Log Elevator [Video]

Tom likes to keep a close eye on all of the surplus auctions and sales that occur near the shop. The University of Wyoming usually has several items either up for bid or on sale several times a year. Tom looks for items that he can either use right away or transform into something usefull. Last winter a simple electric conveyor was offered through the surplus website. The electric conveyor was located in the basement of one of the buildings and served as a transport for books and other items from the storage area in the basement up to the main level of the building.
Tom picked up the electric conveyor for less than fifteen dollars, with the stipulation that he would remove it from the basement. The conveyor had to be removed shortly after the sale. Needless to say, Tom removed the long elevator with a little help from family.
With a little ingenuity, Tom transformed the electric conveyor into a wood elevator for use outside his metal and welding shop.
The first thing Tom did was to weld angle iron up the sides of the conveyor so that the wood could travel up the rubber belt with out falling over the edge. Tom used one inch by two inch steel angle iron.

The conveyor came equipped with a 208 three phase motor that needed to be converted to 110 single phase. The first step was to remove the 208 motor from the gear box. The gear box had a spline shaft so Tom had to take the 208 motor with a dual shaft and fit a shaft coupling on the output end to add the 110 motor onto the electrical conveyor belt. The 110 motor now runs through the dead 208 motor into the gear box to run the electric log elevator.
One other unique feature to the log elevator is its ability to raise either end for easy access to difficult locations.
The new log elevator now comes in handy when Tom is splitting and piling fire wood.