Digger O'Dell

[olfart]

My ongoing new project is called Digger O'Dell after Fibber McGee & Molly's friendly undertaker. If you're not old enough to remember Fibber McGee, sorry about that. Digger is an AgroTk H12 mini-excavator that I bought about a month ago in Dallas. It seems to be a capable little critter for having only a 13.5 hp Briggs & Stratton engine. I've dug up a few small stumps with it and cleared a few small trees along what will be an expanded goat pen fence line.

In order to make Digger a little more versatile, I decided to make a rake to replace the 15" bucket that came on it. Future plans include a smaller 8" bucket that I hope to use to do some work on my septic system. In the meantime, the rake should be handy for grubbing out weed patches, small roots, etc. The rake tines are made from truck leaf springs cut to 16" length, flattened and forged to form a tooth at the bottom end. The top is a piece of square tube, and the cross support is a 1/2" X 3" bar. The mount will be two pieces of 5/8" bar with 1" holes where it will attach to Digger's arm.

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This is the rake at initial fit-up before welding.

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[0utlaw]

That looks good, should add a lot of versatility to your machine

[olfart]

Trial fit of the rake to Digger... it works!

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[0utlaw]

Nice work!

[W.Lynn]

looks awesome

[olfart]

Latest addition to the Digger O'Dell project is a 3-point platform for the tractor that will let me haul Digger to the work site quickly and easily instead of beating myself to death doing the excavator shuffle. The whole thing is right at the limit of my tractor's ability to lift, but it does.

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[olfart]

I've been working on the aforementioned 8" bucket for Digger, but so far the forum hasn't let me post any pics of it.

[knotReally]

genius idea building a 3pt setup to carry it.

[olfart]

genius idea building a 3pt setup to carry it.

Thanks. It solves two problems; the crawling speed of the excavator and the need to have the tractor available at the dig site. Saves me having to walk back and get the tractor, not to mention the bone-rattling travel on the digger.