# Can you identify this contraption?



## pioneerMan (11 mo ago)

I'm not sure why one of the wheels is in the opposite direction from the other wheel. Maybe it's bent or maybe it's supposed to be like this. Does anyone know what this thing is for and is it still useful?

Thanks!


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## thedukes (Jan 9, 2022)

Wow....1st guess was a horse exercizer.

I'm gonna go with ...some part of a goofy irrigation set up.


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## BinVa (Sep 21, 2020)

Now that one has me stumped 🤔 it certainly has an elaborate belt and pulley system…but appears to be missing a key part… B


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## thedukes (Jan 9, 2022)

Is it upsidedown or on its side?

Its hard to get a grip on whats really going on there.

Look for a tag riveted on to it somewhere......we need more clues.


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## pogobill (Jan 31, 2012)

I wonder if the wheels are adjustable so they point in the same direction, or can be turned all the way to point in opposite directions. I'm thinking irrigation as well.


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## FredM (Nov 18, 2015)

thedukes said:


> Wow....1st guess was a horse exercizer.
> 
> I'm gonna go with ...some part of a goofy irrigation set up.


 I'll go with the dukes and Bill, I have looked at the previous photos that were listed under "another monstrosity needs identification" posted 15th Feb 22.

I am fairly sure if the OP was to post a photo from the rear of the wheel assembly on the left in the photo, this may show that this wheel can pivot, the right hand wheel is fixed and I think this is part of a circle irrigator and was driven by a water motor to the belt drives, really only thing it can be with the paddle wheels.


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## Ultradog (Feb 27, 2005)

Space junk.


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## thepumpguysc (Jan 25, 2015)

I don’t know the technical term for it but it looks like a hay fluffer.!!


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## thedukes (Jan 9, 2022)

thepumpguysc said:


> I don’t know the technical term for it but it looks like a hay fluffer.!!


 That was one of my thoughts......them paddle wheels scream wet ground.
Its a tough nut to crack not knowing which way is up huh?


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## fuddy1952 (Mar 6, 2021)

pioneerMan said:


> I'm not sure why one of the wheels is in the opposite direction from the other wheel. Maybe it's bent or maybe it's supposed to be like this. Does anyone know what this thing is for and is it still useful?
> 
> Thanks!
> 
> View attachment 81552


Is it yours or can you take more pictures? Maybe "if I turn this pulley this one turns something". Possibly missing parts, a bracket where something used to be. Worn places on it?

Sent from my SM-S205DL using Tapatalk


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## unsquidly (Jul 13, 2021)

thepumpguysc said:


> I don’t know the technical term for it but it looks like a hay fluffer.!!



I think that you mean tedder.....................I am not going to say that you are 100% wrong but I have had a seen a lot of tedders and never one like this......I am leaning toward a part for an irrigation system......


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## FredM (Nov 18, 2015)

This is the best photo I can find, would have been better if the drive end was closer.


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## Lodgepole (Dec 22, 2019)

I have no idea what it is but I think I need one for my farm


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## Windy99 (9 mo ago)

pioneerMan said:


> I'm not sure why one of the wheels is in the opposite direction from the other wheel. Maybe it's bent or maybe it's supposed to be like this. Does anyone know what this thing is for and is it still useful?
> 
> Thanks!
> 
> View attachment 81552


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## Windy99 (9 mo ago)

It looks like a home made Planter to me. All you may be missing is the seed boxes that hook up to a belt system! I have seen these boys in TN come up with some very different things!! Someone had a good imagination!!!


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## Kurtzen (Aug 27, 2020)

pioneerMan said:


> I'm not sure why one of the wheels is in the opposite direction from the other wheel. Maybe it's bent or maybe it's supposed to be like this. Does anyone know what this thing is for and is it still useful?
> 
> Thanks!
> 
> View attachment 81552


Had to sneak up on this one, looks like somebody could get hurt. 
I see sage brush and hills in the back ground. Is that a row crop tractor in the back there? Reminds me of Idaho or Utah. So its on the desert plains but there is water in them thar hills coming down. So they need irrigation. Okay, yup its all becoming uncornfused. Okay the wheels are rusty so they're on the ground. Its a ground drive system? Where is the tow bar? Hmm. Big wheel drives big ring gear drives tiny pinion gear drives big pulley drives tiny pulley drives big...dang that's a spinner, thats lightnin' fast, nothin goes that fast on the farm. Flip it. Okay motor drives belt drives big pulley small pulley big pulley small pulley, yeah thats slow, like a clock tick tock and torque, a slow mover. Okay, I don;t know what they called them but it's a drive unit for an irrrrigation line I suppose. Or something that moves across a field slow. The wheels will swing 90 degrees for operation either direction. Whew, that was a tuffy. What the heck is all those tarp thingy's? I don't know what it is really. It moves something slow. Is it dragging tarps across something? I don't know. Hmph, should said that in the first place.


