New to this forum...

[Dandy Dave]

Hello all, I'm not new to HCEA but I am new to the Forum. Some of you will reconize the 1 Cubic foot bucket Shovel I built and had at a number of HCEA shows. :) Dandy Dave!

http://xs840.xs.to/xs840/09255/dandydaveslildigger3329.jpg

[SprueOne]

Wow, very cool.
I see a battery but what else powers this machine?

[Dandy Dave]

It is powered by a 301 series 12HP Kohler off of a 1970 or so Jacobsen Lawn Mower. It works and digs just like the big ones. I fabricated the Deck, Boom ,bucket, Stick, mast, Swing pin, and many other small parts. It walks with hydraulic motors. The undercarriage is from a WA-1 Vermeer Trencher from the 1950's. I had no idea what it was when I got it, as all that was left was the basic under carriage, a pump, valve controlls, and motors to walk it. It had the right stance for a garden tractor size power shovel, and to build a power shovel out of the remains was the first thing that popped into my mind when I saw it. The swing gear and pinion is from a McCormick-Deering horse drawn corn binder and is powered by a hydraulic motor. The hoist is an old Builders winch and is engaged by the electric clutch off of the Jacobsen mower. The power crowd is the forward and reversing cluches off of a rusted out Wayne road sweeper. The chains, gears, and pulleys were from a variety of discarded and scraped machinery. The seat is from an old John Deere Plow. I put this together in 2001 and the photo above was taken at the HCEA Show in Canadaguia NY of that year and was the debue of the machine. It took about 3 years to gather up enough parts and iron, and about 2 months to put it all together. Since then it has delighted many visiters to shows and fairs around the North East and has had one venture to the HCEA grounds in Ohio. :) Dandy Dave!

[SprueOne]

very ambitious project and looks well worth it!