Ezyloader Overhaul, Lessons Learnt With Professional Help

a Canadian Beekeeper’s Blog

[@KaosABC123]

@ 12:30, I've had that same look more than a few times. The worst is when you to take it apart because it's wrong and put it back on the same wrong way.

[@keithspillman]

Nothing like good old therapeutic equipment maintenance........and NO computers!!!! That piece of equipment between you and the door looks like a handful to work on? It needs a few more lines/hoses!!! Great episode and glad it finally snowed. Was in the mid 70's in NC today. Bees are flying like it's Spring and finding pollen somewhere. See you in Tennessee soon!!

[@tv0562]

영상 잘보고갑니다. 연말 남은시간 뜻깊고 건강히 잘보내시고 늘~ 편안하고 행복한 시간되십시요.~

[@almoustaphamahjoubi9562]

This amazing crane deserves all this attention and maintenance. Thank you for this information.

[@lucasprohaska8882]

Love your voiceover videos! Keep ‘em coming!

[@vanderpoolfarmsl.l.c.9983]

Your Ezyloader is GREATLY improved than the earlier models. The hydraulic winch with the rotary union that allows unlimited rotations around the truck is awesome. Our 1998 MH-200 has an electric winch which limits rotation to about 270 deg. I do consider the triangle failure to be a factory defect. All three cylinders on ours came with a factory defect. I had to have the glands re-machined for a proper seal arrangement last year. Thankfully, Ezyloader provided the CAD drawings. But it still cost $1000.00. Other than that, almost every aspect of your loader is an upgrade / improvement over ours. But not complaining; we still get the work done!

[@timothyaure9602]

Thanks for putting this out Ian. I have farmer relatives on the prairies of North Dakota- outside of Grand Forks not too far from you. Like you, he maintains his own equipment. Though I'm a generation removed. I have nothing but respect to the farm side of my family- I find your posts fascinating.

[@jeffsea6490]

Thanks for sharing interesting content Ian 👍

[@phillee2814]

Great video, Ian. Knowing how to maintain and even upgrade your own equipment is always worthwhile - My father was an engineer and my uncle a farmer who took an additional year of farm engineering at college to ensure he very rarely had to call on my dad's expertise, and that when he did, it was usually just for advice, as he could understand and work from the base of knowledge and experience he already had. And if you think bees are hard on equipment, you should try pigs! Wear and tear is a fact of life, and nothing lasts forever, but with good engineering, it can at least be maintained and repaired. Fixing those grease nipples is going to make a big difference to longevity. Things never get the attention they need if re-greasing requires a stripdown, whereas simply pumping grease into the fitting means it will get done. Have you considered putting together a checklist and/or service schedule for all that equipment? Even if a manufacturer's one exists, it rarely suits the actual conditions in which you use the machinery (in particular your unusually cold winter spells). I think you'd have been better off with Meccano instead of Lego! Good call on that extra $10 for the bearing - the quality will remain long after the price is forgotten, and Timken is a good brand with a long and well-deserved reputation for quality. I've used them regularly in life-critical applications and have never been let down by them. I don't know what brand you chose to leave on the shelf, but you'll not regret buying Timken.

[@sylvain-paulcote5470]

Loved that video! Well done and presented. Interesting for an old mechanic like me . Can't work anymore due to a broken neck (and my age too...)but I watch a lot of mechanical videos 'cause I miss getting my hands dirty. Thanks again!

[@framcesmoore]

This was wonderful u say you do not speak well that is all in your head, this was excellent it was like u were telling a story it was great. It really is, You were relaxed and talking about what u know you are going to do wonderful at the conference.

[@peterlightbody8443]

Made in Australia , bloody brilliant. Peter 🇦🇺

[@mikerobertson6663]

Timken taper roller bearings are definitely the way to go.

[@aidanquick3151]

Great video mate. I think it would be smart to fwd this to the ezyloader fabricators for future improvements.

[@shadowmancer7040]

Really cool. Happy New Year!

[@cheryleesbees]

nice job, made in Australia! love it :)

[@normanpaterson]

Impressive mechanical skills!

