Self-Propelled Feed Mixer

Self-Propelled Feed Mixer LIVESTOCK Feeding Equipment 34-3-4 Samuel Yoder used an Allis Chalmers WD 45 to self propel an old stationary TMR mixer. Ideal for use on the concrete between silos and feed house, it's easy to maneuver, and is sized right for his small dairy herd. Best of all, if he quit dairying tomorrow, he could put his WD 45 back together and be out in the field a few hours later. "When I started milking about five years ago, I needed a mixer," recalls Yoder. "Combining an old, unused 2120 Knight TMR with the WD 45 on a steel frame gave me power and a way to get from one silo to another." The frame is a simple rectangle welded from 7-in. channel iron and reinforced by the tractor and mixer frames. Yoder bolted the weight bars of the 2120 Knight to the rear half of the frame. This kept the scales functional. In order to mount the WD 45 and use the pto to drive the mixer, Yoder removed the rear fenders, wheels and seat. He needed to make room on the rear to mount a big no. 60 sprocket on the pto shaft and position it flush against the front of the mixer. The front end of the WD 45 bolts to the front of the channel iron frame. Large U-bolts over the main axle secure it to both sides of the frame. Without a seat, Yoder needed to be able to control the self-propelled TMR from the ground. To do so easily, he lowered the unit's frame. He replaced the rear tractor wheels with a set of cut down centers. "I wrapped steel around a set of old wheel centers," he says. "They let me kneel on the frame and control the tractor with my hands." He also removed the wide front end and installed a caster wheel at the unit's rear. The homemade caster wheel lets Yoder steer the unit with the brakes. The wheel is two, 1/2-in. round steel plates bolted to each side of the caster mechanism. To power the TMR, Yoder ran a #60 roller chain from the sprocket on the pto shaft to the drive shaft of the mixer. The rotation was wrong, so he had to make a special bracket with tightener to reverse the roller chain direction. The chain runs up one side and then back down around the mixer drive sprocket before returning to the pto. "The chain doesn't slip, even when I stall out the WD 45," says Yoder. "The only thing I can't do is to weigh the feed as I mix it. The pull of the chain throws off the scales." While the TMR/WD 45 has its limitations, such as not being able to easily drive off concrete, those are outweighed by positives. "The overall length is less than if I had a trailer mounted TMR, so it's easier to get into tight places and back up to silos," says Yoder. Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Samuel Yoder, 2692 540th St. S.W., Kalona, Iowa 52247 (ph 319 679-9744).

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