DIY Remote Swing Auger

2025 - Volume #49, Issue #1, Page #11

[ Sample Stories From This Issue | List of All Stories In This Issue | Print this story | Read this issue]

Mark Niebrugge’s harvest was smoother after he converted his swing auger to a remote-controlled powered one. The conversion was simple, and the cost was low compared to buying a new powered auger with remotes for $2,800 or more.
“My wife has always helped unload grain by pushing the swing-away auger under the hopper bottom,” says Niebrugge. “Her arthritis was getting the best of her, and she said we needed to do something different. I have less than $500 in the conversion, and it only took a few hours to set up.”
Niebrugge and his son, who farms with him, looked at options such as a drive-over pit. When they settled on a conversion, they started looking for electric motors.
“We looked at tarp motors used on grain hoppers and picked the one with the highest horsepower and lowest speed,” says Niebrugge. “We found the right size wheels on Amazon and ordered two remotes to operate the motor.”
Converting the manual swing-away auger to power required removing the existing wheels. The tarp motor was mounted to the old wheel holes in the auger, and new drive wheels were mounted to the motor’s shaft.
“We wired the motor to the tractor but added a solenoid on the tractor to break the connection so we didn’t drain the battery when the tractor shut off,” says Niebrugge. “We also mounted a battery to the auger so it could be moved without starting up the tractor. It’s a regular car battery, and one charge lasts all season. Pulling a single pin, we can remove the battery bracket from the auger.”
The tarp motor cost less than $170, the solenoid was $19, the two remotes were $34, and the drive wheels were around $50.
“The total with the battery was around $480,” says Niebrugge. “This fall, we used the powered swing-auger on well over 120,000 bushels of grain with no issues. Our son and our hired man reported that it worked flawlessly.”
Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Mark Niebrugge, 20874 N 1700th St., Sigel, Ill. 63462 (ph 217-821-3122).

Click here to download page story appeared in.

Click here to read entire issue

DIY Remote Swing Auger AUGERS Mark Niebrugge’s harvest was smoother after he converted his swing auger to a remote-controlled powered one The conversion was simple and the cost was low compared to buying a new powered auger with remotes for $2 800 or more “My wife has always helped unload grain by pushing the swing-away auger under the hopper bottom ” says Niebrugge “Her arthritis was getting the best of her and she said we needed to do something different I have less than $500 in the conversion and it only took a few hours to set up ” Niebrugge and his son who farms with him looked at options such as a drive-over pit When they settled on a conversion they started looking for electric motors “We looked at tarp motors used on grain hoppers and picked the one with the highest horsepower and lowest speed ” says Niebrugge “We found the right size wheels on Amazon and ordered two remotes to operate the motor ” Converting the manual swing-away auger to power required removing the existing wheels The tarp motor was mounted to the old wheel holes in the auger and new drive wheels were mounted to the motor’s shaft “We wired the motor to the tractor but added a solenoid on the tractor to break the connection so we didn’t drain the battery when the tractor shut off ” says Niebrugge “We also mounted a battery to the auger so it could be moved without starting up the tractor It’s a regular car battery and one charge lasts all season Pulling a single pin we can remove the battery bracket from the auger ” The tarp motor cost less than $170 the solenoid was $19 the two remotes were $34 and the drive wheels were around $50 “The total with the battery was around $480 ” says Niebrugge “This fall we used the powered swing-auger on well over 120 000 bushels of grain with no issues Our son and our hired man reported that it worked flawlessly ” Contact: FARM SHOW Followup Mark Niebrugge 20874 N 1700th St Sigel Ill 63462 ph 217-821-3122

To read the rest of this story, download this issue below or click here to register with your account number.

SUBSCRIBE OR RENEW NOW