Hay Handling Loader Made From Chevy Blazer

Hay Handling Loader Made From Chevy Blazer TRACTORS Loaders 30-6-29 "It's an ugly looking duckling, but it makes a great hay loader that doubles as a rake puller," says Leonard Sjoberg, Okemah, Okla., about the "Blazer loader" he built using the chassis and running gear off a 1970's 4-WD Chevrolet Blazer. Sjoberg makes his living baling and selling hay. He uses his "Blazer loader" to stack round bales four high in his barn, to load round bales onto semi trucks, and to pull either a 12-wheeled, 20-ft. wide V-rake that rides on four wheels or a side delivery rake. The machine's frame was built out of 2 3/8-in. dia. oilfield tubing, with extra heavy 2 7/8-in. dia. tubing used for the loader arms. It's equipped with a pair of self-leveling forks that can lift round bales a little more than 12 ft. high. The loader is raised and lowered by a pair of 2 1/2-in. dia., 3-ft. stroke cylinders, which operate off a hydraulic pump that's belt-driven off the engine. The forks are made from 2 3/8-in. dia. oil field tubing. The rake is pulled by a 2-in. ball that's mounted above the forks. The ball mounts on a bracket that folds up out of the way when not in use. The loader is equipped with a 3-spool control valve, so the same hydraulic circuits that operate the loader are also used to raise and lower the rake wheels and to fold and unfold the wings. The rake folds to an 8-ft. transport width so if Sjoberg wants he can use the rig to pull both the loader and rake down the highway, using a towbar mounted on front of the loader. Or, he can pull the loader and rake together behind his Dodge 1-ton pickup using a fold-up towbar that mounts on back of the loader and swings down for use. The driver sits on a sideways-mounted seat. "I just turn my head left or right to see what I'm doing," says Sjoberg. He stripped the Blazer down to the frame and running gear, keeping the automatic transmission and 4-WD transfer case. He replaced the car's original engine with a 6-cyl. 250 cu. in. one. He modified the rear suspension by installing a 4-in. dia. cross member just ahead of the rear end, then mounted a single heavy duty spring across the rear end. A length of 2 7/8-in. dia. tubing extends from the rear axle housing up to the front spring hanger on the frame. "The system provides suspension but not independent suspension, which makes the loader stable and also results in comfortable ride. The rear end can go up and down but not independently, which gives me a solid platform for a loader," says Sjoberg. He installed a metal floorboard and also a firewall behind the engine. The steering wheel mounts above the engine and has a series of three U-joints in it. "It's a handy rig - I use it a lot," says Sjoberg. "It works much better than a tractor for loading and stacking bales because I have a better view and therefore a better feel for what I'm doing. Also, because of the spring suspension it rides great. I've had a lot of compliments on how fast and neat I can stack hay with it. "Even though the seat mounts crosswise it's easy to drive. The steering wheel, brake pedal, gas pedal and gearshift are all located as natural as driving a car. I use a joystick control to operate the loader. For both loader and rake-pulling work, most of the time I run the transmission in 4-wheel-drive low gear, which has a top speed of 35 to 40 mph. I had to relocate the master brake cylinder because there's no firewall or cab to mount it on." Sjoberg says this is the third Chevy Blazer he has converted into a loader. "I traded one away but still use the other two. The last one I made has self-leveling forks, which makes it a lot easier to load and unload bales. The Blazers I've used were built from 1973 to 1979." Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Leonard C. Sjoberg, Rt. 2, Box 77C, Okemah, Okla. 74859 (ph 405 944-5966).

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