Sheep weigher

[wyn]

Spent a bit of time over the last couple of days sorting out the floor and sides of a sheep weigher.

The original wooden floor wasn't up to much and the angle iron supporting it along with the box section corner uprights had rotted through.

So the plan was to replace a bit of the box, use chequer plate for the floor and do the first 6" of the sides with a bit of 5mm flat.

A few pics..

The floor gone and rotten supports





The main frame...the other box bit hangs off the scales with some arms to keep everything steady





Upside down in the shed chopping bits off. The green moldy side was replaced




Rotten corners



Some new bits stuck on





Finnished with a new sheet stuck on one of the sides



The only problem now is it all weighs 30kg more than original. It has a knob on it to zero the dial but it won't take up 30kg.
The pic sows it at zero but that was by repositioning the needle and it bottoms out at 70'ish kilos instead of 100kg.
I think i'll have to put on an extra spring somewhere to compensate for the 30kg.

 

[Drains]

Ah. No good for the fat sheep any more!
You'll be needing a 30kg weight hanging from a pulley set above the weigher as a counterbalance then
Bet you wish you'd had some lighter gauge sheet in stock.

 

[wyn]

Yeah ! a bit of a pain but the bloke i'm doing it for realised it was going to be out when he wanted the chequer plate and thicker sides.

A pulley and lump of steel could well be the easiest way of sorting it.

 

[madkayaker]

could you stick some big spring under the frame to take up some of the weight

 

[mike os]

they dont really want it for weighing the sheep you know....

 

[wyn]

they dont really want it for weighing the sheep you know....

Managed to sort the 30kg by putting a bit more tension on the springs in the weighing unit. The cross bar bit that everything was attached to was bottoming out on the casing.

This is it in bits to machine one spring hangar.




Washers added to spring hangers

 

[pedrobedro]

It's best to weigh them, you wouldn't want your mates to see you out with a fat one would you ?

 

[mike os]

good point

you know what smart cars & sheep have in common?

they are both OK in their place, but you would not want to be seen in one...

 

[wyn]

I also had to repair a bit of a gate used to divert them into different pens....handy for sorting the pretty ones from the ugly ones.

 

[busastars]

Wyn, couldent you cut loads of holes in the side of the sheet plate, like a perforated "sheep" "I mean sheet" That would take around 1/3rd of the weight out of it.

 

[mike os]

I also had to repair a bit of a gate used to divert them into different pens....handy for sorting the pretty ones from the ugly ones.

what else are they used for?

 

[Drains]

Managed to sort the 30kg by putting a bit more tension on the springs in the weighing unit.

Is it still accurate at higher weights?

 

[wyn]

Is it still accurate at higher weights?

Yes... it's pretty good ...tested it out with a few lumps of steel that were weighed in lbs, so might have lost or gained a bit in the conversion.

It only took an extra 10mm to get it back and the adjuster knob has it's full travel.

The bloke was telling me they usually set it back below zero so the aren't disapointed when they are weighed in the market....... Maybe what he really means is he reckons he's getting short changed every time.