This is why I have a dozen conveyors. On the front where you installed that rubber mat I made a piece exactly like you did on the rear out of steel. I made it on a long angle and full length, when a steel bar comes up it lifts it and drops it back down stopping all crap from falling in. Then like you I just flip it up for cleaning out. There is actually supposed to be a round piece of tin over that lower area to protect the shaft. I assume yours wore out years ago and someone just cut it out. It helps to guide the chain links off the sprockets and up onto the floor tin where you pointed out the wear bars. I would also bet that the link caught in that area and broke the chain in several spots. The chain needs to have the correct tension on it to bridge that little gap. This link is to an Amish company near me that builds equipment including conveyors. They have a really durable firewood conveyor. Check out the videos, you can see the flap design I made on the hay elevator video. I'm in the middle of Amish and Mennonite welding shops. Wallenstein, Bauman Manufacturing, Horst, HLA Products, AMI Attachments etc. Even Andrew from Eastonmade is only a few hours from me. www.baumanmfg.com/products?category=Conveyors%20and%20Elevators
Jake - For future reference…when you made the shield at the bottom and put screw eyes and hooks. When you raise it to make repairs or cleaning you have on eye on the trough and for the lid that flips up cut a slot that the eye can pass through and hold it open with either a bolt or a snap ring. That way the lid is against the trough and out of the way. Great video’s guys. Paulie Be.
I would have done the magnet thing but they are probably made in junkina and will have to reglue the magnet back into the metal holder I did . . Good Luck!!
Chris and Jake,I have had a similar chain that started breaking at each paddle as yours is. In our case we were told when you heat up the chain during the weld it makes the link brittle and will break much easier than before the welding. In our case we replaced all the chain links that were welded and bolted the paddles to the chain instead of welding. The breaking stopped. Occasionally one would break but something jammed. For whatever it’s worth. I know it gets frustrating but way cheaper than a new conveyor. Good luck.I love watching your channel.
Thank you for this detailed explanation!! We had a feeling this was the case but weren’t positive given that only the old mounting links were breaking! We have decided to replace all of the paddles with bolted on versions and new mounting tabs!
I was thinking about that and I may! That part sits pretreat far underneath the splitter table so would be tough to catch and ankle but better safe than sorry I suppose!
Hey Jake, I'm not sure if you that cord reel will reach to you bedroom, for you to show your wife that happy dance 😂🤣😂🤣. I'm sorry to hear about the conveyor braking again. Keep up the grind 👍👍
Also, at the bottom of your conveyor, where are you and Chris were talking about the metal catching your chain as it comes off those cogs. Take your cut off wheel and cut a slot vertically on both the left and the right side and bend those angle, iron pieces downward, creating a slope, so that when your chain and your crossbars are approaching it it will not snag🙂👍
Hey Jake, I’m watching your video here where you’re working on your conveyor doing some welding. I noticed you were talking about this new extension cord reel and using it for your welder. I might make a suggestion if you don’t mind, when you’re welding, you want to try to make the cord that you’re plugged into as short and as heavy duty as possible so that yellow extension cord that you had out at your garage door entrance the gauge of that wire appears to be perfect. However, it is way way way too long that is going to negatively affect the performance of your welders ability to perform properly if you can get away with a 25 foot cord or a 20 foot cord you might want to do that, especially using the 110 plug. If you had a 50 amp plug that would be a little bit different.
Thank you! I really appreciate the advice! It’s these little things that I don’t know and need to learn as I don’t do much welding! I will have to order a short lower gauge extension cord for this reason!
@@DudeRanchDIY if you have your electrician buddy, come over and see if you can get a 50 amp plug put right there at the entrance of your garage and you use the 50 amp plug for your welder instead of the 110. You will absolutely be shocked at the quality difference in your welding experience.
Hey Jake you are going to want to round the corners on that new bottom plate. It is just a matter of time till someone gets grabbed by one of them. Otherwise a great solution
You’d have to work pretty hard to get your ankle hit by those corners when the conveyor is under the splitter. That being said, better safe than sorry 👍🏼
Hey guys, have you ever considered going with a belt? You already have a trough type conveyor. A paddle wheel tail drum mounted on adjustable bearings (Rex), and a smooth head drum mounted in standard pillow block bearings would fix these problems. No more breakdowns and pretty much silent running. Gonna cost you some money, but why fight ancient technology?
