Hefting 65 pound bags of canola seed to the top of an air cart is a pain.
The Seed Hawk bag lifter is designed to alleviate that pain with a hydraulically controlled platform capable of handling 550 pounds, according to Seed Hawk president Pat Beaujot.
The parallel linkage arms attach to the air cart frame. A single hydraulic cylinder lifts from ground level to the loading position on the catwalk.
“The whole device is a very simple option,” Beaujot said.
“The arm is less complex than other designs we considered. It’s a simple parallel arm with a long cylinder to provide the stroke. It’s nice because it tucks away behind the catwalk in transport so it doesn’t interfere with everything else that’s going on. It doesn’t add any width to the machine.”
Read Also
Stock dogs show off herding skills at Ag in Motion
Stock dogs draw a crowd at Ag in Motion. Border collies and other herding breeds are well known for the work they do on the farm.
Beaujot said the pickup backs to the correct spot at the rear of the cart and the platform comes down to where it’s needed.
The operator manually loads the bags to the platform and then sends the platform up to the loading point on the catwalk.
The lift device is used only when the drill is stopped for a fill, so there is plenty of hydraulic capacity available at that time.
Beaujot said Seed Hawk began considering the lift when its customers began asking for dual access catwalks so they could descend to either side of the cart.
Competitors already had the dual access feature, he said, so he decided it was time Seed Hawk had the same.
“Our old catwalk came down the back and you had to crawl under to get to the other side of the seeder,” he said.
“The new catwalk comes forward toward the hitch, then you can go off to either side. That left us room at the back for a bag lift, so everything happened at once, one of those rare occasions an idea worked the first time.”
The bag lift moves only up and down; there is no side-to-side swing action. It has an adjustable link on the arms to accommodate different tank sizes when attaching the lift.
All new Seed Hawk tanks are built with the necessary mounting points. However, the lift is available only for recent carts.
“If you bought a machine three or four years ago, you can buy the new dual access catwalk,” Beaujot said.
“You can’t install a bag lift unless you have the dual access catwalk. The lifter doesn’t take up too much space, but you have to remove that back ladder to make room for it.”
For more information, contact Beaujot at 306-538-2221 or visit www.seedhawk.com.
