Designed to level the sand in a free stall, it consists of an 8-ft. long, 4-in. wide rectangular steel bar with a series of welded-on metal teeth. The bar pivots on a 20-in. dia. steel hub. A hydraulic cylinder can be used to adjust the angle of the bar by up to 90 degrees.
    Mini bucket/grapple - This small toothed bucket works great for moving tree stumps and logs, and for digging trenches, says Popp. A hydraulic cylinder opens and closes the jaws. “It works great to dig out small trees and stumps and then haul them away. It also can dig trenches up to 4 ft. deep,” says Popp. “My brother has used it to dig out tree roots up to 18 in. in diameter.”
    Fifth wheel hitch - It consists of an upright tube that fits over the ball and coupler on an RV or camper trailer. You can also hook it up to a pull-type camper.
    Forage fork - It’s designed to break up frozen or tightly packed silage stored in tube-type plastic silage bags and consists of five 3-ft. long tapered steel forks spaced about 4 in. apart. “The forks are made from 1/2-in. thick steel so they won’t get bent up,” says Popp.
    Snow blade - Hooks up to the mounting bracket on a standard pickup-mounted snowplow. The existing hydraulic cylinders are used to change the blade’s angle.
    Drawbar hitch - This setup allows you to move farm implements and trailers, or switch the attachment to a ball hitch and move utility or gooseneck trailers.
    Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Howard Popp, 13980 45th Ave. N.E., Rice, Minn. 56367 (cell ph 320 260-0226; hcpoppwelding@gmail.com).


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2020 - Volume #44, Issue #5