[@edwinhsingmaster9135]

Great critique on your overhaul Ian. May I suggest: solenoid using "pistons" should be solid mounted vertically. Hydraulic parts are best cleaned in ultrasonic tanks. Ask your dentist, may have a good used one. Happy New Year.

[@honeybeebobbyhoward6326]

This is a money and time saver 😎

[@loveyahoney]

Check out Dzus clips, they are used on speedway cars. Also a boat 2 battery switch/ isolator on the outside for quick action isolation. Bees are going gangbusters in Sydney ,Oz, after a wet winter/ spring. Welder Dave.

[@ke6gwf]

Nice presentation! You speak well. On the modular stack valve system you should be able to get a new manifold that will take hoses. If it's a good brand, those stackable spool valve units will be part of a "set", and just like with a Barbie they will interchange within the same series, meaning that that company should make a universal Base Plate or Manifold that those valve bodies will bolt to, that has regular ports on it. You have the direct mount base plate currently, but you should be able to swap the valves over to a different base plate. Now, if they are off brand valves you may no longer be able to find a new baseplate, but if they are from a good company, you can probably just get a new Manifold. They may even be an industry standard, like a DO3 mount or something like that. When you are getting the new pump, I would take one of the valve bodies, and the manifold plate, and a mounting bolt, with you to your supplier, and see if they can source you a new Manifold that will connect to hoses, or possibly directly to the new power pack. And if they are not industry standard, and parts are not available anymore, than I would put in a whole new valve stack as well, so that you can source parts for it easily. Spool valves can last forever, right up until they don't! One piece of sand get it one and score the bore, and you have to get a new valve, so making sure you can get replacement valves is important, and if you can get replacement valves, you should be able to get a replacement manifold that can accept hoses. If you do replace the valve stack, consider getting the style that has the manual override controls in addition to the solonoid. You can get them with full on lever handles, or with basically a push button on each end, so that it's still operable even with bad coils. On the swivel joint, you might talk to an old Cat mechanic. Finding old style oidd seals is an important part of fixing old equipment, and a lot have the capability to make custom seals as well. Or check the Cat book and find one that matches! Or, just replace the swivel to one that you can still get parts for. And finally, I am casting a suspicious look at the welder removing parts from a structural stress area. He said the gussets were only cosmetic because of how thin they were, but what if the gussets were added due to cracking issues with the design, but they did a poor job designing the gussets as well, and they actually need to be beefed up rather than deleted. Now, I am naturally distrustful in situations like this, and he may be entirely correct, but I would advise regularly checking the welds for any signs of stress or failure, and if you see any, put stronger gussets on or otherwise engineer that joint for greater strength, rather than removing parts. With the long lever arm that has on it, the pivot tube and support is naturally going to flex as you swing the boom around with a load on it, and so maybe the gussets were actually preventing the normal flex and adding stress because it's binding the flex. On the other hand, that flex may be destructive, and much stronger gussets will be needed to prevent any flex from happening. So watch that carefully, check it frequently, and if it begins cracking again, maybe take it to a different welder and get a second opinion!

[@aCanadianBeekeepersBlog]

I definitely will be considering most of what you say here. I reached out to the manufacturer and he said the gussets were also cosmetic so no worries with removal

[@steveluepke9654]

Happy New Year Ian and family

[@gregm312]

nice , i have been looking forwaed to the reassembly

[@russellkoopman3004]

Good job done Ian. I would not want to start such a big project where I could screw it up so easily. I'm sure you saved a lot of money doing it yourself. What is the life expectancy of such a unit? 10-20 years? Is there an Ezyloader shop around Canada that could fix them?

[@beebum1909]

You might look to the aerial equipment industry for similar electric motor/ hydraulic systems. Similar motors and pumps are used on scissor lifts and boom lifts.

[@ke6gwf]

They all use pretty standard hydraulic power packs like this, so you just go to the industrial or hydraulic supply house.

[@michaelraulerson1149]

Great job

[@chriskrause950]

Us Aussies build some good stuff! Sometimes 😂 how long did it take to get when you ordered it? I'm looking at getting one for my trailer. Great video thanks

[@mikerobertson6663]

A PTO driven Hydraulic pump on the truck is just about bullet proof . Maybe consider sourcing a used one for backup if your ezyloader pump goes down.

