Built-From-Scratch Scraper

Built-From-Scratch Scraper MISCELLANEOUS EQUIPMENT Earth Movers 19-1-11 "Once I built it, I found lots of uses for it," 'says E. L. Short, Tahoka, Texas, about the dirt scraper he built to pull behind his 895 Versatile tractor. "I built it to move large amounts of dirt a long distance - up to 400 ft. or so. We've used it to grade fire guards, fill wash-outs, repair terraces and we even constructed a 200-ft. long `tank' with 16-ft. high dirt sides. It took only about 50 hrs. "I had an old 2-ton truck and cut the frame off 3 ft. in front of the rear tires. I welded the front axle to the frame, leaving the wheels on. Then we welded he wheels to the back of the scraper blade so they act as a pivot point. The back end of the truck frame was reinforced to support a power lift cylinder (4 by 22 in.). The top of the cylinder is pinned to an old Big Ox chisel shank. The shank is welded and braced to the scraper blade. "The scraper blade is 18 ft. long and 1/2-in. thick. We cut a sheet of plate steel and then welded it at a slight angle. We used the 2 by 2-in. hollow bars off old cultivator gangs as braces on the back of the blade for reinforcement. We bolted old road grader blades to the bottom edge of the scraper. "We made the ends of the scraper out of 1 1/2-in. plate and use the truck frame to do most of the pulling on the scraper. We used metal H-bars from a wrecked-out plow for bracing. "The scraper blade lifts 8 in. and slowly releases dirt, which makes it ideal for ter-racing, building above-ground lagoons, etc. Once we used it to clear out a fire guard ahead of a fire and it saved a lot of pasture. "We built it for only about $1,000." Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, E.L. Short, P.O. Box 1480, Tahoka, Tex. 79373 (ph 806 998-4257 or 806 924-6670).

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