Conveyor Loads Pigs Into Pickup

Conveyor Loads Pigs into Pickup HOG EQUIPMENT & IDEAS Hog Equipment & Ideas (351) 11-1-9 A bad back made loading 55-lb. hogs into the back of his pickup a painful experience for Gerald Vandenbogerd, Jordan, Ont. ù until he built a conveyor that loads pigs right into the truck. Vandenbogerd built it from scrap material, except for two belt rollers which he bought new. The rest of the rig is built from an old corn elevator, scrap metal, plywood and rubber belting. It's powered by a ¢ -hp. electric motor. The conveyor rides on a frame and wheels salvaged from an old corn elevator. Nineteen feet of 14-in. wide conveyor belt, fitted around the rollers, elevate pigs up the chute. "I found that it works best to run the belt at about 240 ft. per minute to keep hogs from running down the conveyor. V-shaped lugs on the belting help provide traction," notes Vandenbogerd, who put 16-in. high plywood sides on the conveyor. By moving two pins, he can change the height of the 12-ft. long conveyor to load into different sized trucks. He notes that the conveyor is well-balanced and easy to wheel by hand from building to building. Vandenbogerd's discovered that hogs load better if you load them into the conveyor hind-end first. He installed two stress-easing curtains which hang from the chute and rub over the hogs' back to calm them down and make them load easier. The curtains made of a stiff fabric, extend to within 3-in. of the conveyor belt. One is hung 3 ft. up the chute and the other about 8 ft. up. Vandenbogerd figures he invested about $600 in the conveyor including $160 on a new rubber belt. Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Gerald Vandenbogerd, R.R. 1, Jordan, Ont. L0R 1S0 (ph 416 562-5366).

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