Vlaminck shows how he made the hydraulic dump with an independent control. Ben Vlamnick, second from left, stands with his children in front of the former barge wagon he converted into his yard waste collector. From left to right: Sadie, Ben, Shiloh and Hannah. A display of some of the other items Vlaminck welded together in his garage using scraps of metal.

Vlaminck hoping to 'clean up' with homemade yard collector

Ben Vlaminck has always had a soft spot for helping local businesses. Now he has aspirations of becoming one himself.
Vlaminck has built his own industrial curbside yard waste collector, utilizing the skills he developed growing up on a farm seven miles north of Minneota.
"I'm fascinated with anything mechanical," the 1998 Minneota graduate said recently. "I was welding and torching at a young age."
Building and repairing things also runs in the Vlaminck family.
"My dad built two homes and my grandpa had every tool you could think of on his farm," Vlaminck said. "My brother (Chuck) has a repair shop and works on everything from four-wheelers to giant bulldozers."
Vlaminck honed many of his skills during an 18-year-career in aviation maintenance and fabrication, and more currently as a diesel mechanic for Southwest Coaches in Marshall.
Because his back yard nearly rivals a football field, Vlaminck decided to try and build the curbside grass and leaves collector in his spare time.
"I first thought of the idea of starting the curbside business a couple of years ago," he said. "I was researching a vacuum system online and the prices were ridiculous, so I decided to build it myself from scratch."
Vlaminck then began to do a little more online research on what it would take to complete the project.
"I was looking into the mechanics of it and I thought the instruction were relatively easy," he said. "And I already had a welder in my garage."
Vlaminck then picked his brother's brain about his business adventure idea.
"(Chuck) actually came up with the idea that I used for building this," said Vlaminck, pointing to his completed collector.
Before obtaining a wagon to place the yard collections in, Vlaminck first began working on the engine. He got a self-propelled engine off a bean buggy from a close friend and used the metal off it to build a stand for the engine.
"The engine sat for 20 years so I had put a lot of work into it to get it running again," Vlaminck said. "I switched it to an electronic ignition and gave it a general tune-up."
The next step was the vacuum system.
"That was the most interesting part," Vlaminck said. "I got a brake drum off a semi from my brother's recycling pile, modified it, and built a five-blade impeller according to the size of the drum. I then had to balance the impeller to fit tight inside the drum in order to create the right vacuum."
Vlaminck then went online and found industrial wood-chipping tubes to use for the intake (8-inch) and discharge (6-inch).
After testing the engine and vacuum, it was time for Vlaminck to hook it up to some type of a wagon that could carry his loads of yard waste.
"I found an old barge wagon that were common in the 40s and 50s," he explained. "They are similar to a gravity box. They are obsolete now and you can pretty much find them sitting on any farm site."
Vlaminck hooked up a tethered switch to allow the hydraulic dump cylinder to work on the barge wagon independently as opposed to it being connected to a tractor. That way, he can operate the dump while pulling the wagon with his pickup truck.
Vlaminck purchased as many parts as possible locally for his yard collector.
"I really value small town businesses," he said. "I try to purchase as much as I can locally. If I can't find it around here, I try to buy it on eBay, which is also buying from small businesses."
Vlaminck, a local fire fighter and First Responder, is a single father with three children, Sadie, 15; Hannah, 12; and Shiloh, 11.
His children are all excited to help their dad with his newfound adventure.
"I think it's really cool," said Sadie, when asked what she thought of the collector her dad built. "I think it's going to be fun to help him."
On thing they are going to help with is painting "Leaf it to me" on the side of the barge wagon.
Vlaminck has also utilized his creative skills to weld together many impressive pieces in his garage, including a guitar, robot and a pig.
Because of his local ties and his children, Vlaminck is hoping that he eventually can make his newfound landscape business, called Progressive Landscape, LLC, into his full-time job.
"It would be great to be able to do that some day," he said. "I could be closer to my kids and work in town where I have been a lifelong resident."
Vlaminck is now available for yard cleanup, lawn mowing and yard waste collecting. For estimates or questions, he can be reached at 507-530-3681.

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