Giant Combine Loader Reaches 27 Ft High

Giant Combine Loader Reaches 27 Ft High COMBINES Conversions 18-3-40 Robert Garton, Moundville, Mo., wasn't satisfied with the commercially-built hay loader he used for his custom hay business so he built his own giant loader out of an old Gleaner A2 combine. "It stacks bales 27 ft. high and safely lifts loads up to 27,000 lbs.," says Carton, who built the giant loader five years ago. Carton stripped the combine down to the frame and axles and replaced the original engine with a 350 hp Ford 460 industrial gas engine that mounts on back. Loader arms are raised or lowered by a pair of giant 3¡stage, telescoping cylinders that pivot at the bottom. Each stage of the cylinders adds 4 ft. A 60 gpm hydraulic pump mounted on the engine crankshaft provides hydraulic lift power. There are two transmissions - a 4-speed Allison automatic and a 3-speed manual transmission. The 6-ft. high, 30-in. wide front flotation tires are off an old combine and are mounted on home-built wheels. The small 16-ply rear tires are new. "We use it all the time to load bales or machinery onto semi-trucks and to stack bales in our barn," says Carton. "It's well¡balanced and works like a loader mounted on the back end of a big farm tractor with reversed controls. When the cylinders are fully extended the loader arms stand almost straight up. It can stack small square bales 13 high and round bales four high. "I looked at a lot of other loaders and did a lot of thinking before I built it. I needed a loader that could handle more weight and stack bales high to take full advantage of our 150 by 300-ft. hay barn which is 40 ft. high at the peak. None of the loaders on the market reached high enough for us, or if they did they were too light on the back end, making them unstable. I've used my loader to lift a 9-bottom DMI variable pitch mold¡board plow weighing 19,000 lbs. onto a semi trailer. No matter what I pick up, the rear wheels won't lift off the ground. "I made 10 different quick-tack attachments for it including a bucket, round bale spike, pallet forks, bale grips for plastic¡covered round bales, and grapple forks designed to handle 18 small square bales at a time. We use the grapple forks to unload bales from our self-propelled automatic bale wagon. I also made a telescopic boom attachment for it that can lift loads about 30 ft. ahead of the loader and over a wall. We can use any of the attachments on our two other loaders. "We often haul the combine loader with a semi truck to other sites. One problem in transport is that a protective steel cage surrounds the operator and is 13 ft. high at the top - too high when loaded on a semi truck to fit under highway bridges. We solved the problem by building the cage with four telescoping posts that are raised or lowered by a pair of hydraulic cylinders, one on each side of the cage. The cylinders drop the cage 3 ft. making it highway safe. To lower the cage, the operator pulls a pin from each post, then leaves the engine running and operates two valves from the ground. When the cage is completely lowered the top of the cab just touches the steering wheel." The cage cylinders are powered by a hydraulic pump that also operates the power steering. A ladder and guard rail on back of the loader is used to enter the cage, and an 80-gal. fuel tank mounts under it. Carton bought the giant loader cylinders used from a Tulsa, Oklahoma company that makes them for garbage trucks. The bottom stage of the cylinder is 6 in. in dia., second stage 4 in. in dia., and third stage 3 in, in dia. Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Robert Garton,Rt.l, Moundville, Mo.64771 (ph 417 922-3265).

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