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## pogobill (Jan 31, 2012)

A planter could be the ticket.
I'd say the photo is deceiving. The wheel on the right looks like it should pivot 90 degrees on the attaching point so that it sits mirrors the wheel on the left. Looks like the wheels are attached via spindles like on a tractor front axle.
Have you ever had a look through any shops or office areas on your property to see if there are any books or manuals or information on any of the thing laying around your property?


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## retired farmer (5 mo ago)

My guess is the new improved, one horse sundial.


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## Gopher Baroque (May 24, 2021)

Not a farmer, but have driven across eastern Washington and have seen open irrigation ditches. This machine looks like something at a ditch junction that was transferring water from one branch to another. I think the idea was to regulate water distribution. I can see placing the long crossbar of the OP device on supports straddling a ditch and attaching a drive motor to the belt loop hanging down. I don't know farming in your neck of the woods (scrub?) but have the general impression that enclosed piping is preferred over open ditches these days. It probably got retired when the irrigation system got upgraded. Is it still useful? I'd start seeing it as raw stock for building the next tool.


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## 2billt (Aug 7, 2011)

Center Pivot?
It has the functional capability of a good ole Nebraska style "Center Pivot" irrigation ground drive unit. 
It has the self propelled function and H2O hydraulic rotary or piston motor could bolt up to the bracket ears behind the input drive pulley. 
Rotation indexing on lower right side of the left axle could change alignment of wheels.
Also, the angle iron top may be the support to mount the water supply line to. 
Could check around for more puzzle pieces like additional drive units or maybe a tower
Is it possible FredM?


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## Jim Gundlach (May 29, 2020)

pioneerMan said:


> I'm not sure why one of the wheels is in the opposite direction from the other wheel. Maybe it's bent or maybe it's supposed to be like this. Does anyone know what this thing is for and is it still useful?
> 
> Thanks!
> 
> View attachment 81552


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## Jim Gundlach (May 29, 2020)

It is a two way end wheel set. One wheel is used when it is the end of a line that swings around in a circle and the other is used when the line is attached to a flexible source line and the line waters a a rectangle or square area with all wheels turning the same amount in the same direction.


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## FredM (Nov 18, 2015)

2billt said:


> Center Pivot?
> It has the functional capability of a good ole Nebraska style "Center Pivot" irrigation ground drive unit.
> It has the self propelled function and H2O hydraulic rotary or piston motor could bolt up to the bracket ears behind the input drive pulley.
> Rotation indexing on lower right side of the left axle could change alignment of wheels.
> ...


2billt
Well if the OP would attach a photo of the opposite side as asked, you will see that the LH wheel is the only one that can be indexed, of all the photos that have been attached, none show the opposite side of the teaser in question.

I have done a fair amount of searching the web, the original drive was by ratchet,( this should read -- the original center pivot made was driven by ratchet) then they went to hydraulic and then electric power, so it seems that this teaser is home made with no records available.


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## 2billt (Aug 7, 2011)

FredM said:


> 2billt
> Well if the OP would attach a photo of the opposite side as asked, you will see that the LH wheel is the only one that can be indexed, of all the photos that have been attached, none show the opposite side of the teaser in question.
> 
> I have done a fair amount of searching the web, the original drive was by ratchet, then they went to hydraulic and then electric power, so it seems that this teaser is home made with no records available.


FredM, your summary has credibility and I think @Jim Gundlach assessment of the indexable wheel would explain why it does not have a straight axle. And, like FredM also suggests, homemade or farm modified from a more common donor? Seems to have some identifiers for a niche irrigation application, some ole farm boy probably wore a fabricators hat for a few long days.