[@ke6gwf]

That would be complicated and a lot more expensive, without any real gains.

[@blaahster]

Cool!

[@WillyPete_]

Collecting parts now to fabricate a receiver hitch mounted pickup truck crane wench. The local metal recycle center has provided everything including the top part of a Harbor Freight truck crane... I plan to use a 3/4 Truck Hub w/bearing as the pivot.. brand new at 25 cents per lb,, i need simple mast pipe and someone who can weld, and im there... aaand a honey harvest, last 2 seasons were bust. P.S. no one told ,me to freeze my cut come to kill off wax moth eggs.... THANKS!!!! HEY NEW GUY... freeze your cut comb, to kill off critter eggs... them wax moth worms can eat through ziplock freezer bags... Ok.. now i can sleep at night knowing i did my part to prevent anyone else a horrific loss similar to what i suffered with a single super of cut comb.

[@aCanadianBeekeepersBlog]

Ouch !! Hard lesson learnt !

[@russellkoopman3004]

Those little things can sure bite a person it the arse. Thanks for sharing. SHB must make it even worse. This year my bees never got on a flow good enough to get comb honey. A few jars of cut comb was all I could manage to get.

[@larrytornetta9764]

Equipment mechanic is $100 hour plus parts and travel time.

[@michaeltobin2014]

Your whole business operation revolves around these machine surely a new unit is a better option?

[@aCanadianBeekeepersBlog]

Oh ya, but so is our combine, tractor, airseeder, sprayer, mix wagon, extractor, honey house, calving barn, machine shop, 1/2 tonne truck, bee truck, semi , semi trailers , cattle trailers … It’s all done within our means

[@ETsBees]

So I have a couple questions. How important to you is have in good a lift that can swivel 360 degrees? Second is how important is it to fold up? I will be building mine soon and will not fold and will not be able to continuously turn 360.

[@aCanadianBeekeepersBlog]

Its all due to convenience. The transport function allow for easier road transport, the 360 isn’t necessary but so nice

[@aCanadianBeekeepersBlog]

I’d say the level is the most important of everything

[@ETsBees]

@@aCanadianBeekeepersBlog I will be mounting my homemade one on a flatbed trailer. I will be using outriggers to level. Not as convenient as what's on the ezloader but it should stay level even as I am loading it (I hope). And since its on a trailer it wont be sticking up to high when traveling down the road.

[@rayjohnson8329]

Didn’t you reweld it last year? You did a video. I envy your ability to fix just about everything. I wonder if you’ve ever thought about writing a how to book to get from hobbyist to commercial beek? I think you and Kamon speak so well, you’re writing would be as good or better.

[@aCanadianBeekeepersBlog]

Yes , it’s half written :) but like this video that I edited last year, it was put on the shelf

[@Hill_Walker]

When it comes to bearings, there are definitely good and bad ones

[@IceBug1337]

Please show more of this.

[@yurikrakoviak461]

Hello! What are the sizes of the bearings in the ezyloader boom?

[@nahilbal]

You are a great talent, very nice explanations, I would appreciate it if you make Turkish subtitles

[@jpthedelawarebeeman6239]

You should have used a bearing packer Ian - slapping grease on the outside isn't the same :(

[@aCanadianBeekeepersBlog]

Good point

[@jpthedelawarebeeman6239]

@@aCanadianBeekeepersBlog being a mechanic by profession I learned if all else fails pack it by hand. It takes a lot longer than using a tool but it gets it done just the same. In your case some grease is better than no grease because I know you're not taking that all apart after all its not going to to used the same as a wheel bearing would be.

[@aCanadianBeekeepersBlog]

I hear ya

[@ETsBees]

I think as long as it’s a good extreme pressure grease it should be fine, assuming Ian got grease in the bearing which I would think he would. It doesn’t sound like this is his first rodeo. And like you said it isn’t a wheel bearing

[@jpthedelawarebeeman6239]

@@ETsBees Hi ET, like I said I don't think it will matter in his application but if the seals leak on the top adapter he can repack them. I think he said he put 2 seals per groove on the top adapter I hope they don't tear up rubbing against each other. That is where it may go wrong and he gets the leak.

[@gregorycalzada5264]

😯😯😯