Designed primarily as a safer way to jack up and support the rear of a tractor, particularly with its wheels off, Trakjak is the brainchild of Irish contractor Padraig Fay.
Born out of the export industry, where there is a constant need to take back wheels off for thorough cleaning and shipping preparation, the device makes use of the tractor’s rear linkage to safely lift its own rear-end off the ground.
To work, the rear linkage is connected to a frame which runs under the rear of the tractor.
When the frame is lifted via the linkage, it essentially ‘levers’ the tractor up in the air.
Every once in a while, a new product emerges that creates surprises both with its simplicity and creativity. Trakjak, designed and built by Pauric Fay from Cootehill, Co Cavan, is one such product.
Pauric recently received an award with his Trakjak at the LAMMA Show in England. Trakjak won the Agricultural Machinery and Equipment Innovation Award.
Trakjak is a device that uses the tractor's lower lift arms to lift itself off the ground. Pauric designed it mainly with safety in mind, but it also had to be simple and easy to use.
Pauric explains: “I saw that I needed something safe to jack up the back of a tractor. There are no actual jack points set on a tractor, as you will see on a car. And there are a lot of guesses about installing ordinary jacks. "
Typically, a conventional bottle jack is used to jack up both sides of the rear of a tractor individually. Usually, wooden blocks are needed to compensate for the short height of the bottle jacks. Finding suitable blocks can be a task in itself, unless the workshop is organized and tidy.
Positioning the bottle jack can be dangerous enough. A solid and flat ground is required for safe jacking application. The wheels must also be chocked to prevent the tractor from rolling and the jack from tipping over.
As Pauric says, it can be difficult to place a jack under the tractor correctly and safely. Ideally anything that is jacked up should be lifted from the outermost point. The large construction of the rear wheels of tractors and the nancillary equipment bolted to the rear axle housing can make it difficult or completely impossible to jack in the outermost positions.