[aegt5000]

I am into my spring vacuum cart project and need some info
from anyone who uses one.

I am going to mount the blower and engine on the cart rather
than the tractor. I believe the tractor mount would have been
a cleaner setup but decided the ease of getting rid of the whole
cart and blower in one easy step was too good to give up.

I purchased the blower to deck hose adapter (funnel) and the
deck discharge to hose adapter from Agi-Fab’s online parts store.
Both their 5Hp and 8Hp setups use these parts. These pieces use
a 6” hose to connect the deck to the blower. I will be using a new
but damaged 8Hp MTD blower that I got on e-bay.

My questions are:
1) Does anyone have a set-up that uses a hose larger than 6” ?

2) Any consistent problems with 6” hose or deck adapter clogs.
(I realize there may be occasional clogs)

3) How do you manage the extreme difference in the distance
between the deck outlet and the blower inlet when you are
in the “Jack-knife” left and right positions? I understand the
hose is corrugated, but the difference in lengths is huge.

4) Does anyone have a source for this hose besides the folks who
make these vac-carts?

Thanks

 

[guest2]

aegt5000
I have the 8hp chipper/vac from agri-fab. It works real good, the cart itself could be a little stronger maybe but I've loaded it to it's full capacity over and over and nothing breaks. As for holding the hose there is this angle shaped pipe that sticks out of the blower housing and sticks out on the right side, on the end of it is a square plate with a few holes in it . They supply a bungee cord that hooks into this plate and cradles the hose. The only problem I've had on real tight turns is the rear wheels of the tractor rub against the tongue of the wagon and when it gets wedged like this it really digs into the drawbar on the tractor. I could probably take some pictures of it in the shed if that helps, just let me know. As for the 6" hose clogging, only occassionally, but if you use it a few times you'll get the hang of it. What I've done to unclog it (always seems the clog is in the middle) is remove the hose from the vac and install the other hose on the vac and use one to vacuum out the other, it's a lot faster than trying to find something to snake through it. (I have the hand held hose also) I think any hose wider than 6" would decrease the suction but maybe it would work.

 

[aegt5000]

Sixchows..

No clogging problems ?

Does the 6” connecting pipe REALLY expand and compress that much
or is the length geared for the “long” (full left turn) requirement and the
hose just kind of “Bows Out” when you are in the “short” (full right turn)
position.

BTW it’s great having access to your input again.

 

[guest2]

aegt5000
Good to see you here also! It doesn't expand and contract, it's just long enough to go full left and then hangs in that bungee cord the rest of the time. I have it connected to my 50" deck on the craftsman and have never had it clog when using it from the deck. The only time it has clogged on me was when I switched off to the hand held and stuffed it into a huge pile. It pulls really fast so if you hold it at the edge of the pile and let the machine do the work it hardly ever clogs. How soon do you plan on getting started with this project? Like I said before, I could get some pics easy enough except it's kind of muddy right now, can you wait a day or two?

 

[Greg]

I think Chipmaker built his own vac. Maybe he'll post here with some help. Here's a link to his original thread:

http://www.tractorforum.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1070

Greg

 

[Chipmaker]

Well I have a home brew cart myself in addition to a Crapsman badged Agri Fab 8 hp. The home brew impeller fan housing is 7" diam. The agri is 6" To get your length of hose you need make a hard left turn which would stretch the hose to its max length needed. Thats your hose length you need to buy. SImple. In the hard right turn the hose sort of folds over or bows out. It is supported of a upside down L bracket of round steel bar stock that suspends the hose approx 2 feet outward of the blower housings side inlet. This support is able to swivel in a socket made out of a piece of tube or pipe. I have only ever had one clog on my home brew with 7" duct. It has tons more suction than the Agri Fab does, and I can use to pickup debris without the need of assist fropm the mower deck running. The agri fab has to have the mower deck in operation or it will not pick up much except loose paper etc.

Check some industiral supply houses. The hose I use is made by Goodyear and also some other company and is a clear polyurethane with a green spiral molded in it of a harder type plastic. Its is completely smooth on the inside and si corrugated on the outside. Its clear. It goes for about $8.00 a foot for 6" in this area. The manufacturers of the vac carts get a heap of money for a hose that is not anywhere the quality of this hose I use. Its just a dry materials handling hose, with external corrugations so just ask for that. It comes in a avariety of thicknesses to, so watch that your not quoted a price on some really heavy duty stiff hose. Its the same exact hose Cyclone Rake sells.

I don't know what Agri Fab charged for a deck adapter, but IMHO its hard if not impossible to beat a Trac VAc custom made adapter instead of ther one size fits all adapters. I have yet to have a clog with it, and its a piece of cake to remove with just one pin to pull. Your original defelection shield on the mower deck can even stay in place. Before when I used agri fab boot, I used ot get tons of junk that would collect in corners of the boot and eventually lead to a clog.

If your handy with a MIG welder and can cut basic shapes, the TRAC VAc adapter would be a piece of cake to duplicate and fit to a deck, once you see how its made. IIRC they make them from 14 ga steel which is easy to work and quite ridgid.

When the agrid fab was operational when I got a clog with it, I just pulled the pin and held up the end of the duct, and it usually cleared itself. Only took a minute to unhook and hook back up, without tools.

I can suck up wet stuiff with the home brew but stuff has to be dry for the agri fab unit. I like doing it when its damp or wet as it just about eliminates all dust that is usually made when doing it dry.

 

[aegt5000]

Thanks guys

I have a better understanding of how the hose works now.

Sixchows, I still have some snow on the ground !! No hurry at all
but any pics you can post will be appreciated. Just take your time
I am in the early stages and won’t get to the hose’s for a while.

Chipmaker, Wow! When I said I’m making a vac-cart I didn’t mean
I was actually making it. My God man, you actually made the blower
AND the cart ?

Greg..Thanks for the link to Chipmaker’s orig. post.

I am only piecing together store bought stuff and fabricating a new
double tube tongue with provisions to support the blower. Also need
to make a ball hitch adapter for the tractor, because the cart
will use a ball hitch at the end of the new tongue.

 

[Old_Nodaker]

Here's another idea that will eliminate the changing length of hose problem. Trailer is hooked solid to the tractor and has swivel wheels. The problem with this setup is you have a lot of swing on the back when dodging obstacles.

 

[Chipmaker]

Ridgid mount to tractor and swivel caster type wheels on the trailer is how Cyclone Rake makes theirs. Its a good diea unless you have lots of trees and tight manuvering. I played around with swivel type for a bit befopre going to the typical standard wheels and axle, and it was harder than heck to get up close and personal around trees, unless you made a bunch of eccentric type circles over and over, or hit the tree at four different positions during the course of cleanup.

 

[Ingersoll444]

Ya Chipmaker, I could REALY see myself taking out the house with THAT one. Right now I just have a bagger setup hooked to my vac. Works good, but does not hold much.For me the vac attaches to the back of the tractor, and is hydro powerd. I REALY have too rig up some kind of a cart to increase the size of the load. Good thing is all I have to do is rig the hose. the vac head is already fixed to the tractor.

 

[Chipmaker]

Taking out the side of the house literally!

Ingersoll: You mention you would hate to take out the side of your house, but I have to admit, I did it. Back in 1989 I was remodeling my house inside and out. Had most of the inside done, and was just about finished up on the outside except for some brick work I had to do yet. I was helping a fellopw on his farm at the time and had access to his equipment when I needed it. My brick arrived via of tractor trailer instead of the usual straight bed truck I had requested delivery with, as my drive does not have a lot of access, and the amount of brick needed was small enough to carry on their straight truck. Well, after many attempts to get the tractor trailer in my driveway the driver said he would just set the cubes of brick along the roadway as he had to get moving on. I said hold on, and I ran up and grabbed a Ford TW35 that had forks already mounted on the front of it. It had dual rear tires, but the outer tires were removed at this time, and the inner wheel assemblies were moved to their furthest inside position. I unloaded the bricks and moved them to where I needed them, and jumped out of the tractor after having parked it between a tree and the corner of the house, to make a quick run to the little boys room and then go take the tractor back. Jump back in the tractor and start off , felt a slight bump, bvut did not pay it much attention, and kept on going. The right axle sticking out went cleanly through the corner of my house, popped out studs, new sheetrock, and the wifes new curtains, new window, new siding as well. Made a pretty decent mess. Never hurt the tractor axle though, and it was pretty quiet when it did it, just a slight bump not really wotrhy of looking to see as it was so slight. The TW35 is a 4 wheel drive and totally enclosed. It was winter time and it was already starting to get dark, and all I did was look to make sure the tire cleared the trees and the corner of the house and forgot about all that extra axle sticking out there.

 

[Ingersoll444]

DOHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Got to HATE when that happands.