"Lazy Susan" Turntable For Hopper Bottom Bins

"Lazy Susan" Turntable For Hopper Bottom Bins GRAIN HANDLING Accessories 29-1-10 Unloading grain from hopper bottom bins into 5-gal. buckets can be backbreaking work, because you have to continually bend over to place buckets under the center of the bin. Kenneth Swindle, Sarcoxie, Mo., solved the problem by putting together a "lazy susan" turntable like you'll often find in kitchen cabinets. The turntable bolts to the side of the concrete pad under a bin and holds up to 10 buckets at a time. "It eliminates the need to get down under the bin. I just set the buckets on the turntable, rotate it to fill, and then rotate it back out to bring the filled buckets back out to me. There's much less back strain when lifting a bucket next to you than lifting one under the center of the bin," says Swindle. An 18-in. long piece of 1 1/8-in. dia. pipe extends about 1 in. above the concrete. A 1-in. dia. shaft on the bottom of the 4-ft. dia. turntable fits into it. Curved pieces of strap iron welded to the top of the turntable hold each bucket in place. "It takes only about two seconds to fill each bucket," says Swindle. "I use the bin to hand feed weaned calves. It cost me less than $50 to build. My turntable works faster than using a load-out auger and is also safer because there are no turning shafts or augers to get caught in." The idea was a finalist in the National Farm Bureau invention contest. Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Kenneth R. Swindle, 1579 Jewel Road, Sarcoxie, Mo. 64862 (ph 417 246-5736).

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