If the links are catching on the wear plates, cut up an inch along the sidewall and bend it down slightly. Devil's advocate here, the original paddles were riveted not welded for a reason. Movement/flexing. Have seen quite a few hay elevators, 0 were welded. Good idea w the cover plate
Unless I missed something it is not the weld that is breaking but the link. Old links get weak and break Are the cross members to long and catching on something as they come around the bottom sprocket?
Yeah it’s the link breaking I believe from fatigue from being welded. The cross members are not catching on anything that we can see and are not too long.
Retractable extension leads are somewhat evil. The appeal of them is that you don't have to unreel the whole lead. It will of course say on the reel that they should only be used fully unreeled. Without being unreeled they will get hot and I have seen 1 where the insulation had started to melt. The advantage of the circuit breaker on the reel is that the excess heat generated in a partially unwound reel will get the circuit breaker to trip earlier as they are generally a thermal device. Conveyor breakages are heartbreaking. That's what I eventually cracked the sh**s at and gave up cutting wood for a living. I was using a conveyor with fabric belting and almost every week for a year the belt had to be shortened as it would run out of adjustment due to stretch which was being caused by shrapnel getting caught down at the bottom drum end. In the 20+ years since that ended my woodcutting career I have contemplated how to keep shrapnel out of the drum. I have always wanted to try 2 straw brooms spaced slightly apart or 2 rubber flaps with the lower at the height of the conveyor tray and the higher 1 just brushing the cleats.
Didn't get a view of inside the hopper when you were done in the cover, may still need a small rubber flap to keep small chunks from falling down between paddle intervals. Just something without holes in it. Just didn't see what would keep stuff from plugging up between paddles
@@DudeRanchDIY I made the mistake of reading comments first and then watched the video. So the next little story here is for when you get a 220 volt welder.. ------> You can use your clothes dryer breaker to power your clothes dryer and welder separately. All you have to do is have your electrical buddy install a 220 female dryer receptacle beside the panel. Use the wire and breaker for the clothes dryer to feed this receptacle. Then install a male dryer plug on the line that goes to the dryer. This would be plugged into the receptacle except when you want to weld. Home Depot sells an adapter product by AC WORKS called Welder Adapter cord to Dryer Plug for about $70. When you want to weld you unplug the dryer cord and plug in the Adapter to it and your welder. Full juice then. Easier than switching out breakers.
It tore itself up pretty good but cool heads prevailed and improvements were made.
That’s the only way to go!
This is why I have a dozen conveyors. On the front where you installed that rubber mat I made a piece exactly like you did on the rear out of steel. I made it on a long angle and full length, when a steel bar comes up it lifts it and drops it back down stopping all crap from falling in. Then like you I just flip it up for cleaning out. There is actually supposed to be a round piece of tin over that lower area to protect the shaft. I assume yours wore out years ago and someone just cut it out. It helps to guide the chain links off the sprockets and up onto the floor tin where you pointed out the wear bars. I would also bet that the link caught in that area and broke the chain in several spots. The chain needs to have the correct tension on it to bridge that little gap. This link is to an Amish company near me that builds equipment including conveyors. They have a really durable firewood conveyor. Check out the videos, you can see the flap design I made on the hay elevator video. I'm in the middle of Amish and Mennonite welding shops. Wallenstein, Bauman Manufacturing, Horst, HLA Products, AMI Attachments etc. Even Andrew from Eastonmade is only a few hours from me. www.baumanmfg.com/products?category=Conveyors%20and%20Elevators
I’ll check those out thanks! Yea that tin shield was gone a long time ago 😂
Jake - For future reference…when you made the shield at the bottom and put screw eyes and hooks. When you raise it to make repairs or cleaning you have on eye on the trough and for the lid that flips up cut a slot that the eye can pass through and hold it open with either a bolt or a snap ring. That way the lid is against the trough and out of the way. Great video’s guys.
