Homemade hydraulic loader

gholbrook · December 28, 2013, 06:56:33 PM

Got my plans drawn up and got to work on my homemade loader for my manual lt40. Got loader arms and brackets fabricated this morning while waiting on temp to warm up a little. Not going to final weld until my cylinders get here. My clamp and turner are working great. Thanks piney woods for plans. Here's a pic

Too Big To Fail · December 29, 2013, 12:06:23 PM

nice. I don't feel like I've seen another home made loader build on the forum, and have thought about building one myself if I ever get the time. Is that just 2" 1/4 wall tubing? How much do you expect it will lift?

gholbrook · December 29, 2013, 09:05:13 PM

Yes it's 2" square 1/4" wall tubing for the lift arms and 3" c channel for the feet. I have 3" bore and 8" stroke cylinders ordered. I think it should lift a 2500 to 3000 lb log. I'm going to plate all the joints.

redprospector · December 29, 2013, 11:33:21 PM

You'll probably need to beef up the channel iron some.
I built a very similar loader for a guy here. I'm not sure exactly what happened but the channel folded up like tin foil. He was upset that it didn't work, and I didn't get the chance to try to rectify the situation.
Just don't want to see you go through the same thing, since I've already made that mistake.

woodNthings · December 30, 2013, 12:33:46 PM

Looking good! Does your mill have hydraulics already?
The set on my mill are home made but I tried to clone the WM design. I had too thin of channel and buckeled them once... Make them at least 3/16"

gholbrook · December 30, 2013, 09:07:17 PM

I put homemade hydraulics on my mill a few weeks ago and I am enjoying the amount of time and labor it saves. I making the feet out of 3" channel 1/4" thick. Thanks for the tip a wise man learns from someone else's mistakes. Here's a couple pics of turner and clamp I made.

backwoods sawyer · December 31, 2013, 12:21:34 AM

I am not sure I would use the hydraulic box for a battery box.
I had a fire in the hydraulic box, had to replace everything on that end of the mill, hydraulic fluid and saw dust makes for a quick hot fire.

gholbrook · March 02, 2014, 07:07:02 PM

Finally got my loader arms finished up and plumbed. I used them for a couple of weeks and then got them powder coated. We went and cut up some logs for a customer on Saturday and tested it pretty good. They had some oak logs about 20 inches by 20 ft and the loader did great.

Magicman · March 02, 2014, 09:25:01 PM

Congratulations on your plans coming together.

mikeb1079 · March 02, 2014, 09:29:07 PM

looks real nice, good job. 8)

thecfarm · March 02, 2014, 09:46:47 PM

The loader did great,I bet that made you some happy!!

justallan1 · March 02, 2014, 10:21:21 PM

Those look nice. Do they just flip up on the trailer for transporting?

Allan

drobertson · March 03, 2014, 06:37:58 AM

Very clean! Happy for you, no question about the hyd. assist, makes things a lil quicker. I agree with backwoods on the battery and hyd. maybe a baffle plate can be put between the two? Nice modification! david

gholbrook · March 03, 2014, 09:21:14 AM

Yes Allan they flip up for transport

pineywoods · March 03, 2014, 09:41:19 AM

Very nice job. Post some drawings with dimensions.. I recognize the blue/green piece...Nice job there too.

bedway · March 03, 2014, 12:13:23 PM

Where and how much did you get the hydraulic unit?

Peter Drouin · March 03, 2014, 12:25:30 PM

Now THATS a nice job smiley_clapping

Ga Mtn Man · March 03, 2014, 12:30:01 PM

A first-rate job and I'll bet you saved a bundle!

I agree...move the battery. You're gonna need the room for a second pump anyway.

gholbrook · March 04, 2014, 10:39:09 PM

Quote from: bedway on March 03, 2014, 12:13:23 PM
Where and how much did you get the hydraulic unit?

I picked up hydraulic unit on c list for $75.

MSSawmill · March 06, 2014, 12:06:30 AM

This isn't far down our list of upgrades. Very nice job!

5quarter · March 06, 2014, 09:11:11 AM

Quote from: Peter Drouin on March 03, 2014, 12:25:30 PM
Now THATS a nice job smiley_clapping

Ditto that!

Iwawoodwork · December 16, 2018, 12:04:11 PM

I would not remove anything from the battery/hyd box, I would just weld in an metal partition/firewall plate between the battery and hyd unit, then mount a battery disconnect on the outside of the box along with a fire extinguisher nearby. I like to have fire extinguishers on each piece of my equipment, and large machinery anyway.

charles mann · December 16, 2018, 04:16:29 PM

Quote from: Iwawoodwork on December 16, 2018, 12:04:11 PM
I would not remove anything from the battery/hyd box, I would just weld in an metal partition/firewall plate between the battery and hyd unit, then mount a battery disconnect on the outside of the box along with a fire extinguisher nearby. I like to have fire extinguishers on each piece of my equipment, and large machinery anyway.

that and maybe add some ceramic wool on the hydraulic side to help shield the system from heat if something happens.
i was building a knife from a hoof rasp and had my rosebud torch running full blast inside a tube of 2" cerwool that i just rolled in a circle and i could lay my hand on top of the wool. not sure how warm the wool was, but it was much less than the temp of hot water from a 120° water heater.

Fordfarmer · October 12, 2020, 10:49:22 AM

gholbrook, I know this was an old post but I hope you are still out there. I am working on a hydraulic loader very similar to yours. I hooked up the hydraulics to test the function and it works but the cylinders do not move in sync with one starting well before the other. Loaded and unloaded. I see that you tied both your lift arms together (just like Woodmizer). Will this cause the cylinders to react together or did you install a flow control valve to regulate lifting speed?