Tractor-Pulled "Cherry Picker"

Tractor-Pulled "Cherry Picker" MISCELLANEOUS EQUIPMENT Miscellaneous 32-6-26 "I built it after reading a story in FARM SHOW. It's a handy piece of equipment and was fun to build," says Dale Verbeek, Red Deer, Alberta, about his home-built, trailer-mounted "cherry picker". "I use my Deere 790 tractor to move it around. It'll lift me up to 21 ft. in the air," says Verbeek. The cherry picker mounts on a 12-ft. long, 2-wheeled trailer and is equipped with three hydraulic cylinders, all of them operated by a 1 hp electric motor that can be plugged into any 110-volt, 15-amp household outlet using a 100-ft. extension cord. The largest cylinder raises and lowers the main boom. A second cylinder is used to extend the basket out 4 ft. The third cylinder is located under the trailer and is hooked up to a linkage system, allowing the boom to be rotated up to 45 degrees to the left or right of center. By adjusting the linkage, Verbeek can rotate the boom even farther to the left or right. The cherry picker can be controlled from the ground as well as from the basket via separate controls. One control lever is used to raise or lower the boom, one to rotate the boom left or right, and one to extend the basket. A pair of gauges beside the bottom control levers show the inlet and outlet pressure on the cylinders. The basket measures 3 by 2 ft. and is self-leveling. Four outriggers can be extended 8 ft. to stabilize the unit. "I used it a lot last summer to paint my 2-story house and to work on the house's eaves troughs. Once I built it, I found it's useful for doing an amazing number of different jobs," says Verbeek. "The 21-ft. lift height is enough that I can step out of the basket directly onto my house's roof. It works great for replacing windows, changing yard lights, trimming tree branches, and so forth. "It took about a year to build working off and on as time permitted. "I plan to add hydraulic motors on the wheels that could be used to maneuver the unit around the yard at low speed, without the need for a tractor. That would make it easier to maneuver into tight spots." Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Dale Verbeek, P. O. Box 26, Site 3, RR 2, Red Deer, Alberta, Canada T4N 5E2 (ph 403 347-9115).

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