Useless Tip for Most

[Jogeephus]

Though this tip works like a charm I doubt any of you skilled tractor drivers have ever ran their sprayer boom into a corner post as I have thus reshaping the boom into the shape of a wet noodle. (and I wasn't drunk) Straightening this bulky piece of tubing seemed like it was going to take a few hours in the shop until I noticed the stand on the flatbed trailer. By positioning the boom under the trailer and up against the trailer leg I was able to single handedly straighten the boom back with just a few good pulls. The trailer leg and the trailer neck served as a wonderful fulcrum point for both pulls and the length of the boom was similar to using a 20 foot cheater bar. Probably useless information for most people but I will definitely be doing it this way again and I can go on pretending that I'm a talented observant tractor driver with gun barrel straight booms on my sprayer.

 

[ga. prime]

Got it.

 

[grannysoo]

I always seem to break more things when I'm sober...

 

[dun]

My booms are spring loaded and have breakaways, darn good thing!

 

[Earl Thigpen]

My booms are spring loaded and have breakaways, darn good thing!

10-4 on that!

 

[Jogeephus]

My booms are spring loaded and have breakaways, darn good thing!

10-4 on that!

Mine to. I think the metal noodling factor of the boom is somewhat dependant on ground speed. I was spraying a hot mix and did a 180 at the end of the field and the boom caught a corner post in mid turn. I didn't slow down for the turn. :dunce:

 

[john250]

My booms are spring loaded and have breakaways, darn good thing!

10-4 on that!

Mine to. I think the metal noodling factor of the boom is somewhat dependant on ground speed. I was spraying a hot mix and did a 180 at the end of the field and the boom caught a corner post in mid turn. I didn't slow down for the turn. :dunce:

Jo, you don't have "on-off" valves? That would let you slow down for the turns.
I've hit many a post myself.

 

[Jogeephus]

Jo, you don't have "on-off" valves? That would let you slow down for the turns.
I've hit many a post myself.

I fella once told me there is no such thing as an unavoidable accident. This applies to me in this case. Yeah, there are a lot of things I could have done differently but I was in a hurry to skin that cat so I could start skinning a dog. I had made the turn by the fence a dozen times already but..... I'd like to say it will never happen again but I hate to voice false hope. (You don't reckon someone moved the fence on me.) :lol2:

 

[dun]

(You don't reckon someone moved the fence on me.) :lol2:

I doubt it, but it may have jumped out in front of you. I've had trees do that a time or two

 

[backhoeboogie]

Before I got educated I worked construction. When you have to bend boiler pipe with hickey bars, you learn that a hickey bar is your best friend. I have a pair of hickey bars for just about everything. You can straighten iron, pipe, T-posts - you name it.

Boiler tube repairs pretty much require you to move tubes out of the way with hickey bars.

 

[Jogeephus]

Why are they called hickey bars? From bruises?

 

[backhoeboogie]

Why are they called hickey bars? From bruises?

LOL Joe I have no idea. They were bending three inch heavy wall carbon pipe with one the first time I ever saw it. That was 30 years ago and the first time I heard the term. The pipe needed about a 2 inch offset and there is no way to do that with fittings. You can either miter the pipe or just heat it wtih a torch and get a uniform bend. Liquid flows better through the pipe with minor sweeping bends.

I can't tell you the times I have bought damaged tube steel, pipe and the like for pennies on the dollar. With minor effort and two hickey bars, you can make it as straight at store bought. Other times you only need segments of it to weld into something.

I was at TSC in Weatherford picking up some stuff for a friend with my flat bed. There was a pile of bent up cattle panels and sheep panels. I asked the guy there what they were going to do with those. He said, "Some suc ker will gives us $8 a piece for those." I told him to load up every last one of them. The cattle panels are welded to my pen frames and the sheep panels are welded to hog traps. I tacked the corners on and took tiny hickey bars I used to bend rebar and straightened out everyone as I stitch welded them down. I welded the broken wires back too. You'd never know the condition they were in. I think sheep panel was $38 at the time. The cattle panels were somethng around $15. Seems like there were 8 sheep panels in that lot. Those were 20 feet long with 4 inch grids and five feet tall. I'd like to find a deal like that again.

 

[birdog]

Before I got educated I worked construction. When you have to bend boiler pipe with hickey bars, you learn that a hickey bar is your best friend. I have a pair of hickey bars for just about everything. You can straighten iron, pipe, T-posts - you name it.

Boiler tube repairs pretty much require you to move tubes out of the way with hickey bars.

To show my ignorance, what is a hickey bar? Do you have a picture? :dunce: :?:

 

[1982vett]

To show my ignorance, what is a hickey bar? Do you have a picture? :dunce: :?:

This particular model is made to bend rebar
View attachment 1

Another type electicians use to bend condut has a radius on one side to keep from kinking the pipe.

 

[alabama]

I think it may serve better if you could post on "How to prevent hitting a gate post with a spray boom."

 

[Jogeephus]

I think it may serve better if you could post on "How to prevent hitting a gate post with a spray boom."

Never enough time in a day. Seems when you hurry you just spend more time fixing stuff you broke. I thought I had learned that lesson long ago but I guess this was a refresher course.

 

[MrGale]

Bama, theres one in every crowd, eh?
I used to use a big old pipe wrench and a long pipe....busted a jaw or two in my day, but got the job done....anyone know where you can get those hickey bars? :wave:

 

[backhoeboogie]

anyone know where you can get those hickey bars? :wave:

I build mine with heavy pipe pipe tees or just heavy wall pipe.

For the ones I use to straighten T-Post I slotted rectangular tube steel in two directions. They can be used to pull against the flange or spun to pull in cantilever. LOL I have to watch those like a hawk. Anyone who sees me use that pair wants them.

 

[backhoeboogie]

One more thing about straightening T-posts. People on this forum will tell you to use the receiver hitch on the truck, a vise, etc. Just remember, those methods work, but you have to pull the T-post out of the ground first. If a car runs into a T-post and doubles it over, you can straighten it perfectly insitu with two hickeys - without even removing the wire.

 

[MrGale]

need to go hook up the old lincoln and make a set....straightening a T post in the ground just sold me, I used to get an old logging chain and hook it to the post and the 3 pt hitch frame on the tractor....drive off till it looks straight, but with my eyes lately they usually look like someone hit them from the opposite direction.
:cboy: