Brockwood Stall Shi*fter - History of the Brockwood Stall Shi*fter

History of the Brockwood Stall Shi*fter

You might wonder why we call it the Hybrid Woody so here is its history.

There are two wooden operational assemblies on the hybrid woody, the screen tray and the motor compartment. Both were changed from steel to wood to give the machine added strength and reliability. The steel pieces sometimes failed due to stress fractures and broken weld joints caused by operators running them at the maximum speed of 450 rpm all the time.

Over the past 14 years I have continually improved the Stall Shi*fter making it a little better with each evolutionary step. I always like to think this year’s model is the best yet and even though it may be I continue to find ways to make it more reliable or cost effective. Here is the story of its development.

The original Stall Shi*fter was a belt driven machine with a 48" screen tray. It was all wood and any part on it could be purchased locally if repair was needed. I still have customers today using machines built in the first few years of production.

One of my earliest model original motorized Stall Shi*fters underwent a 2-year evaluation for John Lyons at his ranch in Parachute, CO. A very favorable article published in the December 1999 issue of Lyons' Perfect Horse Magazine summarizes the results of the test. It reads:

"..we tested this product extensively, and found that using it saved time, effort and shavings.... we found the dirtier the stall, the more you see the advantage over hand-picking. We found we ended up with a cleaner stall.."

After about 5 years my wife convinced me I should build a model that was easier for the ladies to move around the barn so I made some modifications and built her what we called the Little Shifter.

It was a complete change in body style and drive mechanism. We changed to an all steel, laser cut and baked on powder coated enamel finish. The motor we selected was the only one available on the market that would run at nearly the right speed, a Leeson 340 rpm right angle gear motor. I shortened the sifting tray by 12 inches. The slower motor speed and shortened screen tray reduced throughput but it was still quite satisfactory.

Some customers who had the old style wooden machine bought the new Little Shifter and observed that the new design had a lower throughput than the original 48" screen with belt drive so I made some design changes and added a 48" screen option with a variable speed motor.

This was a higher cost machine in that it required a more expensive Leeson DC gear motor and motor controller but it was in exactly the same physical format as the AC gear motor. We called that model machine the Deluxe Long bed and recommended it only for the larger barns over 20 stalls. The DC machine had a speed range preset between 300 and 450 rpm.

The angle of the sifting screen was adjusted by lowering the output screen roller. We duplicated the efficiency of the original wooden model using a different method of applying an angle to the screen and even though it worked very well the screen was being driven in a plane at a slightly obtuse angle to the crankshaft and this caused the tie rod ends to wear prematurely which introduced play in the drive train.

Over the years we learned that the weakest link was the gear drive motor, more specifically, the coupling between the Drive motor and the right angle gearbox. When normal tie rod end wear allowed play in the drive train the shock was transmitted back through the gearbox to the coupling splines and they in turn would develop a hairline crack and the shaft would spin inside the coupling and the machine would not work. This was easily repaired with an inexpensive part but it was a weak point in the design of the motor.

This problem we learned could be expected to occur in all motors over a period of time depending on usage, care and speed of operation. The 340 rpm gear motor exhibited very little failure because it was used in smaller barns averaging about 8 stalls per day. We could expect years of reliable operation with no problem for the Little Shi*fter standard model.

I discontinued building the variable speed model in late 2009 because the difference between the 340 rpm fixed speed and the maximum rpm of the variable speed motor was not cost effective. A 17% increase in speed resulted in about a 2% increase in time saved and the additional wear on the drive trains more than doubled the spline failure rate. It was my judgment that this was not cost effective for the customer so I went back to the original belt and pulley drive mechanism set at a fixed speed of ~ 400 rpm, the optimum speed. I have incorporated all the strong points of both machine types, the original Woody and Little Shi*fter. I eliminated the expensive DC gear motor and variable speed controller both being sources of machine failure.

When tie rod ends wear normally the drive train gets a little looser and louder in operation but there is no longer has a weak link between the motor and the drive because there is a belt that absorbs the shock introduced by a slight amount of play in the rod end. The motor is a lower cost motor but a higher horsepower; the gear motors were 1/4 hp and 1/6^th hp. The newer fixed speed motor is a 1/3 hp or 1/4 hp. The cost of building the crankshaft drive assembly makes the cost of the motor and drive assembly together almost exactly the cost of the single unit gear motor which had to be replaced as a whole unit for about $600 in the event of a motor or gearbox failure.

The new design allows replacement of only the discrete components on the rare occasion one fails. This would be a motor, belt, flange bearing or crank, all of which are non proprietary and can be replaced with local purchase. The whole idea of the hybrid machine is to increase reliability, lower maintenance cost and maintain the optimum sifting capability. I still offer the 15 day free trial and the three year limited warranty.

I know this is a long explanation but I hope this information helps you in your decision. I am anxious to build a machine for you and get you automated. A Shi*fter will pay for itself in just a few months in a 10 stall barn. We now offer the Model described below.

Deluxe Hybrid Woody

$2249.00

3 year warranty

15 day free trial

Stall Shi*fters
1997 to 2011