Paulie Be.
I have worked on these elevators over the years. I believe those flights were originally rivetd to the chainlinks
That would make sense
Nice new retractable cord
I would have done the magnet thing but they are probably made in junkina and will have to reglue the magnet back into the metal holder I did
. . Good Luck!!
Yeah the magnets I had were just barely strong enough to hold the flap up so I went with the hook design instead
That is too bad your conveyor broke, but it's nice that you are able to fix it yourself. Great job! Take care 👍
Thanks 👍
Nice modifications Jake. At some point you will make that “last mod” and it will run flawlessly ever after 😊 (at least that’s the plan I’m sure 👍).
Haha I hope so! Thanks for watching, you’ll be a pro by the time you get one yourself Dick!
Chris and Jake,I have had a similar chain that started breaking at each paddle as yours is. In our case we were told when you heat up the chain during the weld it makes the link brittle and will break much easier than before the welding. In our case we replaced all the chain links that were welded and bolted the paddles to the chain instead of welding. The breaking stopped. Occasionally one would break but something jammed. For whatever it’s worth. I know it gets frustrating but way cheaper than a new conveyor. Good luck.I love watching your channel.
Thank you for this detailed explanation!! We had a feeling this was the case but weren’t positive given that only the old mounting links were breaking! We have decided to replace all of the paddles with bolted on versions and new mounting tabs!
Jake you may want to grind and round off the corners before your shins find them. Like walking around your truck and finding the hitch ball....ouch!
This ^^^ 💯
I was thinking about that and I may! That part sits pretreat far underneath the splitter table so would be tough to catch and ankle but better safe than sorry I suppose!
Hey Jake, I'm not sure if you that cord reel will reach to you bedroom, for you to show your wife that happy dance 😂🤣😂🤣. I'm sorry to hear about the conveyor braking again. Keep up the grind 👍👍
Ahaha I don’t think so…
Also, at the bottom of your conveyor, where are you and Chris were talking about the metal catching your chain as it comes off those cogs. Take your cut off wheel and cut a slot vertically on both the left and the right side and bend those angle, iron pieces downward, creating a slope, so that when your chain and your crossbars are approaching it it will not snag🙂👍
We later determined that it wasn’t catching on there at all, but I might do something like this anyway just to be safe! Thanks!
Hope your repairs last for a lot longer this time. Its got to be frustrating!! Stay Hydrated and Have a Safe Day
I hope so too!
Hey Jake, I’m watching your video here where you’re working on your conveyor doing some welding. I noticed you were talking about this new extension cord reel and using it for your welder. I might make a suggestion if you don’t mind, when you’re welding, you want to try to make the cord that you’re plugged into as short and as heavy duty as possible so that yellow extension cord that you had out at your garage door entrance the gauge of that wire appears to be perfect. However, it is way way way too long that is going to negatively affect the performance of your welders ability to perform properly if you can get away with a 25 foot cord or a 20 foot cord you might want to do that, especially using the 110 plug. If you had a 50 amp plug that would be a little bit different.
Thank you! I really appreciate the advice! It’s these little things that I don’t know and need to learn as I don’t do much welding! I will have to order a short lower gauge extension cord for this reason!
@@DudeRanchDIY if you have your electrician buddy, come over and see if you can get a 50 amp plug put right there at the entrance of your garage and you use the 50 amp plug for your welder instead of the 110. You will absolutely be shocked at the quality difference in your welding experience.
Hey Jake you are going to want to round the corners on that new bottom plate. It is just a matter of time till someone gets grabbed by one of them. Otherwise a great solution
You’d have to work pretty hard to get your ankle hit by those corners when the conveyor is under the splitter. That being said, better safe than sorry 👍🏼
Hey guys, have you ever considered going with a belt? You already have a trough type conveyor. A paddle wheel tail drum mounted on adjustable bearings (Rex), and a smooth head drum mounted in standard pillow block bearings would fix these problems. No more breakdowns and pretty much silent running. Gonna cost you some money, but why fight ancient technology?
