Teenager Tackles Farm Projects

2024 - Volume #48, Issue #6, Page #08

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With no easy way to hang the new cattle brush inside the family dairy barn, Claytin Wingert devised a mobile fix. When the hydraulic pump kept failing on a tractor needed for silage harvest, the high school senior took on that challenge, too.
“Hanging the cattle brush inside would have put it in the way of our skid steer loader,” explains Wingert. “Putting it outside required it to be movable.”
An ideal concrete base was sitting in the weeds. When a new concrete floor was poured in the barn, it was used as a scouring pad.
“My dad had the pad poured to use for smoothing the surface of the new floor,” says Wingert. “We pulled it across the new floor to knock down high points to save on the skid loader bucket later.”
Wingert used a section of tongue salvaged from an old planter for an upright. Three pieces of angle iron from a bale elevator were welded together to form a triangle, with the legs welded to the uprights and the base of the triangle bolted to the concrete block. A second triangle mounted vertically to the front of the upright served to brace the upright on either side with its legs while the angle iron base was bolted to the concrete. The upright was further supported by a steel rod welded to the base of the first angle-iron triangle and the upright just past its midpoint.
Wingert fashioned brackets to hold the brush base to the upright by welding pieces of steel to the base to make it slightly wider than the upright. He drilled holes in the steel and pieces of angle iron on the back side of the upright. He bolted the enlarged base and angle iron together, like large U-bolts, to clamp the base to the upright.
“I cut the hinge end from a large door hinge strap to serve as an adjustable stop,” says Wingert. “It had holes I could use with a set bolt.”
He welded one end of the hinge to the brush base with the strap extending downward on the upright. Wingert fabricated a sleeve bracket from a short length of steel to fit over the strap, drilling a hole in it and threading it for a short bolt. Once the bracket was welded to the upright, the bolt through it and the hinge strap helped hold the brush base in place.
When in use, the combination of base and supports ensures it doesn’t move.
When Wingert needs to move the brush, he simply hooks on to the concrete base and pulls it where needed.
“The cows really enjoy the brush and haven’t knocked it over yet,” says Wingert.
The cattle brush has now been in use for nearly a year.
More recently, the high schooler tackled another job. “The hydraulic pump on one of our tractors kept blowing O-rings,” he says. “We had to keep pulling plugs out of the pump and putting another O-ring in, but then it would blow too.”
After watching a few YouTube videos on the subject and visiting with a local mechanic, Wingert took on the job. He had a new ring kit with Teflon seals for the O-rings and a few tools. The biggest challenge was finishing the job at night.
“I had to pull the fuel tank off and disconnect the oil lines,” recalls Wingert. “I removed the four bolts that held the pump to the frame, disconnected the shaft that drives the pump and lifted the pump out. I didn’t see anything wrong, so I put it back together with the new kit, and we had no more problems.”
Wingert’s mother proudly posted about the effort on the family dairy’s Facebook page. “Implement dealers, this is one kid you’ll want to watch in the years to come. He did all this with few tools, little light, and outside in the dirt. Just imagine what he could do in a million-dollar shop with every tool imaginable. He got us running just in time to chop one more cutting for the season.”
Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Claytin Wingert, Harmony, Minn. (Facebook: Wingert’s Reg. Holsteins/7-AYR-S Farms).

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Teenager Tackles Farm Projects FARM SHOP Repairs With no easy way to hang the new cattle brush inside the family dairy barn Claytin Wingert devised a mobile fix When the hydraulic pump kept failing on a tractor needed for silage harvest the high school senior took on that challenge too “Hanging the cattle brush inside would have put it in the way of our skid steer loader ” explains Wingert “Putting it outside required it to be movable ” An ideal concrete base was sitting in the weeds When a new concrete floor was poured in the barn it was used as a scouring pad “My dad had the pad poured to use for smoothing the surface of the new floor ” says Wingert “We pulled it across the new floor to knock down high points to save on the skid loader bucket later ” Wingert used a section of tongue salvaged from an old planter for an upright Three pieces of angle iron from a bale elevator were welded together to form a triangle with the legs welded to the uprights and the base of the triangle bolted to the concrete block A second triangle mounted vertically to the front of the upright served to brace the upright on either side with its legs while the angle iron base was bolted to the concrete The upright was further supported by a steel rod welded to the base of the first angle-iron triangle and the upright just past its midpoint Wingert fashioned brackets to hold the brush base to the upright by welding pieces of steel to the base to make it slightly wider than the upright He drilled holes in the steel and pieces of angle iron on the back side of the upright He bolted the enlarged base and angle iron together like large U-bolts to clamp the base to the upright “I cut the hinge end from a large door hinge strap to serve as an adjustable stop ” says Wingert “It had holes I could use with a set bolt ” He welded one end of the hinge to the brush base with the strap extending downward on the upright Wingert fabricated a sleeve bracket from a short length of steel to fit over the strap drilling a hole in it and threading it for a short bolt Once the bracket was welded to the upright the bolt through it and the hinge strap helped hold the brush base in place When in use the combination of base and supports ensures it doesn’t move When Wingert needs to move the brush he simply hooks on to the concrete base and pulls it where needed “The cows really enjoy the brush and haven’t knocked it over yet ” says Wingert The cattle brush has now been in use for nearly a year More recently the high schooler tackled another job “The hydraulic pump on one of our tractors kept blowing O-rings ” he says “We had to keep pulling plugs out of the pump and putting another O-ring in but then it would blow too ” After watching a few YouTube videos on the subject and visiting with a local mechanic Wingert took on the job He had a new ring kit with Teflon seals for the O-rings and a few tools The biggest challenge was finishing the job at night “I had to pull the fuel tank off and disconnect the oil lines ” recalls Wingert “I removed the four bolts that held the pump to the frame disconnected the shaft that drives the pump and lifted the pump out I didn’t see anything wrong so I put it back together with the new kit and we had no more problems ” Wingert’s mother proudly posted about the effort on the family dairy’s Facebook page “Implement dealers this is one kid you’ll want to watch in the years to come He did all this with few tools little light and outside in the dirt Just imagine what he could do in a million-dollar shop with every tool imaginable He got us running just in time to chop one more cutting for the season ” Contact: FARM SHOW Followup Claytin Wingert Harmony Minn Facebook: Wingert’s Reg Holsteins/7-AYR-S Farms

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