Drives Grain Augers

Drives grain augers GRAIN HANDLING Augers (4) 12-6-2 A pto adapter plate bolted to the wheel rim of a car or pickup works great to drive a bin-fill auger during wheat harvest and eliminates the need for an additional tractor, says inventor Spencer Frost, Monticello, Utah. Frost, who started building the pto adapter plates five years ago, made two sizes for his own use - one to fit both his 1965 Plymouth Belvedere and Ford Bronco, and the other to fit his Chevrolet pickup. To operate the car-powered pto, Frost simply backs up so the car's right rear wheel lines up with the auger's pto shaft. Then he jacks the wheel up about an inch off the ground, removes the tire, bolts on the pto shaft adapter and puts the vehicle in gear. "I started using the adapter because I didn't have an extra tractor to power the bin-full auger," says Frost, who usually runs the car pto at high idle in high gear. "A 15-gal. tank of fuel will fill a 7,500 bu. bin. That's about as much fuel as a tractor would use to power the auger." To make the pto adapter plate, Frost drilled a hole matching the diameter of the auger shaft in the center of a round metal plate sized to fit the vehicle's wheel. Then he welded a 6-splined, 750 rpm pto stub shaft into the hole. Next, he drilled several 1/2-in. dia. holes near the edge of the plate and drilled corresponding holes in the wheel itself. Three bolts hold the adapter plate in place. "The more gears in the transmission, the greater your control of auger speed. The Bronco has six forward and two reverse speeds so I can really slow the auger down. By shifting the transmission into reverse, I can run the auger backward to clean it out when switching between crops or fertilizer," says Frost. Frost says using the single rear wheel to drive the auger while the other rear wheel remains stationary on the ground doesn't damage the vehicle's differential. "I've used my Ford Bronco on an auger for five years, filling three bins totaling 20,000 bu. a sea-son. There's never been any damage to the transmission or differential." Frost sells the adapter plates for $50. Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Spencer Frost, Bo: 1123, Monticello, Utah 84535 (ph 801587-2079).

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