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## 2billt (Aug 7, 2011)

Jim Gundlach said:


> It is a two way end wheel set. One wheel is used when it is the end of a line that swings around in a circle and the other is used when the line is attached to a flexible source line and the line waters a a rectangle or square area with all wheels turning the same amount in the same direction.


Would both wheels be parallel while in use? Does it look like the right wheel is fixed, left adjustable? If you have a drawing of the technique, that'd be great to visualize.


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## Jim Gundlach (May 29, 2020)

2billt said:


> Would both wheels be parallel while in use? Does it look like the right wheel is fixed, left adjustable? If you have a drawing of the technique, that'd be great to visualize.


Nope, one is off the ground when the other is being used. One is used to irrigate a circle, one end of the pipe hooks to the water source and the other loops around it. They do get used for partial circles most of the time, and the other is used it irrigate a recrtangle or a square and the water source is a flexible hose that is drug along one side and the pipe with sprayers stays parallel with the starting and endings sides of the rectangle. It is like rolling a rolling pin down a baking pan that is as wide as the rolling pin is long. I grew up on a farm on the Washata river that was put under Foss Reservoir in western Oklahoma when I was 14 back in 1956. Since the patches of land we irrigated was shaped by a curving, almost "S" shapped river running through the middle and strait and square section lines on the sides, the fields we irrigated were odd shaped. We bought one of Zybach's early systems with money we made making and selling moonshine. We started making moonshine because drought killed crops bank reputed us and the moonshine money let us get back to making money farming with irrigation.


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## 2billt (Aug 7, 2011)

"Corner Arm" accessory of "Center Pivot System"

Have suspended "Swing Arms" and "High Pressure Heads" generally ousted this unit?

@Jim Gundlach, your personal story puts some historical relevance into a perspective for this "contraption".
I ran across this link using some information you provided.


Making Center Pivot Circles into Squares



"Finally, in the 1970s, manufacturers developed corner systems that had a special arm that would swing out on the corners and then tuck back in on the edges. In this oral history video, Robert Daugherty explains how his company and others square the circle. To accomplish that the corner arms had wheels and drive systems that could turn and steer themselves. To tell the arm when to swing out, most modern systems bury a low voltage wire in a precise pattern around the outside of the field. That wire swings out on the corners and pulls back closer to the center on the edges. Then a radio signal is sent down the wire and a radio receiver is mounted on the corner arm. When the receiver senses that the wire is swinging out, it tells the steering system to follow the wire".
Written by Bill Ganzel


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## Always something (6 mo ago)

I don't have a clue .The wheels are ground drive wheels .Old ground drive wheels .I just can't figure off of what .Not sure if the paddles were added .I would think it was designed to dig shallow irrigation ditches .In soft soil. Except it is to light weight ,and where would ie be hitched to . And where is the loose belt supposed to go.I think it was a work in progress ,that didn't work as expected .And yes us Tennessee boys do come up with some crazy stuff .Most of it works .I built my own post driver .It will drive a flat bottom 10 inch telephone pole 8 feet long 2 feet deep, In Tennessee red clay .And they don't move .Next time find the guy and ask him .


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## John Liebermann (Sep 17, 2018)

Jim Gundlach said:


> Nope, one is off the ground when the other is being used. One is used to irrigate a circle, one end of the pipe hooks to the water source and the other loops around it. They do get used for partial circles most of the time, and the other is used it irrigate a recrtangle or a square and the water source is a flexible hose that is drug along one side and the pipe with sprayers stays parallel with the starting and endings sides of the rectangle. It is like rolling a rolling pin down a baking pan that is as wide as the rolling pin is long. I grew up on a farm on the Washata river that was put under Foss Reservoir in western Oklahoma when I was 14 back in 1956. Since the patches of land we irrigated was shaped by a curving, almost "S" shapped river running through the middle and strait and square section lines on the sides, the fields we irrigated were odd shaped. We bought one of Zybach's early systems with money we made making and selling moonshine. We started making moonshine because drought killed crops bank reputed us and the moonshine money let us get back to making money farming with irrigation.


Jim, how can one wheel be off the ground, wouldn't it fall over and twist the pipe?


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## 2billt (Aug 7, 2011)

John Liebermann said:


> Jim, how can one wheel be off the ground, wouldn't it fall over and twist the pipe?


I can't quite imagine it in use yet but a drawing or video demonstrating the technique would be great.


