Where would I go to find a retired mech-e to work on a project for a non-profit? 2

[Emmette Kelly]

I run a farm animal rescue, and need to find a retired mech-e, who would be willing to work on an interesting project for the rescue.

I contacted some engineering colleges to see if a student might be interested in the project, but have not yet found anyone.

I figure that a currently employed engineer would not have the time to spare for this, but a retired one might.

Where could I go to locate someone in Massachusetts who might want to help? We need to design an implement for a backhoe that we just bought.

Thanks
Christine

 

[Emmette Kelly]

I live in Central Mass.

It may not be hard metal bits. It could be a rock or ledge or a tree stump. Trying to figure out if you can rig a trip edge on a horizontal surface like the bottom of that backhoe bucket.

 

[Emmette Kelly]

Another question.

You have a sluice gate in a dam. It's a solid, thick, metal plate that slides up and down to let water through. It's held in place on the vertical edges of the plate.

There is a lot of pressure against the plate from water being held back.

The plate has to slide up and down without binding on the edges. It also has to survive being in wet, dirt, and not used every day.

Do you just have stout pins that ride in a slot, or is there some track and bearing that would reduce friction?

What sort of things should I look up?

Thanks

 

[CWB1]

Interesting question. I would stop in to your local Cat or other heavy equipment dealers to ask as you may not be the first to need such a bucket.

Not sure if it would solve your problem entirely, but some FELs have a "float" valve that essentially bypasses the hydraulics (3 point hitches have this feature as well). Normally that is used in back-dragging for light grading, the only force down while moving backward being the weight of the bucket. Using it while moving forward, the bucket is usually being forced into the ground by both the bucket angle and angle of the loader arms.

Going the opposite direction, if you were looking for a rigidly fixed blade then I'd recommend an adjustable or 3-in-1 bucket, the bucket sides clam-shelling up via hydraulics when you need a blade.

Another thing to consider is your equipment usage. Snow plows and mold-boards need to trip to prevent damaging a lightweight implement that's usually being pulled at comparatively high speed. A FEL can take a heck of a lot of abuse and is moving slow by comparison, and lifting either end of the tractor with them is common. I have welded and line-bored many thoroughly abused buckets and loader arms, and am struggling to see the need for a modern trip bucket. Maybe there is something the operator can do differently?

 

[LittleInch]

Emmette (or christine?).

You have the answers to your issue above. You either add some ski like scrapers to the bottom of the bucket to lift the bottom edge up a set amount to clear what ever your obstructions might be, but then you leave a layer maybe 1/2" thick which you can't scrape or you make sure your area is flat and nothing protrudes.

A front end loader bucket is designed to scrape the surface. You can't put anything there which impacts its ability to do that without consequences. Only you or your users can decide if those consequences are worth it or not.

As to your second point please make a new post. This site works best when the title of th epost is clear and you only have one topic on it.

But PTFE strips or Teflon strips bonded to each metal surface sound good, the problem being how to do the bonding... Also there will be a lot of Force on the plate, not pressure unless your dam is very deep.

Look up "weir gates sliding"

Remember - More details = better answers
Also: If you get a response it's polite to respond to it.

 

[3DDave]

HMWPE is much better for this than PTFE, which is soft.