$100 Ideas: Combine Lifts and Battery Chargers

Share your unpublished ideas to join our $100 Ideas Club. The Double Your Money winner receives $200. Other farmers featured receive $100 each.

100 Ideas
100 Ideas
(Farm Journal)

Share your unpublished ideas to join our $100 Ideas Club. The Double Your Money winner receives $200. Other farmers featured receive $100 each.

Peter McKay, Lone Wolf, Okla.

Climbing into my combine was difficult, so a local welder and I used $300 worth of materials including 1" pipe, 1½" angle iron, and barn door tracks to fabricate this lift. It’s powered by a 12-volt, 3500 lb. friction brake winch with wired and wireless controllers. We welded bolts to the roller assemblies to accommodate the vertical application and installed a 20" linear actuator underneath to pivot the assembly. Peter raises wheat, triticale, cotton and cattle.


Combine Maintenance Lift

To more easily access my combine engine, I used heavy-duty tubing to build this 12-volt, winch-powered lift. Wired switches in two locations allow me to raise or lower the platform on a pair of barn door tracks.

Peter McKay, Lone Wolf, Okla.


Battery Charger For All Seasons

Whenever I needed my seed tender, the battery was low. I solved the problem by mounting a 12-volt solar charger to the tender and wiring it to the battery. Now, I never have a dead battery.

Kenneth Waldner, Miller, S.D.


To submit your unpublished idea, which must include a description, photo or sketch, address and phone number, write to $100 Ideas, Farm Journal, P.O. Box 682, Johnston, IA 50131, email $100-ideas@farmjournal.com or fill out the entry form at AgWeb.com/ideas. All published material becomes Farm Journal property.

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