Salt spreader vibrator

[snowjoker]

Has anyone made one of these from a car starter? I read it many moons ago on the other site and may possibly rig something up.

[BRL]

I posted about that. A sub of mine did this. Bought a $20.00 or so starter at the junk yard & welded a piece of metal onto it so that it was unbalanced. Works great with his single axle dump with hydro tailgate spreader.

[EZSnow]

can a starter handle continuous duty like that?

[wyldman]

A starter motor will do the trick.You don't need to run it all the time,just enough to shake the salt loose.

I have made a few in the past,and they work OK.Just make sure it's well mounted,as one of the ones I made came off after the nose cone broke off.A brace or strap to secure the rear of the starter body would prevent this from happening.

[snowjoker]

What would you recommend to weld on the starter? I tried a 1/2 inch nut and it barely shaked when i put juice to it. And should i cut the aluminum piece off the end of the starter?

[BRL]

I'll try to get a look at the one my friend made this weekend. If I recall correctly he did take off the aluminum part. The piece of metal he added was about 3"-4" long by an inch or so wide and was around 3\8" thick. Give or take a little LOL.

[snowjoker]

Here is what I came up with.It's a chrysler starter BTW There are 2 berrings on the geared shaft underneathe the housing so i should not need any support in top. Had to weld the long piece on it this morning to get the results I wanted but works prety good.

[snowjoker]

another

[CPSS]

I'd fabricate a shield around the ofset weight in case it breaks free when spinning. Could be a missle.:eek:

[snowjoker]

I just got a 4 inch piece of pvc to put over it, will be doing it tomorrow:D

[topgunlandscaping]

ok guys help me here i have this problem that my salt is boring a hole and it isnt falling after the hole is made by the auger, so i want to make one of these contraptions, how does this work i see in the pic that the bar is on the out side do u only run it for a few sec to smack the hopper? what about drilling a hole in the bottpm of the hopper and inserting it inside the hopper?? well anyways please advise me on how i can make one of these

thanks

Rich

[snowjoker]

I had the same problem that is why i made the vibrator. I have to run mine as soon as i turn the spreader on because i am using bulk salt.

[BRL]

That bar doesn't hit the hopper. It is just set to be off balance from the starter, so it vibrates from not being correct, which shakes the hopper, which knocks the salt into the hole hopefully. You can also buy a vibrator specifically made for these applications. Some of the online suppliers are selling them, and your local dealers should be able to get them as well. You can also do a google search to find other companies selling vibrators that will work for these spreaders.

[JohnnyU]

Walt-
Do you have any pictures of the vib after you added the PVC pipe to it?

[snowjoker]

John No I don't Had all day yesterday to do it but never did lol. After i get in from plowing i am gonna work on it. Im just gonna put a piece of 4 inch over it and zip tie it to the hopper frame. I will get some picks when I get too it.

[topgunlandscaping]

how did u wire the starter?

[snowjoker]

I have a selonoid on the front fender next to my battery, and a toggle switch in the cab. I ran an 8 Gauge wire to the starter.

[urethane dino]

www.karrierco.com

[topgunlandscaping]

did you use a seperate selonoid? if so did you just run the hot from the selonoid to the swithc and then from the switch run a power to the motor and a ground to the switch? whre can you find a switch that has a acc a power and a ground that can handle that much power??

[snowjoker]

There is a power in from the battery to the selonoid, and another power out to the vibe. On top of the selonoid is a place for a small wire which i ran a wire to a toggle switch, which turns the selonoid on and off. BTW yes there is a seperate selonoid.

[topgunlandscaping]

can you take a picture of how you have it wired or write a diagram for me i dont want to screw this up thanks

rich

[CPSS]

A heavy wire (#6gauge or larger should work) from one of the large terminals on the solenoid, either one will work, goes to a fuse or circuit breaker, then directly to the pos battery terminal, The other large terminal on the solenoid attaches to another piece of #6 wire and runs to the large terminal on the vibrator/starter. Be sure the frame of the vibrator/starter motor is grounded with a large wire. A small wire (#16 or 14) brings 12V power to the small terminal on the solenoid. This can come from a switched source in the truck, through a small pushbutton switch. If your solenoid has 2 small terminals, you might have to ground the other one.