Trying to keep things as simple as we can, I think we’re close. Just need to scrap the welded paddles and swap for some bolted ones.
If the links are catching on the wear plates, cut up an inch along the sidewall and bend it down slightly. Devil's advocate here, the original paddles were riveted not welded for a reason. Movement/flexing. Have seen quite a few hay elevators, 0 were welded. Good idea w the cover plate
Yeah you will see in a future video that we are most likely going to make the transition back to bolted down paddles
Unless I missed something it is not the weld that is breaking but the link. Old links get weak and break Are the cross members to long and catching on something as they come around the bottom sprocket?
Yeah it’s the link breaking I believe from fatigue from being welded. The cross members are not catching on anything that we can see and are not too long.
Jake the shorted your cord the better the welder will weld
Thanks scheib I’m going to order a low gauge short extension cord for this purpose. Didn’t realize the length had so much influence on weld quality.
Retractable extension leads are somewhat evil. The appeal of them is that you don't have to unreel the whole lead. It will of course say on the reel that they should only be used fully unreeled. Without being unreeled they will get hot and I have seen 1 where the insulation had started to melt. The advantage of the circuit breaker on the reel is that the excess heat generated in a partially unwound reel will get the circuit breaker to trip earlier as they are generally a thermal device.
Conveyor breakages are heartbreaking. That's what I eventually cracked the sh**s at and gave up cutting wood for a living. I was using a conveyor with fabric belting and almost every week for a year the belt had to be shortened as it would run out of adjustment due to stretch which was being caused by shrapnel getting caught down at the bottom drum end. In the 20+ years since that ended my woodcutting career I have contemplated how to keep shrapnel out of the drum. I have always wanted to try 2 straw brooms spaced slightly apart or 2 rubber flaps with the lower at the height of the conveyor tray and the higher 1 just brushing the cleats.
Never thought about the heat aspect on the reel, I will mostly use it for small power tools for short periods of time.
Is there a place for a shear pin so it don't tear it up again?
Usually the detent would pop or the belt would slip, need to check detent adjustment on valve.
Didn't get a view of inside the hopper when you were done in the cover, may still need a small rubber flap to keep small chunks from falling down between paddle intervals. Just something without holes in it. Just didn't see what would keep stuff from plugging up between paddles
I have a rubber flap bolted in there!
👍
Maybe Andrew could lone you one to try ! LOL
😂
Tried a hay conveyor 30 years ago.. if there are two blocks of wood going up and one turns sideways it jams and breaks chain.
Haven’t had this happen yet!
Maybe Andrew Easton will watch this video and send you a Eastonmade conveyor down your way so you won’t have wrench on that old conveyor anymore.
Haha I doubt it! 😂
Always something happening, catching on bottom you'll fix it DIY
Thanks!
👀👀
Orange and blue……that will fix it
I would LOVE one of their conveyors haha this thing is giving me too many headaches…
Your electrical pannel is right by the garage door..electrical outlets shouldnt be at a premium there.
The panel is full
@@DudeRanchDIY o gesus. You can add tandem breakers.
@@DudeRanchDIY I made the mistake of reading comments first and then watched the video. So the next little story here is for when you get a 220 volt welder.. ------> You can use your clothes dryer breaker to power your clothes dryer and welder separately. All you have to do is have your electrical buddy install a 220 female dryer receptacle beside the panel. Use the wire and breaker for the clothes dryer to feed this receptacle. Then install a male dryer plug on the line that goes to the dryer. This would be plugged into the receptacle except when you want to weld. Home Depot sells an adapter product by AC WORKS called Welder Adapter cord to Dryer Plug for about $70. When you want to weld you unplug the dryer cord and plug in the Adapter to it and your welder. Full juice then. Easier than switching out breakers.
Hey what’s the story on the WVU flag in the garage?
I am a WVU alumni of the school of forestry.
@@DudeRanchDIYDude that’s awsome! I’m born & raised in WV, I went to Glenville State but had some buddies in forestry at WVU.
LETS GOOOO!!
@@countryroadslife Very nice! Montani Semper Liberi ⛰️
Cheap Chinese steel😂
That and/or not really designed to be heated up via welding