BRANDON – Bernie Toews has seen it happen.
Farmers buy a bigger auger and the yard seems to shrink. Trees, utility poles, buildings, culverts and other obstacles seem to pop up in places where there once had been enough open space to manoeuvre.
“I found it frustrating one day to reverse the tractor and auger for half a mile on a public road,” said Toews, who farms at MacGregor, Man.
He resorted to the reverse tactic after he found it impossible to drive a tractor towing an 80 foot auger into the narrow driveway, which was flanked by a row of trees.
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He said having to reverse his tractor and auger down the road was the last straw.
“That’s when I decided it was time for steering on our augers.”
In addition to farming, Toews runs a side business called Triple Star Manufacturing, which has come up with a system to steer auger wheels.
Auger-Steer puts a steerable knuckle between the original auger axle and the original spindle-hub-wheel-tire assembly. The same steerable assembly goes on both ends of the original axle.
Bushings in the knuckle are a hardened polypropylene. Toews said there is no metal-to-metal contact, so the bushings should never seize.
“Augers never see the inside of a storage shed, so you have to build components that will spend their life outside in the elements.
“There’s also a safety factor here. Once the knuckles are installed, your auger has a wider wheel stance of nine inches on each side. It’s a lot more stable.”
A hydraulic cylinder actuates tie-rods attached to both steering arms, similar to a normal power steering system. The hydraulic cylinder plugs into an existing hydraulic remote already on the tractor.
“Now you steer the auger instead of the tractor to get around tight spots and set the auger exactly where you want it. Manoeuvreability is advantageous when filling Quonsets and aligning the auger spout to the bin port. When you drop your swing auger, the weight shift often moves your spout six to ten inches.
“With Auger-Steer you steer the auger wheels hydraulically from the tractor as much as one foot in either direction without moving the tractor.”
Toews said that the power take-off U-joint stays in alignment and is not affected by the repositioning of the spout. The risk of damage to the p.t.o. shaft is reduced. Steerable auger wheels also save time.
When filling quonsets with semi-trailers, the operator positions the tractor near the side of the building and steers the wheels of the auger to keep the spout in the centre so the shed is filled uniformly. As the grain pile reaches the spout, he said the tractor pulls straight ahead without having to realign the spout.
Toews said that moving the auger from one bin to the next often requires very little tractor movement because steering wheels on the auger allow considerable lateral movement.
The easier conversions are on Buhler type augers where the spindle attaches to the end of the axle with two matching square steel plates bolted together.
Installing the Auger-Steer knuckle requires the removal of four bolts and inserting the knuckle. The steering arms and hydraulics are then installed. On other auger types, Toews either replaces the entire axle from one side to the other, or bolts new square axle tubes to the ends of the existing axle.
Auger-Steer prices start at $1,350 for Buhler type augers.
For augers that require new axles, the prices start at $1,500.
At Brandon Ag Days held Jan. 20-22, Toews won first place in the Inventors Showcase.
For more information, contact Bernie Toews at 204-685-2045 or visit www.triplestarmfg.com.
