farm elevator

[richter12345]

Any ideas on make/model/year? It is a bridge trussed, cable up elevator. Disregard undercarriage, it is a weld on job from a circa 1930s chevy car I think. low end has a transport dolly wheel axle but metal wheels are missing. Also, anybody still around that knows how to operate these, or of any very unique salvage yards that may have parts? Machine is located on a farm near Falls City, Nebraska.
thanks!

 

[caterpillar guy]

Kind of looks like a little giant elevator. Most wear parts like bearings or chain are of a common availability. Might have to look some but should ba able come up with them like probably is a 1 inch shaft at each end so those bearings are easy to obtain. Pto or electric motor is what you can get around your area. Wheels could be cut off and car spindles welded on for tires of easy access to. Big issue might be padled and you could cut down and weld together over lapped newer style wider ones if needed. I'd worry more about the rust at the bottom inside of the retund section by the bottom shaft.

 

[Alvin 41]

have sold 4 JD elevators recently of similar size and chain but with better cable hoist. Neighbors scrapped several after auctions. Originally used for oats and ear corn ,then baled hay ,then for unloading silage wagons into bunk silos for easy packing with skid loader.That took a 5 hp electric motor and wore out the #62 chain.
Recent sales went for pileing firewood .

 

[Absent Minded Farmer]

Should there be a spot of paint left anywhere on it.... & it is green, it could be a Sam Mulkey.

Mike

 

[paul]

Usually they had a drag on in front for a wagon to unload into, would fold up or roll out of the way to position the wagon.

Looks like it was last used for fore wood, with the top end funnel removed. Often there was a chute that swiveled and extended to channel the flow of grain or ears.

It looks too skinny to have been used for hay bales.

Paul

 

[richter12345]

Thank you all for comments, made me look more into it. I'm guessing it's a mid 1930's John Deere bridge-trussed portable. Been welded, hacked on, modified from front to back, but that was typical of my
grandfather who in the 1950s basically kept a farm running by means of an arc welder and used any available salvage parts at hand. I doubt I could ever get this piece looking anywhere near original, but I am
interested in using it for a hay elevator.

Alvin - Any thoughts on where I could get a good condition John Deere elevator gravity hopper for hay bales (I'm still guessing it's JD elevator, but at this point really doesn't matter) that may be ballpark
match style and year of my elevator? You mentioned you sold a few JD elevators lately, maybe you know somebody who would scrap out a hopper? Likely I'd need to weld/fabricate mounting brackets, but evidently
that is part of farming so I'm not concerned about that detail.

- John

 

[Alvin 41]

John, Not sure what you mean about a gravity hopper for bales ? we used to set the elevator on bales or a barrel and unload directly onto it. I do have a JD gravity hopper used to unloafd cotton seed from hopper bottom trucks, but it doesn't have clearence for bales. there are often elevators on Craigs ,usually Kewanee ,sometimes with fold down hoppers. Alvin

 

[richter12345]

okay, I see. I was thinking some of these old machines has a metal chute that could be cocked at an angle so you could throw a bale on and it would slide then catch on the elevator. I'll follow up on your
suggestion about looking online to see what may be for sale regarding a fold down hopper, that is what I am after.
thanks!

 

[Leroy]

Easy to make what you are wanting, just 2 pieces of angle iron, a piece of sheat metal and some stove bolts. The factory units are just a piece of sheet metal put in a press and bent up a 90* on each side. If you get the steel you should be able to make one in a half hour.

 

[hd6gtom]

Make sure it's wide enough for your bales to go up. Some of the older ones weren't.

 

[Leroy]

A lot never had that top end funnel as it was only needed if using a spout to direct corn into a crib but even then most were not used with that spout. And an 18 inch wide would handle bales laid on edge and they would ride up a steep elevator better than they would layed flat on a 21 inch wide elevator.

 

[paul]

Its really messy trying to put grain into a certain spot, hole in a bin or some such, with the open top as that elevator has. In a big square bin it can work, but a person should be aware its not always the best.

Bales wont work the way the drag attachment is on that elevator, you would at the least need to take all that off. The sides look pretty deep on it to allow bales to ride nicely in that elevator, not sure they would rest down on the paddles to get enough traction. Hard to tell from a pic exactly. I have a narrow elevator with angled sides, bales slide up in it fine, but everything is a compromise - with the angle sides ear corn would want to back feed and leak back down the sides when you leaded it up with ear corn.

Paul

 

[Leroy]

Sounds like A McCurdy that I had. Double chane 9 inch trough with angled sides. We had the for the topend with a chute to drop the corn away from top end of elevator but never used it as did not work with our corn cribs. You laied the bales on a corner in the trough. It worked OK if you did not try to raise it too far then bales woulf like to tumble back down before they got to the top. The McCurdy line of machinery, I think mostly elevators and were a dull shade of red were built at Ada, Oh back in the 50's -60's whem plant closed Ours Dad bought new in about either 1954 or 1955. I later got a grain drag made for ear corn made by same company and it made it easier to get the wagons to elevator to unload the ear corn from hopper beds. That were Kill Bros, made in delphous, ohio and orange, later name changed to underfourth. know name not spelled correctly but is company named in posts last week about tractor tire rims. My 78 year old brain at times just doesn't want to work.

 

[Timmycornpicker]

Unverferth owns the Brent, Kill Bros and Parker brands now.