When you push the switch button, 12v flows through the coil on the solenoid, pulling in the contacts, allowing 12v to flow through the big wires to the vibrator/starter motor.

[CPSS]

I made up a nice schematic diagram on a program called "CircuitMaker" but can't figure how to paste it here. I've printed it on paper and can FAX it to anyone that needs it.:confused:

[topgunlandscaping]

can you copy and paste it and email it to me
rjemmers@wideopenwest.com

[BRL]

I made a quick drawing of what CPSS described so well.

[topgunlandscaping]

thank you so much

[topgunlandscaping]

ok i got the starter/vibrator mounted on the spreader. now i want to power it up and i have run into a questions for the "vibrator" gods? The starter i have to use has 2 Lugs one with out any thing on it and one with a wire going from one side of the starter to this lug. then there is a spot where a blade connector goes? I hooked a wire with a female blade connector and ran that wire and when i put a ground to it and power to the lug with the wire on it it works well if i do the same just reverse it with using the ground same thing, my question is when i wire this from the selonoid which lug to i use for power and which one do i use as the ground and wheat is that wire that the blade connector is on used for. also when i was bench testing the different way, ity would stay running all the time it kept sparking at the connection( using a battery charger) and if i touch the case when i was grounding out the blade wire and touching the case with positive it works.. ok i know this is long but i want to make sure i get the point i am trying to make

[snowjoker]

Just run the ground to the starter case, (mounting bolts) Then run the power lead to the one and touch the lead to what ever one turns it on and wire it there.

[JohnnyU]

Hey Walt, Can you get be a picture of the vibrator with the PVC sheild on it? Just next time you are outside with it, or just next time you take plowing pictures, I just wanted to see how large the whole unit was. I am thinking about making one, but I nave limited space for it, meaning I might have to spring for a 'real' one due to their smaller size.

Thanks!:grinz

[snowjoker]

I still haven't done the shield yet :headwall . But tomorrow I will do it and post a couple picks.

[snowjoker]

Here you go John It took a whole 15 minutes to make.

[snowjoker]

top

[snowjoker]

installed pic

[snowjoker]

.

[snowjoker]

Great Stuff filling the cracks

[snowjoker]

last one

[phoenix827]

Ok, I'll bite. Whats the pipe for? Did I miss something? (probably!):D

[JohnnyU]

Walt- That looks pretty good!!!

But it ended up being bigger than I thought, I'll have to come up with something else for my application.

Phoenix, the pipe is a shield around the bar that swings on the starter shaft, to prevent injuries should you get too close, or if the bar were to break.

[snowjoker]

You are half right about the protection from the piece of metal coming off. The other reason for the pipe is to help keep the snow/rain off the top of the motor as the bearing is exposed to moisture. I put some motor oil on it yesterday to help keep the bearing working.

[topgunlandscaping]

ok guys got mine on finally, works great, now the question? why does it cause my battery gauge to drop almost half way from where it is at when i turn it on? i have a 160 amp alt and dual batterys running so i shouldnt have any problems??

thanks

Rich

[snowjoker]

The starter motor draws ALOT of juice that is why it drops so much. Mine does the same thing. It will be ok. The volts should come right back up after you turn the vib off.

[CPSS]

The idea is not to leave the vibrator on, but just to turn it on for a couple of seconds to "shake" the bridged salt loose.

[snowjoker]

Just wanted to bump this up since BRL make one as well. Maybe someone could merge both threds together??

[wyldman]

They shouldn't really be merged,as they are two separate threads.I can cross link them though,so people can find them easier. :D

Click here (http://www.snowplowing-contractors.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&postid=56850) to go to the other thread.