MORTLACH, Sask. – Many farmers build their grain bins on a bit of a rise so water doesn’t accumulate around them. But then when farmers need to push an auger uphill to a bin, they often need two people.
Philip Simrose said there had to be a better way to move his auger around.
The Mortlach farmer created a ratchet-type mechanism for his auger assist.
“I had the idea about 10 years ago. To move the auger in the winter, I found the best way to do it was put a block under one wheel, pull the auger over, put a block under the other wheel and pull it the other direction. You can sort of walk your auger through the snow. That’s where it came from.”
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Simrose designed a plate with notches or oblong holes around its circumference. The plate is installed between the hub and wheel rim on both sides of the auger.
“Most augers are a 411 hub with the four bolts. You set your plate on the hub, put your wheel over top of that and put the bolts through the rim and the plate. Then a ratchet mechanism U-bolts onto the axle,” he said.
The ratchet has a spring-loaded pin that’s cut off at a 45 degree angle allowing it to run in and out of the plate in one direction.
“You set it so the plate will go by on the 45 degree angle and it will catch when it tries to come back.”
Each ratchet has three positions: forward, reverse and neutral. The neutral disengages the ratchet from the plate so it’s not active and the auger tires can free wheel.
“In most cases, the ratchet U-bolts right onto the cross member where the axle is welded into. It U-bolts onto the square tubing.
Newer Sakundiak augers require an extra plate that is U-bolted to the square tubing.
“Some of the augers have round tubing and I’ll have plates made up for them. On those ones, you have to do some welding to attach them on. There would be a plate you’d weld to the tubing, then you’d bolt the ratchet assembly onto the plate.”
To operate the auger assist, Simrose puts the mechanism into either forward or reverse on both sides.
“You can pull it along in the direction you’re going and if you come to a pothole, trying to move the auger up a hill to the bin, or out of a ditch, you’re holding onto the intake end of the auger, you move it from side to side, use the mechanical advantage of the whole auger to push the auger up,” he said.
“It’ll only allow the wheel to go in one direction, so it walks one wheel forward, then the other wheel forward. You can actually walk an auger up a hill.”
Simrose said people often get the auger up to the chute of the bin, but when they run back to block the wheel, the auger slides out.
With his invention, the auger is held into position, so blocks aren’t needed anymore.
“Then, when you get it inside the bin, if you’ve got a wide enough chute, you can push the auger from side to side inside the bin to walk the auger farther into the grain. You don’t need to get outside the bin to push the auger in. You can do it right from where you are.”
Simrose said the auger assist works particularly well when the auger is raised for loading a bin.
“That’s always the hardest position, when it’s raised right to the top and you’re trying to push it in. You pretty much have to have two people in that situation. This way, you can move it back and forth by yourself and it’ll walk its way up to the bin.”
Simrose sells his auger assist for $225 until the current stock runs out. The plates for the Sakundiak or a round-tubed auger are an extra $20. When he gets the next batch made, they’ll sell for around $250.
For more information, contact Philip Simrose at 306-355-2709.
