Conveyor build

Amazing fabrication. Truly a project. Can't wait to see it in action.

 

Now I'll start on the lifting system. Had a coupon so I bought a 20 inch stroke 8 ton jack for $50.00. Hoped this one would work on it's side but no dice. Some brands do others don't so I'll have to do some tear down and see what is up.... or why it won't go up!



Took off the piston/plunger and there were 2 passages. One for incoming, the other for outgoing. One check valve on incoming side and they use a washer to hold the ball in place. Gravity seats it after sealed piston draws fluid in by vacuum preventing the fluid from going back. BINGO!



Here's a close up. First time tearing into one of these and I can see why it doesn't work on it's side now. I just need the ball to seat after the fluid is drawn in.



I'll try adding a real light pressure spring between the ball and washer. Found a spring in the junk drawer that looks to be what I need.



Fit perfect in the hole and is right for the ball as well. So far so good. Put it all back together and it works! Tested it with a chain wrapped around and develops pressure just fine. He shoots, he scores.



With the jack looking like it'll work I'll start on the pivot mounts for it. Got a couple 1/2" scraps off the pile and laid out some lines. Double cheater bars here doing the cutting.



Rounded the corners using an old patter from another project. saves me time as I'm not that good at freehanding things.



Got the 2 sides of the lower mount the same by touching up with the angle grinder. Then, While still together I drilled the .875 hole for the pivot pin. Cleaned and beveled the weld are. Next is the lower mount for the jack.



Back to the scrap pile again. Cut what I needed with the surface grinder and this is all the pieces. Basically going to trap it in position with one bolt so I can use the jack for other stuff if needed.

 

Welded up here and it slides into the plate on the lower side. Going to weld pieces under all this for the pin to go in. That will be the pivot point.



Top side is just a single bolt and it'll keep it trapped so it doesn't come loose. Should make it easy to take on and off.



Being that these fit so nice I broke out the TIG welder. Yeah a little rusty and I need more practice.



Went all the way around the bottom as well. Not really needed but easy to do.



For the pivot mount to the bottom of the plate I went to the scrap pile again. Found this piece of 1 inch flat stock and just needed to true one edge. Cut it off and will drill the hole next.



After drilling and chamferring it I welded it the jack mount plate. Put 2 passes on it and this is the second pass.



Lower mount is complete and now I'll get ready to weld on the brackets made earlier.



Marked a centerline and then 2 lines for inner edges of the 2 pieces. Put a pin through the 2 holes and clamped the 2 brackets and pivot together while it is held up into position. I also added a cereal box thickness spacer for clearance. Bracket welded here and weld looks funny as it was vertically welded and smoke clouds it over.



Put the pivot in with the pin and installed the jack. I'm working out how and where I'm going to put the upper mount. This needs to be pretty stout.

 

I again want this to be a bolt on affair to the conveyor so I can change if need be. Got some 3/8" angle and drilled them to line up with existing holes. Got some 5/8" strap to make the center section and drilled a 5/8" hole in the center for the jack's pin to go through.



Bent the straps in the press and welded the inside of the bend. This stuff was heavy enough it pushed a pretty good divot in there. worked the 40 ton a little on those!



Attached everything on the conveyor and after it checked out, I tacked it all up. Then took it all apart and bench welded everything.



Here is one half of the mount. I'm going to trim the corners and probably add 2 straps in the middle to the lower framework so there will be no chance of it pushing this up.



Underside view with it installed. I'll make up some spacers for the center but washers will work for set up. I drilled the holes for the straps before putting them back on. You can see the corners have been cut as well here



1/4" straps made up and put on. They have a bend at the top and a slight twist to get them to line up with the lower brace. Good to go now.



Pardon the mess! It works! This will get me over the hump and honestly probably good enough for most of what I'll use it for. It's 6 1/2 ft high on the end and 25 inches on the other. I'm pretty sure the winch will take it up from there as I have a decent angle now on the lower arms. I'll have to release the jack's pin to do so.



One issue I do have is that it is light at the hitch. Need about 200 lbs more weight to the front at this moment. I'll get all the gussets in, install the winch again and see where I'm at. I'm also going to move the electric box to the bottom side. It weighs around 30 pounds and that's a doubler as I'm taking weight from one end and putting it at the other.



