OK, I have been looking for a conveyor for a while. Due to the cost of a firewood conveyor I went the route of a hay conveyor. It runs off a PTO drive right now but I'm going to put a 3 hp motor on it. It's 24 feet long with wheels and a winch to change the elevation. The picture is with it in the down position. I had to drive 100 miles to get it for $200 of CL. I think it has a lot of potential.
Sweet ! Have thought that would be the tool to cap off most wood cutters arsenal . I can't throw the splits as far as I used too, conveyor would be a big work saver. I look on CL now & then, no luck so far. Actions pictures soon ?
It seems to turn pretty easy, I have not decided yet on the exact HP. I saw a 3 HP motor at Horror Freight and was going to try it. I have to also build a mount for the motor and drive shaft.
How are you going to get the speed right? Most of those are made to run on a 540 PTO at just above idle. A small gas engine is going to need to run at about 3500 RPM.
I have a couple other repairs and project in front of this. I broke or bent a shift fork on my truck transmission, so I am working on that first. I think I should have the conveyor up and going in about a month. I have been having a bit of an issue gripping splits (tendonitis in my elbow) and tossing them so this should help a bunch. I have been moving a couple cords a week to people with fire pits. i'll post some pics when it's up and running.
I may have to reduce the speed by working with the gearing. I am sure there will be some trial and error to get it right.
Nice score, my father in law has a 20' elevator with a gas motor on it. Like yours it was designed to be ran by a 540 pto. It all comes down to gearing. FIL added a hand clutch to engage/disengage the drive. Another addition he made was a "kick stand" to keep the high side up when loaded, most a elevators are designed to rest on a hay loft door or corn crib hatch, so when loaded if they tip it's at most a few inches. But when used to pile firewood they can play tetter-totter without the kick stand. I'll try to get a few pics for ya... funny thing is since he hires a wood processor we only use it to load hay!
I noticed your signature contains the tendinitis terror-"monster maul" Sounds like a good side deal for you. You're about 2 hours south on I77 from me in Wythe county, Va. I know some folks here that have kin in Mooresville, Charlotte areas- they're some "fire pit" types, and nothing more! We WILL need to see your build/completed elevator/conveyor in stunning digital photography and/or video... Plz?
Plenty of folks on here that has experience in these. Two I know off hand, is AJtree88 AND Kevin in Ohio They may or may not help. Congrats and good luck!
24 feet length and another 24 feet or so launch distance sounds like win/win to me. A nice loud thin sheet of tin placed strategically should limit flights at the outbound end of the conveyor.
I am running a 45 ft Kewanee with 1.5 hp electric motor 1800 rpm. With 14 " big pulley and 2.5 " pulley on the motor. Still faster than I would like. To figure belt size I googled belt size calculator and ordered that size of belt. Working on a 70ft belt conveyor this weekend. Hoping to feed the big conveyor with the Kewanee.
Looks like a nice setup. Those are about the pulley sizes I came up with too. I think I could idle the gas motor down to 1200-1500 rpm and be where I need the speed to be. Where did you get those pulleys?
I ordered them from Blains Farm & Fleet. com. A W series Hub and 14" pulley and V series Hub and 2.5" pulley. Hard to find the all sizes at local farm store so I just ordered them. Less diving around looking for parts. The electric motor I took off my log splitter.
