Desotell’s Inventive Ideas
Vern Desotell of Clarissa, Minn., has been a FARM SHOW subscriber for 30 years. In the summer of 2022, he showed our staff more than 20 shop tips and inventive ideas that he says “came to me in the middle of the night when I was reading FARM SHOW issues over and over because I couldn’t sleep.” Desotell says he hopes other readers find these ideas interesting.
Shop Crane
“I made a handy shop crane using parts from an International 720 chopper,” Desotell says. “The crane rides on the chopper’s wheel hubs so it can move across my shop floor. The uprights are 4 by 4-in. tubular pieces from a pull-type corn planter. I put angled bracing about 3 ft. up to provide support. The cross pipe is another piece of tubular steel that’s welded in place with angled braces to the uprights. I hook a chain lift to the eye hooks on top and lift a lot of heavy things in my shop. The idea came to me when I was in an equipment dealership and saw one that had two spindles on top and a pivot point in the middle. I built one for my neighbor with a 5-in. by 5-in. piece that extends out about 10 in. from the wall. I’m not sure how much it will lift, so a person just has to use common sense. He can lift the front end of a tractor with his.”
Windshield For ATV
“My ATV didn’t have a windshield or a toolbox and I didn’t want to spend money for those accessories, so I made them myself. For the windshield, I took one off an old snowmobile and cut an opening so it would fit around the headlight on the ATV. My toolbox is an old metal basket that students used to store their gym clothes in at school. The basket is sturdy, so I bolted it to the platform on top of the front cowling. It holds tools, and I can also use it to hold rocks I pick up in the field.
Step For My Skid Steer
“The top of my skid steer bucket is smooth and when it’s muddy or wet, it’s slippery and dangerous to stand on to get into my machine. I welded an old piece of metal grating 3 ft. wide to the top edge of the bucket. It only took me a few minutes to make, and the grating makes it a lot safer and easier to step into my machine.”
Hospital Cart Tool Chest
“Buying a rolling tool chest is expensive, so I built my own from a discarded hospital medicine cart. The cart is really strong and has good size casters, so it rolls well on my shop floor. The drawers were wide and deep so I could put in poly containers to hold different parts and tools. The right side has larger drawers to hold bigger parts and things like battery-powered drills and drivers.”
Handy Meat Saw
Using a brake rotor and repurposed motor, he made a handy saw to cut meat. “The hardest part was getting the motor to drive the rotor at the right speed for the blade to work well. It was a fairly easy project that didn’t cost me much more than parts I had around the shop.”
Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Vern Desotell, 39825 225th Ave., Clarissa, Minn. 56440.
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Desotell’s Inventive Ideas MISCELLANEOUS EQUIPMENT Vern Desotell of Clarissa Minn has been a FARM SHOW subscriber for 30 years In the summer of 2022 he showed our staff more than 20 shop tips and inventive ideas that he says “came to me in the middle of the night when I was reading FARM SHOW issues over and over because I couldn’t sleep ” Desotell says he hopes other readers find these ideas interesting Shop Crane “I made a handy shop crane using parts from an International 720 chopper ” Desotell says “The crane rides on the chopper’s wheel hubs so it can move across my shop floor The uprights are 4 by 4-in tubular pieces from a pull-type corn planter I put angled bracing about 3 ft up to provide support The cross pipe is another piece of tubular steel that’s welded in place with angled braces to the uprights I hook a chain lift to the eye hooks on top and lift a lot of heavy things in my shop The idea came to me when I was in an equipment dealership and saw one that had two spindles on top and a pivot point in the middle I built one for my neighbor with a 5-in by 5-in piece that extends out about 10 in from the wall I’m not sure how much it will lift so a person just has to use common sense He can lift the front end of a tractor with his ” Windshield For ATV “My ATV didn’t have a windshield or a toolbox and I didn’t want to spend money for those accessories so I made them myself For the windshield I took one off an old snowmobile and cut an opening so it would fit around the headlight on the ATV My toolbox is an old metal basket that students used to store their gym clothes in at school The basket is sturdy so I bolted it to the platform on top of the front cowling It holds tools and I can also use it to hold rocks I pick up in the field Step For My Skid Steer “The top of my skid steer bucket is smooth and when it’s muddy or wet it’s slippery and dangerous to stand on to get into my machine I welded an old piece of metal grating 3 ft wide to the top edge of the bucket It only took me a few minutes to make and the grating makes it a lot safer and easier to step into my machine ” Hospital Cart Tool Chest “Buying a rolling tool chest is expensive so I built my own from a discarded hospital medicine cart The cart is really strong and has good size casters so it rolls well on my shop floor The drawers were wide and deep so I could put in poly containers to hold different parts and tools The right side has larger drawers to hold bigger parts and things like battery-powered drills and drivers ” Handy Meat Saw Using a brake rotor and repurposed motor he made a handy saw to cut meat “The hardest part was getting the motor to drive the rotor at the right speed for the blade to work well It was a fairly easy project that didn’t cost me much more than parts I had around the shop ” Contact: FARM SHOW Followup Vern Desotell 39825 225th Ave Clarissa Minn 56440
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