Rollers look fine as well. They are at their lowest adjustment point here. Sitting on the hitch and that is fine by me.

 

Looks great Kevin... that upper jack bracket is a thing of beauty!

 

Strengthened up the front arms to correct my error I did with the pivots. I'll put a gussets under as well.



The electrical box and wires were all routed on the outside of the conveyor and I need to take care of that when I swap ends. First up is to make up a schematic of the wiring before taking anything off.



I think I can just use the existing wiring and just switch it around. They are all the same gauge. I may swap some of the fittings to make easier on the wiring(less bends)



Found a good spot for the box and cut a piece of box with angled ends. This doubles as a strengthener to both the winch and the hitch too which is a bonus.



Left the existing backing plate on there and used holes that were all ready there. Just drilled the 2 holes in the box tubing and it's nice and solid.



On it's side but works out better for wire routing. You can see here it should be out of harms way now. I'm going to do the same with the switches but I have to make them easy to reach so it will be a trade off with that.



Cut some heavy angle for the switch box. Want to protect it from any damage. Welded that to a piece of strap to be bolted into existing holes.



Out of harms way but still easily reachable. Would like them on both sides but will run this for now.



For the other ends switch I took 2 pieces of heavy angle and cut them equal length. Cut them on the surface grinder so they were a perfect pair. Then TIG welded them together.

 

Mounted the box as far as I could towards the end. I just used what length they had so no rewire or added cost. Just about right anyway so we'll see.



Wanted to go a little heavy on these in case of a roll off and such. Chain drive sticks out just a little farther than the switch so I mounted it sticking out at that position.



Now I am going to make some stops for the lift/safety arms. They will lock the arms in position by holding the rollers in place. This way I can also detach the cylinder at it's peak stroke to raise further with the winch. Hole sawed a hole off center in some strap.



After cutting it down the center I cut the angles on the surface grinder. I zero the wheel to chuck and downfeed. Shut off and rezero for wheel wear and finish. Normal it is in 2 pieces with a dead true edge.



One for each side done and next is to make the bottoms that these will be welded to.



Cut a couple of 1/4" straps and clamped a 3rd on top. I'm doing this for a drill pattern to transfer the holes to the rail. I'll save the pattern if I ever want to add a stop hole location in the future.



Drilled the 3/8" holes in the straps and got back to the keepers. I ground 2 slots in each piece to clear the 3/8" bolts head.. Used the surface grinder for this.



With both of them ground I will weld them to the straps.



Both of them done now so I will next drill the holes in the rail. I show you how I get holes to be true and save mistakes.

 

I slide the drill jig in place and line up the sides. Then C clamp it down. Self centering and where they need to be that way with no measuring.



Once they are drilled I get a thick piece of scrap and drill the same 1/*" size hole into it on the drill press. You can use an oak board in a pinch as well.



Slip the drill through the drill guide and your hole and clamp it down. Now you have a guide that will keep everything straight and true. This works very well and I have been doing it for years when you can't get it to the press or have a Mag drill. Cheap and easy. Really good to do when drilling for tapping.



Just where I want them!



This basically locks the rollers into position and not all the weight is on the jack while in transport.



Got some 1/2" scraps and made a pattern for the cable mount in the front. I laid them together to make them the same and drilled as before. Using a bolt for a pin. Heavy relieved the edge where it gets welded to the front hitch assembly.



Welded on here and turned out how I wanted. Hitch mount is plenty strong and a great place to pull from.



Put in a few more cross braces on the front section. Need more weight anyway so no big deal.

 

This is for putting in the hitch hole when you have it clear on the ground. That way the hitch won't dig in the dirt and it'll slide around easier if needed.



I just drilled a hole in the large round on the lathe and TIG welded the pin on the bottom so it was flush.



Lynch pin keeps it in place



Drilled another piece of scrap and welded it to the side for a mount.



Quick, easy and handy.



Wanted to put some safety chains on it. I drilled an 1 1/4" hole through the gusset.



Got a short length of 1 1/4" round stock and drilled/tapped it for a 1/2" bolt.



Then I welded it in the hole.



