OT Bale Elevator

I just bought a bale elevator/conveyer of the steel tubing and chain driven by an electric motor type. It is used, and all apart. I am wondering if it can be set up to pull the bales up into the barn, or does it have to push them up. Meaning, can I put the motor end up in the hay loft to keep it out of the weather? Or does it only work the other way , and for what reasons ? I have never owned one of these before so am seeking some pratical advice. Thanks ~ Mike
 
It probably has the motor at the bottom with a belt and/or chain running up to the top that pulls the conveyor. You could probably mount the motor up there if you want, just be a little more trouble to work on if it throws the belt or something.
 
It has been a long time since I worked off of an elevator, but I think the motor was on the bottom, in our case we used a grain elevator to get bales up to the loft, and then the hay elevator to move them around in the loft.
 
Don't suppose it matters. Ours was on the bottom. Seems a hay loft gets pretty dusty. I'm not sure I would want that cord running up there either.

We always threw an old bucket over the motor and left it out all of the time.
 
> How tight do I want that bale chain?

I always pulled them up as tight as I could.

BTW if you happen to be near the top end and see that the chain has come out of the guide and is about to run off the sprocket unless you flip it back in, don"t. I have a short finger because I did. And the chain ran off the sprocket anyway.
 
We lost a barn in '81 from an electric fence. I don't want any electric anything in the haymow.

Furthermore, if it is a skeleton elevator with no undercarriage, they are clumsy enough to handle with the unbalanced weight of the motor on the bottom. I can't imagine trying to lift a motor of any size on the end of a sixteen footer, let alone a longer one.

I can put up with the "backwards" drive a lot better than the other potential problems.
 
I always thought it was easier to pull a chain than push it. Don't put the motor in the mow unless you put a totally enclosed motor on it and plan to keep it clean. There were some old grain elevators made that were driven from the top. If you plan to move the elevator much I would leave the motor at the bottom.
 
Thank you, I changed my mind based on the general feeling of fire hazard, and have set it up conventionaly now. I need to do some reconditioning I found out, as the bale chain came off about a half dozen times in 125 bales and the small drive chain twice. Also the motor is weak and would only push up 1 bale at a time, so it took forever to unload. No wonder I got it so cheap ! Oh well, I dont mind tinkering . As always , thanks fellas.
 

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