The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area The Tool Chest pick-up magnets?

my folks just bought 54 acres that used to belong to a trashy contractor and the land is covered in metal from nails, ps pumps, rims and I even found an old rifle that went throught a fire. you get the idea. I need a magnet to pick up small stuff and was thinking of something like 60" to 72" across to hang from the bucket of my tractor. what do you guys reccomend? this is what I found so far http://www.northerntool.com/shop/tools/product_25122_25122

Do they rate it for pounds lifting capacity ie will it pick up rifles, old crankshafts, etc etc.

Saw a few used but seemed like the challenge was getting the junk off it when done.

Dan Bentler

Hi Tyler,Check at harbor freight,they have some pretty big ones for construction sites,nail control.We have one on wheels at work.We just roll it around like a pushbroom.They also sell the metal detector wands, like at the airports,

thanks Marty, I forgot about HF I remember them selling the push type but I'll check and see if they have anything bigger.

I think you will have to use an electro magnet. A magnet strong enough to pick up big stuff will be hard to remove the stuff because it will be really stuck. We have a magnet that roofers use to pick up roofing nails hanging on the back of our all terrain forklift to pick up stuff in our truck yard to prevent flats.

I would recommend some sort of electromagnet setup. Here is a link to some ideas on how to make it work. I bet you could make a electromagnet the width of the bucket, insulate some hooks and hang it off the front of the bucket. wire it up to your tractor battery and put a switch in the line. turn it on, pick up junk, then head to a scrap pile, turn it off, and voila, recyclers' dreams.

the other thing that works really well for cheap strong magnets are speakers. If you can find some that have been junked (may try a car stereo place). I bought 4 6x9 speakers at a garage sale and took the speaker part off. Each magnet had a hole through the center and I just bolted them onto a bar. I put the bar on a pair of lawnmower wheels and push it around when I need to clean up. wrap a shop rag or old tshirt around the magnets to aid in removal of the retrieved items.

the electromagnets sounds like the way to go and if I could make my own that would be great.

Tyler, Carl and I would drag old speakers around Ed's yard,youd be surprised at what they would pick up.

thanks guys, I'll try making making one 72" across with old speakers and see how it works. should I use a 2"-4" or I have some aluminium channel I could use.

Don't forget to wrap them with an old rag, or something else, for easy removal of material picked up.

will do. I'll post some pics when I finish making it.

I know what worked well for me, driving my tractor with the new six foot snowblower into the pasture and picking up that logging chain I forgot was out there.
Worked great, but pretty sure I can't do it again!

I use 12V magnet coils from automotive air conditioner compressors. I have a toggle switch in line to drop the debris. I would suppose you could mount several of them along a loader bucket.

Why would anyone go to Harbor Freight looking for something useful?

Why would anyone go to Harbor Freight looking for something useful?I did buy a package of sandpaper there one time that actually worked out pretty good.But most of their stuff is pure junk.

We used mag brooms or magentic rakes a lot around aircraft parking areas. They are permamnent magnets with a simple release system. The magnet is covered by an aluminum shield so when th magnet is raised up the debris falls away from the shield. Super simple, no wires, coils, headaches. We had them on hand held units up to truck mounted units.
Check out these links:
http://www.magnetsinc.com/behind_magnets/behind.htm
http://www.thompsonmagnetics.com/ma...1-general/24-deluxe-magnetic-push-brooms
http://www.shieldscompany.com/brooms-rakes.html