Bolted the chains on and good to go. Going to make up some hangers for the chains now so they don't drag around when not attached to a pulling vehicle.

 

Bent a couple U's as before and drilled the holes. Tapped them in and welded on the inside.



Keeps everything tidy and fast to do so.



Going to make a tool box holder next. Need the weight anyway and had a plastic tool box that was given to me so why not? Cut up some 3/8" angle iron for a surround and welded it up.



I'll bolt it on using the mounting plates for the lift arms. 1/4" bottom oughta hold it



Box fits nice and will mount it underneath. Want to keep it out of harms way and flush. I'll have to make up something to hold the drawers shut too.



Bolted it on and ready to put the box in.



Just how I wanted it, simple and clean. Came up with an idea for the hold in/drawer lock so that is next.



Got a heavy bar of stainless and drilled the hole close to the edge. I then reamed it to 7/16"



a pin I got some 7/16" stainless rod. I spun ground the ends and ground a slot over half way through to the exact size. Flatted the sides some on the long rod to make it basically a press fit. Holds itself together that way so it's easier to TIG weld.

 

This is how build threads should be! Awesome job Kevin in Ohio!

 

Drilled the mounting holes and cut it off the bar. I then ground radii on it so it won't have hard corners to catch me.



TIG welded the handle up.



All done now and keeps everything in place. Pull the pin and the drawers open or you can pull the whole box out to get into the top compartment.



I like it!



Moves like a dream on concrete. I think this feature will come in handy loading stuff and you can do fine adjustments without having to move the truck or trailer. Nice to have options.



Finally got around to drilling out the 90 degrees axle locks. Using a 3/8" long bolt that I cut the threads off of. Just a simple drop in pin that way.



Had a big cast iron bar that has been laying around here for years. Decided to use it for front weight. Cut it in 3 pieces and will bolt these on as well.



I'll add them near the front and the angles will follow the front mount to the hitch. I'll weld this plate in the center and bolt from underneath. This will hold them in place.



Drilled 2 holes in the center and drilled/tapped the center piece of cast as well. Adds over 100 pounds and one less thing to trip over in the scrap pile.

 

With the balance issue worked out took her for a test lift. With the tires like this more weight is to the front. 2 people hanging couldn't get it to even flinch. Higher up makes it even better. About 7 ft high at the lowest point here.



With everything checking out fine it's time for disassembly and final welding. Supported the far end and raised the conveyor with the hoist on the other end after unbolting everything.



I can then just simply pull the whole running gear out. This is why I made it bolt on.



Need to add some gussets here and there too so I'll do that now. Plus I can roll it around/over for easier welding. Cheat when you can!



Gussets all tacked in. Weight is a non issue on the front end so only helps.



All the welding done now so it's the pain of cleaning, smoothing to get ready for paint. Not my favorite part of any build, that's for sure.

It's going to take a few days to get it all smoothed and cleaned. probably paint it in 2 sessions. Not spraying it, just brush and roller as I just want some kind of protection from rust on it. I'll post some paint and finish pics of it then.

 

I couldn't agree more with DexterDay ... Kevin in Ohio , this build of your's is not only impressive, but is very instructive for those wanting to learn how to fabricate things with their welders and chopsaws at home. Your attention to detail and comments along the way are first class stuff. Nice job!

 

I'm gonna go ahead and call it... BEST BUILD THREAD, at least it's the best I've ever followed! Kevin In Ohio not only is this thread interesting, detailed and informative... it's also inspirational, your level of professionalism and craftsmanship make me want to strive for the best I can do. I've always believed if your going to do something, do it right.... This is an example of doing something right!

 

Thanks guys, i appreciate that you can get something out of it. I've picked up some ideas/tricks by looking through build threads and it always seemed kinda selfish not to pass the stuff you have learned, along to others. Lot of trial and error too from just not knowing but at least you find a way NOT to do it! I too fell into the idea of just wanting to rush and get it done in my earlier years to an extent. Found out quickly in normally comes back to haunt you from the " I wish I woulda's".

In doing something like this I have found that keeping a log also keeps me going on it. Kind of an accountability thing I guess as others are watching. working 7 days again so time gets tight but I try to do something everyday on it. Paint is about half done now.