Iowans Build 450-Bu Tag-Along Grain Cart

Iowans Build 450-Bu Tag-Along Grain Cart GRAIN HANDLING Wagons (63E) 18-6-17 Richard and Michael Throne, Scarville, Iowa, wanted extra carrying capacity for their 1990 Case-IH 1680 combine so they could make a full round in the field without stopping to unload. They solved the problem by assembling their own 450-bu. "tag-along" grain cart that's filled by the combine's unloading auger on-the-go. Once the cart is filled, it's unloaded by its own auger that's hydraulically controlled from the combine cab. A hydraulic motor mounted on the combine's rear axle is plumbed into the combine's hydraulic system. (It direct-drives a pto shaft that powers the tag-along auger as well as a short length of auger mounted across the cart's bottom). To unload the tag-along cart, the opera-tor flips a switch in the cab to start the hydraulic motor, then uses the combine's hydrostatic drive lever to control auger speed. A 2:1 heavy duty gearbox gears the hydraulic motor down so that the pto shaft runs at 1,000 rpm's. Hydraulics from the combine's hydro-static reel are used to fold the unloading auger and to operate the bottom dump gate as well as to operate orbit motors on a pair of small leveling augers mounted across the top of the cart. This cart allows us to harvest a lot of corn without hiring additional help to drive trucks or wagons and reduces soil compaction by eliminating trips through the field," says Richard. "It lets two men harvest 1,200 to 1,300 acres - one runs the combine while the other drives truck. It also eliminates considerable wear and tear on wagons since they don't have to be drivien into the field to meet the combine. We go 4 to 41/2 mph depending on conditions. We built it six years ago for our Deere 7700 combine, then switched it to our Case-IH combine when we traded combines three years ago. To hook up the cart all we do is drop in a pin on the tow bar and attach the pto shaft and two hydraulic hoses. Using a hydraulic motor to power the pto shaft works better than a mechanically-driven gearbox because it's simpler and costs less. We salvaged the hydraulic motor from an International 815 combine. The combine and cart hold about 750 bu. when full, yet it's easy to pull the cart in the field. The leveling augers across the top of the cart move corn to the back of the cart so it can be filled to maximum, if necessary, when opening fields or making rounds greater than 1/2 mile. We transfer grain from the combine to the cart on-the-go so that the cart is full by the time we finish a round. The cart and combine can be unloaded simultaneously, or independently. "We mounted extra mirrors and lights on the combine that make it easy to see what's happening during unloading and to make it easier to back up or turn." The cart is an older United Farm Tools model. The Thrones mounted sideboards on it to increase the capacity and used sheet metal to extend the front of the cart so the combine unloading auger can reach it. They also mounted an extension on the unloading spout (not shown) and widened the wheels out so they straddle four 30-in. rows. Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Richard Throne, Rt. 1, Scarville, Iowa 50473 (ph 515 568-3374).

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