Garage Door Opener Operates Gate

Garage Door Opener Operates Gate FENCING Gates 23-6-34 I've made several feed bins out of old hog feeders. I unbolt the feed panels from below the funnel portion of the feeder. Then I install a wooden floor withan opening at the middle where I put in a slide gate and spout. I used an old aluminum storm window frame to make the track for the slide gate. I also bolt steel legs onto the sides of the feeder and weld disc blades onto the bottoms for stability. I use the bins to fill baskets and 5-gal. buckets. The photo shows two feed bins, which each hold about 40 bu. I keep soybean meal in one and calf feed in the other. I even made an 80-bu. model by removing the funnel portion from one feeder and bolting it on top of another feeder. I also make a hitch pin locking device that slides over the tractor drawbar and bolts onto it. I use it all the time when baling. There's a short pin on the baler so it doesn't drag on hay in the windrow. The locking device keeps the pin from bouncing out and eliminates the need to use a clip. It consists of a steel bracket with a pair of slots on front and a sliding pin on back. I slide the pin back over the hitch pin and place a clamp over the back slot and around the drawbar to keep the pin in place. To unhook the baler, I remove the clamp and place it in the forward slot, then slide the pin forward. Another idea that works well for me is using an old garage door opener and a remote control to open and close a 14-ft. long gate next to my barn. The opener is mounted under the barn eaves where it stays dry. The opener's chain is attached to a pair of ropes, which run to a steel pipe that's secured to the top of the gate. I keep the remote control in my tractor. The chain pulls the ropes back and forth to open and close the gate. It saves me a lot of steps when hauling manure because I don't have to get on and off the tractor all the time. (Dale Spoerl, 6505 S. Schnitzler Rd., Elizabeth, Ill. 61028 ph 815 598-3277).

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