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## BinVa (Sep 21, 2020)

To me it has all the makens of an irrigation system component… but can’t figure out why the wheels are perpendicular to each other. I don’t believe it would function as pivot. Need more pictures especially if the wheels could steer. B


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## 2billt (Aug 7, 2011)

Another interesting detail, with the absence of straight axle, increased ground clearance offered between wheels is offset from center toward the left wheel. I'm not seeing a row straddling purpose.
The tube frame design is unique, it's not symmetric and the overall size of the unit appears to be a small scale. If those tire tracks are 6', maybe 12' span between axles or less?


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## FredM (Nov 18, 2015)

The red arrow points to the index lever and the yellow arrow points to the index plate, and it is not a shadow, the shadow is on the ground, I am fairly confident that this wheel is the only one that can be shifted, the right hand side has a different chassis design and there doesn't seem to be an index plate and lever setup on that end.


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## Jim Gundlach (May 29, 2020)

Jim Gundlach said:


> was





2billt said:


> "Corner Arm" accessory of "Center Pivot System"
> 
> Have suspended "Swing Arms" and "High Pressure Heads" generally ousted this unit?
> 
> ...


Since I survived a brain infection my memory is not complete but I think we had to do that


John Liebermann said:


> Jim, how can one wheel be off the ground, wouldn't it fall over and twist the pipe?


My memory may be wrong but I think there was a detachable wheel that was moved to one of two possible locations that put it parallel with one of the two we can see. My major memory is that this was hell to use.


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## 2billt (Aug 7, 2011)

FredM said:


> View attachment 81681
> 
> 
> The red arrow points to the index lever and the yellow arrow points to the index plate, and it is not a shadow, the shadow is on the ground, I am fairly confident that this wheel is the only one that can be shifted, the right hand side has a different chassis design and there doesn't seem to be an index plate and lever setup on that end.


FredM, would a 10-12' wheelbase close?


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## FredM (Nov 18, 2015)

2billt said:


> FredM, would a 10-12' wheelbase close?


2billt, I would reckon that if the LH wheel was parallel with the chassis, the measurement from the outside of both wheels would be close to 12 feet, axle center to axle center around 9/10 feet using the tractor wheel tracks as a measurement.


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## 2billt (Aug 7, 2011)

FredM,
So, that would put the wheels around 30-36" diameter?
If so, this is probably a function in a fairly small scale system.


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## FredM (Nov 18, 2015)

2billt said:


> FredM,
> So, that would put the wheels around 30-36" diameter?
> If so, this is probably a function in a fairly small scale system.


I would agree with your comment, small scale for sure.


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## John W Baron (Dec 16, 2020)

Jim Gundlach said:


> center pivot system on you tube video


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## pioneerMan (11 mo ago)

Kurtzen said:


> Is that a row crop tractor in the back there? Reminds me of Idaho or Utah. What the heck is all those tarp thingy's?


Yes, a yellow tractor in the background. Trying to get rid of that as well. Yes, this is northern Utah. Yes, you are also seeing bundles that were made from a large silage tarp. I have an ad on KSL Classifieds now in hopes that someone can make use of them for free, otherwise they are going to the landfill in 2 weeks.


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## pioneerMan (11 mo ago)

pogobill said:


> Have you ever had a look through any shops or office areas on your property to see if there are any books or manuals or information on any of the thing laying around your property?


No, as my neighbor acquired all this junk fore free and rarely bought new equipment. There are no owner's manuals.


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## pioneerMan (11 mo ago)

Gopher Baroque said:


> I'd start seeing it as raw stock for building the next tool.


God didn't give me a mind advanced enough to build my own tools. If no one comes to get it in 2 weeks, it's going to the metal scrap yard.


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## pioneerMan (11 mo ago)

I didn't realize my original post would generate such a long conversation thread. For those who were wanting more photos, they can be found on my KSL ad. I don't know the value of this thing, so I'm just asking $100.









Unusual Farming Contraption


$100.00 Unusual Farming Contraption for sale in Park Valley, UT on KSL Classifieds. View a wide selection of Farm Equipment and other great items on KSL Classifieds.



classifieds.ksl.com


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## FredM (Nov 18, 2015)

pioneerMan said:


> I didn't realize my original post would generate such a long conversation thread. For those who were wanting more photos, they can be found on my KSL ad. I don't know the value of this thing, so I'm just asking $100.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Blocked from opening that link.


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