Down Force kit on TC45DA

[RickB]

Once or twice I have just decided to give it a bit of help by locking up the 3PH lowering speed knob and giving the bucket a little nudge downwards, that will either do it or break the auger if you are into something REALLY tough.

I can't think of a single compact tractor that performing that maneuver with would add any down pressure to the auger. Next time you have your tractor unhitched from any implement, set the hitch height about half way up, close the drop rate valve, and grab a lift link and lift up.

 

[gregkabob]

I havn't (yet) found a need for down force on a PHD.
I wait, patiently, after a while it digs.

Once or twice I have just decided to give it a bit of help by locking up the 3PH lowering speed knob and giving the bucket a little nudge downwards, that will either do it or break the auger if you are into something REALLY tough.
I still think it best to just wait, a 30 second or whole minute of little/no progress is nothing in the course of a day.

Reg, I've done the waiting game with the result of grinding down the point and cutters on the bit. When you hit some sand rock you need some down pressure to break it. I hope this will be enough and if not I'm on to a hyd drill and rock bit.

 

[Reg]

Reg, I've done the waiting game with the result of grinding down the point and cutters on the bit. When you hit some sand rock you need some down pressure to break it. I hope this will be enough and if not I'm on to a hyd drill and rock bit.

I think that is the point(pun intended).
If it ain't cuttin' it ain't the right tool for the job, don't use an earth auger on rock, etc. and if you do down pressure won't "solve" that.

There is a parallel in electronic circuit board repair; once the trainee techs "get it" that heat not pressure melts solder they stop lifting etch with the soldering iron.

 

[gregkabob]

Reg, I get it

Alot of the time I can get it to dig if I put weight on it, like me standing the drill ( I know safety police, very dangerous) and that's not a very smart thing to do and I don't want to do it anymore. And then sometimes the rock just ain't going to budge and it's time to take out the break hammer. Just thought I take the cheaper route to start and see how it does. If it don't work it's time for the big guns....

 

[AndyMA]

I've had a heavy duty $1200 John Deere PHD for most of 20 years. I've only dug about 20 holes with it since in the rocky New England soil on my farm it is just about useless.

Andy

 

[RickB]

I've had a heavy duty $1200 John Deere PHD for most of 20 years. I've only dug about 20 holes with it since in the rocky New England soil on my farm it is just about useless.

Andy

I should drive out there to meet you one of these days, Andy. I could take that old thing off your hands. Ever get the heat going in the TN?

 

[Jackfr]

I don't know about using down pressure sounds like a good way to break up the differential in the PHD. I've got a Bush Hog PHD that we sheard the key way in the differential using regular shear bolts in the auger and drive shafts. We started using just cheap Grade 2 (I think) bolts that break alot easier than the shear bolts. Bought a large box of them keep them with me on the tractor and let the weight of the unit drill the hole. Replacing the bolts is alot cheaper then taking the differential parts to a machine shop to get pressed apart (needed a 100 ton press my 50 ton wouldn't do it) or damaging the pto. I've thought about installing a slip clutch but I hope we're just about done with fence (Unless the "boss" changes her mind again). We've put in over a mile of slip rail fence this way in rocky southern New England soil.

 

[gregkabob]

Here's the pics of where the return line is plumbed on a TC45DA. Man I was in luck as mine was already plumbed for use with my BH. Now I have an extra $45 hose.

And the Down force kit installed

 

[Reg]

Some time in the last year there was a report here about someone (I think it was a woman) getting an arm torn off trying to push down on a PHD.
My memory is more than a bit fuzzy on this, but it might have been both arms, or one was so badly mangled that it was amputated later.
Point is; rotating machinery almost reaches out and GRABS at sleeves or other clothing, then pulls in body parts and the top of a PHD is usually more exposed then say a tiller or mower PTO shaft.
If I ever felt the NEED to add down pressure by using body weight I think I would only do it if I could put some sort of a socket on the top of the gear box, add about an 8ft pipe in it and do chin ups from at least 6ft away.
{OK, safety police rant mode now set to: OFF}
I still think the right bit will cut with just the weight of itself and the PHD, down force will just rub the wrong bit even more blunt.
Kinda like trying to drill through tool steel with a wood boring bit, the harder you lean on it the more heat and smoke you get, but no hole.
For rock the right bit will co$t more than the whole TSC rig.

Well, not my money, not my body, but I hate to see wasted money OR wasted body parts. Just play safe in the dirt.

 

[jinman]

Greg, that's a darn clever setup; I love its geometry. Thanks for posting and be sure to tell us how it works out. That just might be my next purchase after my 3PH wood splitter. I had seen the return port cover on my remotes (I have all three) but did not know what it was for. For a gravity return or other single-acting cylinder application, it is ideal. In the case of the instantaneous super-high flow needed on a post pounder, the filler port is the best choice.