Cordless Drill Unloads Dump Cart
“I built a dump cart from scratch with a tandem axle and added a hydraulic lift that’s powered by a cordless drill,” says Pat Burrington, a Montana welding shop owner. “Now I can pull the cart behind my 550cc ATV, haul loads that weigh up to 1,200 lbs., and dump them anywhere.”
Burrington made his dual-wheeled cart out of 14-ga. steel using 2 by 3-in. rectangular tubing for the frame. The cart has a walking beam rocker-bogey suspension with 1-in. spindles, a two-way tailgate, and a 2-in. ball hitch receiver. He bought wheels and tires for the rig from Northern Tool that are typically used on a log splitter.
The box lift cylinder has a 2-in. bore and a 24-in. stroke. It’s powered by a .12-cu. in. hydraulic pump that Burrington purchased along with the hoses and fittings from Surplus Center in Lincoln, Neb.
“The hydraulic pump has a 1/2-in. shaft for an electric motor, but instead of that I use my 1/2-in. DeWalt cordless drill to spin the pump and it works great,” Burrington says. “Spinning counterclockwise it easily raises the box in about 10 seconds. With really heavy loads, like wet gravel, I use low speed on the drill.”
Burrington says some people told him “you can’t run a pump backward, but in my experience, a pump is just two gears in a housing, and I don’t think the pump knows which way is forward or which way is reverse. The only difference in the pump is a larger opening for the inlet than the discharge. For my setup, it’s not really an issue because the drill isn’t spinning the motor very fast.”
Burrington says he’s used the drill setup for three years to unload full carts of firewood, dirt, debris and smaller loads of heavy wet gravel and river rock without any problems. “The drill has a 20-volt battery, so there’s plenty of power to lift and lower the dump box several times without recharging the battery. My drill basically replaces an onboard 12-volt battery, a charger, valve and hydraulic power pack unit that would’ve cost me several hundred dollars. My setup is also lighter on the hitch so I can haul more in the box.”
Burrington says, “Anyone who needs to power a small hydraulic system should seriously think about using a cordless drill. The new drills have larger batteries with more power than you think.”
Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Pat Burrington, Rapid Creek Cutters, 130 Garnet Dr., Stevensville, Mont. 59870 (ph 406-642-3155; www.rapidcreekcutters.com).
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Cordless Drill Unloads Dump Cart MISCELLANEOUS EQUIPMENT Miscellaneous “I built a dump cart from scratch with a tandem axle and added a hydraulic lift that’s powered by a cordless drill ” says Pat Burrington a Montana welding shop owner “Now I can pull the cart behind my 550cc ATV haul loads that weigh up to 1 200 lbs and dump them anywhere ” Burrington made his dual-wheeled cart out of 14-ga steel using 2 by 3-in rectangular tubing for the frame The cart has a walking beam rocker-bogey suspension with 1-in spindles a two-way tailgate and a 2-in ball hitch receiver He bought wheels and tires for the rig from Northern Tool that are typically used on a log splitter The box lift cylinder has a 2-in bore and a 24-in stroke It’s powered by a 12-cu in hydraulic pump that Burrington purchased along with the hoses and fittings from Surplus Center in Lincoln Neb “The hydraulic pump has a 1/2-in shaft for an electric motor but instead of that I use my 1/2-in DeWalt cordless drill to spin the pump and it works great ” Burrington says “Spinning counterclockwise it easily raises the box in about 10 seconds With really heavy loads like wet gravel I use low speed on the drill ” Burrington says some people told him “you can’t run a pump backward but in my experience a pump is just two gears in a housing and I don’t think the pump knows which way is forward or which way is reverse The only difference in the pump is a larger opening for the inlet than the discharge For my setup it’s not really an issue because the drill isn’t spinning the motor very fast ” Burrington says he’s used the drill setup for three years to unload full carts of firewood dirt debris and smaller loads of heavy wet gravel and river rock without any problems “The drill has a 20-volt battery so there’s plenty of power to lift and lower the dump box several times without recharging the battery My drill basically replaces an onboard 12-volt battery a charger valve and hydraulic power pack unit that would’ve cost me several hundred dollars My setup is also lighter on the hitch so I can haul more in the box ” Burrington says “Anyone who needs to power a small hydraulic system should seriously think about using a cordless drill The new drills have larger batteries with more power than you think ” Contact: FARM SHOW Followup Pat Burrington Rapid Creek Cutters 130 Garnet Dr Stevensville Mont 59870 ph 406-642-3155; www rapidcreekcutters com
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