Al Hernke is one of those well-seasoned farmers who’s never seen a piece of junk metal that can’t be made into something worthwhile. He’s built handy gadgets for his shop, lawn mower and farm chores that save time and reduce back strain. Although Hernke can’t use a welder because of his pacemaker, he can still use a torch, drill holes, and bolt things together, as he’s done on several projects, including his latest.

“We had an old 25-in. dia. and 25-in. deep Terragator rim behind the shed, and after looking at it several times while mowing lawn, I decided that it was just the right shape to make into a small tree spade,” Hernke says. “I cut about half of the 3/8-in. steel away from the rim,  then sharpened the half-moon outside edge to make a cutting scoop.”

Twelve bolt holes on the hub remained intact, so that became the reinforced mounting bracket that he used on a skid steer plate from an old dairy barn floor scraper.

“The steel frame of the old scraper was plenty strong, so I torched off the blade and the mounting points,” says Hernke. “I used the rim for a template to mark the bolt holes, then drilled four 7/8-in. holes into the 2 1/2-in. box frame.”

The rim scoop is bolted to the mounting plate using 3 1/2-in. grade 8 bolts.

Hernke uses his shop-built spade on a 300 Bobcat. He says the 25-in. rim is just the right size for digging out small stumps and making holes to plant small trees he can retrieve from their woods. The scoop can dig a nice round 25-in. hole about 24 to 28 in. deep. He uses hydraulic down pressure to force the spade into the ground about 20 or more inches on one side of a circle, lifts it out, then does the same on the opposite side and lifts the dirt out.

“It’s definitely not as fancy as a factory-made tree scoop, but it works just fine for me,” Hernke says.

Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Al Hernke, 37020 Cty. 1 Blvd., Cannon Falls, Minn. 55009.