You have reached your limit of 5 free stories. A story preview is shown instead.
To view more stories
(If your subscription is current,
click here to Login or Register.)
Powerful Hydraulic Shear Cuts Railroad Ties
Railroad ties are notoriously difficult to cut up so when Art Linsenmeyer was offered a free stockpile of them, he knew he'd have to get creative in order to find a use for them.
"They tore out a railway line near me and I ended up with about 5,000 ties," he says. "There are some good ones that I'm able to sell
..........
You must sign in, subscribe or renew to see the page.
You must sign in, subscribe or renew to see the flip-book
Powerful Hydraulic Shear Cuts Railroad Ties WOODLOT EQUIPMENT Miscellaneous 33-4-6 Railroad ties are notoriously difficult to cut up so when Art Linsenmeyer was offered a free stockpile of them, he knew he'd have to get creative in order to find a use for them.
"They tore out a railway line near me and I ended up with about 5,000 ties," he says. "There are some good ones that I'm able to sell but I decided to use the rest for firewood in my shop furnace. Since ties would ruin a chain saw or buzz saw blade, I started looking at another way to cut them up."
The Wymore, Neb. man came up with a powerful hydraulic shear that slices through them like butter.
"So far, I've cut between 500 and 600 ties, each into five pieces," he explains.
Linsenmeyer's shear uses a 4-in. dia. by 24-in. long 3,000 psi cylinder and a Chevette engine power plant, hooked onto a 10 gal. per minute hydraulic pump.
"The bed of the shear is an 8-ft. piece of 8 by 8-in. H-beam, and the knife's located between two 1/2-in. plates that are roughly 12 in. wide. These plates support the knife and the cylinder. They're cut in such a way that they keep the tie from slipping out as the knife comes down," he says. "The knife itself is a 3-ft. section of 1 by 8-in steel, sharpened on one side. It does stand up quite well but the first couple knives that I tried weren't thick enough and had a tendency to bow."
The unit has a rack on one side, onto which Linsenmeyer loads 10 to 15 ties at a time with a skid steer loader. He then rolls them one at a time onto the H-beam bed so he can push them into the knife.
He mounted the rig on 2 wheels and put a hitch on one end, so it's portable.
"I guess I've got almost $300 invested, but I figure the firewood should last me about 20 years," he says. "The unit has a cycle time of about 15 seconds so I can make about 4 cuts a minute."
Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Art Linsenmeyer, 907 East G., Wymore, Neb. 68466 (ph 402 645-3743, cell 402 228-6089; al54323@windstream.net).
To read the rest of this story, download this issue below or click
here to register with your account number.
