Convert Gravity wagon to grain cart?

[sargentsausage]

First time with a real crop. Got 120 ac. corn to pick and only a gravity box for hauling to the semi. Can't afford a grain cart so been thinking about rigging up a hyd auger to get it up in the trailer. Anyone ever did this with any tips? Also does someone make a kit for this? And is a 6" auger big enough? Thanks for any help!

[Shaggy98]

I'm guessing that with that setup you will never keep up with the combine. Might be easier to dump combine directly into truck. Having the proper equipment as truly as asset. Not trying to burst your bubble, just stating the facts. Good luck.

[buckfarmer]

Get a 10x31 load out auger set it at the truck. You could run it off a spare tractor or find one with a motor on it. Six inch is defiantly not big enough. I think most grain carts have 12 or bigger. Also 12 in auger would require to much power to use hyydraulics. Remember a twelve is four times bigger than a six.

[Jim Meade / Iowa City]

I agree with others that the fastest way is to dump from the combine into the semi.  The semi probably won't want to sit that long.  Next, I'd get a truck auger as was suggested and enough gravity wagons to hold a semi load.  Keep them loaded for fast semi turnaround.

I'm in about the same boat - can't justify the size tractor or grain cart I'd really like.  I've toyed with the idea of a truck with a gravity box on it, but don't think it would pencil out, even if it was an old junker that was not licenses for road use.

The big thing with pulling wagons is stopping them safely.

I don't know if you can lease or rent anything to make this work for you or not.

[buckfarmer]

120 acres of good corn through wagons is going to be some work however you do it. 24000 bushels? Even if you have 400 bushel wagons. That's a lot of augering,hooking, unhooking, and climbing on and off a tractor.

[sargentsausage]

Guys, thanks for the input. My dilemma is that these 120 ac. Are split between 6 different locations, each with their own logistical challenges for carrying grain to the truck. Last year I did auger directly into the semi with the soy but even the smaller volume makes for alot of trips in and out of the crop. My hauler will spot the trailer till full and will be approx 2 hrs between drops. I'm running a 6600 with tank ext. so I thought if I could empty twice into the wagon and send him to unload into the truck I could keep combining till he got back. Even if I have to wait 5 min I can just stay parked in the crop. I was running 18-22 min per dump with the soy, so if I could cut the cycle time by 2/3 or better, the crop will come out much faster. I've hatched a plan (uh-oh) to put a 10" PTO driven swing away auger under the slide gate of the wagon. I'm thinking of a couple pillow block bearings and shaft from the tractor back, to a zero-90 gear box. Then a u joint on a telescoping shaft from the auger to the gear box, so she can slide when I swing the auger. The auger shaft end will go thru a cheek bearing in the catch box which will be pin mounted so it can rotate. And of course a chain custom adjusted to length to hold up the other end of the auger. By now you're probly thinking " what HAS that boy been smoking? He should be sharing!! That hair brained idea ain't worth a handful o spit!" Anyway, I gotta do something. Halp!

[Husker-J]

We've done something similar.  We have a 6 inch auger that attatches to a gravity wagon, hydraulic driven.   Ours has to run at such a steep angle to reach in a semi, it barely runs.

Far better to set up a PTO auger at the end of the field, and shuttle wagons to it.  I know it has been mentioned to get a short one, but honestly, find the cheapest one you can buy, rent, or borrow.  Longer isn't a bad thing, unless ridiculously long.   However, an older auger many farmers may have behind the shed that doesn't quite reach their new bin, would be perfect, even if it has seen a lot of use.   Even an 8 in auger with worn out flighting can move grain fairly quickly when it is at a shallow angle.   That is what we do, use our old 44' long 8 inch auger to fill a semi when we run out of space, and want to haul to town straight from the field.   We have 3 300 bu gravity wagons, and that along with a full combine bin (another 150 or so) more than fills a semi hopper.

[Jim Meade / Iowa City]

I just did what Husker suggested.  I have an old 8" 61' auger I bought for $1500.  I used it yesterday to flll a semi from 5 wagons sitting full in the field.  It went pretty quickly, as the auger can run quite full.  The bigger diameter auger the better, of course.  A 10" will move  160% of what an 8" will.  As Husker said, I bet you can find 8" all over at consignment sales.

[farmerguy89]

Buck, your wrong about hydraulic augers over 12"

My cart is run soley by hydraulic motors. The motors are run off 3/4" hydraulic hose and my flights are 14 or 15".

I have no hinges on the augers. So I can swing the arm back and forth during unload. One auger feeds into the other.

Don't underestimate hydraulic power. It runs huge construction equipment.

[buckfarmer]

Wow I don't mind being proven wrong. I've never seen one like that. I don't see how you could get enough flow to turn an auger that big with any speed. Does the 3/4 line go through the quick couplers on the back of you tractor. If so they would start to limit flow even if you tractor has a big enough pump to run the auger with any speed. You are correct about hydraulic in other applications doing tremendous amounts of work. And agriculture engineers could, and are starting to, design equipment to do more hydraulic work.