Sand Loader

[cbfso]

Does anyone here know if CB Hoppers is still making the Sand Loaders there website http://www.cbhoppers.com/ is no longer active. I'm looking to purchase one and would like to get in contact with them if they are still making them. If not does anyone know if anyone else is making a commercially available model for sale?

[kinghong1970]

2 years doing this and it seems NJ does not have any type of loader.
given the kids need to do this in a given time, i think it may be wiser to have them load sand by scooping method used in the regional and states?

[dholdgreve]

I've built 10 to 12 sand hoppers over the years... An inverted water cooler jug, a rubber fernco fitting that fits over the opening, a piece of 1-1/2" PVC pipe with a 45 degree elbow, and some wood scraps from the shop, leaves only some misc hardware and you are good to go.. well... that and about 7 hours of assembly time.

[kinghong1970]

hehehe...

done the whole water jug thing...
tried to get fancy with a blast gate, the type used in woodworking dust collectors... realized the grains of sand jammed the gate regardless of the strength of spring.

thinking that a spring loaded hinge type gate will do better, making sure that the hinge and sand are as far away as possible.

but again, seeing the last couple of tournaments use scoops and our kids almost ran out of time in states last year... i think staying with scoop method will help them train for it?

[dholdgreve]

Here in Ohio they use scoops at Regionals and State as well, so I totally get your point, but in talking with kids from multiple teams, and looking at spreadsheet after spreadsheet, the scores ar 10% to 20% higher using a loader because they load faster... Also, if I'm running a competition, I can process 3 times more teams per period with a loader than with a scoop. For big tournaments this is critical. However, I always have scoops available for those that refuse to use the loader. In a 30 team competition, there may be 3 or 4 teams that want to hand load.

As for the "valve" the best method I've found is a spring loaded guillotine blade. I build a 2-piece wooden clamp that constricts around the PVC, and drill a pivot hole in the upper corner, bolt a 1" x 1" x 12" board to it, then custom cut a piece of metal ducting in the shape of the interior of the PVC tube. Then cut the PVC tube half way through, so the guillotine can slide down in, stopping the sand flow. The distal end of the 12" piece is connected to a spring that will snap it closed, as well as part of an archery release that is connected to lever handle. When the kids push down on the lever handle, it pulls up on the 12" piece opening the guillotine.allowing the sand to flow. A cord is connected to the trigger of the archery release, held by the supervisor. If the tower breaks, he gives a gentle tug, and the archery release is triggered disconnecting the guillotine from the lever handle, allowing the spring to snap the guillotine shut to keep extra sand from flowing. Its actually far less complicated than it sounds.

[Unome]

a rubber fernco fitting that fits over the opening

Can you elaborate on this? The rest sounds almost identical to our sand loader (built by some now-grads a few years ago), although the frame holding up the wooden test base is metal.

[dholdgreve]

A fernco boot can be picked up at any home store (Lowes, Home Depot, etc.) It is a pliable black rubber hub shaped as 90 degree elbow (unless you can find a 45 degree elbow) with stainless steel worm clamps at both ends. One end should be 1-1/4" for the water bottle, the other should be 1-1/2" for the pipe (if i remember correctly). The water jugs we have used in the past do not have enough of an angle at the outlet to allow all of the sand to flow out, so we have found large plastic funnels the exact size of the water jug (or close to it). forced them down inside, then connected them to the sides of the water jug with bolts and flashed with (what else) DUCT TAPE!

[Unome]

A fernco boot can be picked up at any home store (Lowes, Home Depot, etc.) It is a pliable black rubber hub shaped as 90 degree elbow (unless you can find a 45 degree elbow) with stainless steel worm clamps at both ends. One end should be 1-1/4" for the water bottle, the other should be 1-1/2" for the pipe (if i remember correctly). The water jugs we have used in the past do not have enough of an angle at the outlet to allow all of the sand to flow out, so we have found large plastic funnels the exact size of the water jug (or close to it). forced them down inside, then connected them to the sides of the water jug with bolts and flashed with (what else) DUCT TAPE!

Thanks. We've been having the same problem with the sand not going down all the way; a funnel sounds like a good (cheap) solution.

[dholdgreve]

Make sure the funnel is large enough to fit tightly against the sides of the water jug, and if you can find a funnel with collar or skirt around the top, it will help a lot!. Also, make sure you cut the bottom of the funnel off to open up the hole as much as possible.
Here is a link to one that looks like what I'm thinking:
https://www.morebeer.com/products/funne ... AwQAvD_BwE