Looking to repower my rayco 140

[Renze]

At work we put Deere engines in wheel loaders.

The 4045 TIER 3 is a 2 valve per cylinder engine, putting out 140hp at 2400rpm. Thats all for the 4045HF285, the 4045HF485 with 4 valves per cylinder goes to 175hp.

However there is one issue: the 140hp rating is already the highest "continuous duty" rating for this engine, the 156hp rating is an intermittent rating, only allowed to put out 135hp continuous.

To have this engine last in a forestry mulcher, you definately want an engine with a continous duty rating or the lifetime reduction will bite you in the back.

When tuning the TIER 2 engine, you could achieve a major saving in fuel consumption: The TIER 3A has EGR to control emissions, the TIER2 had a very late injection timing to control the exhaust temperatures (and therewith the NoX emission) which made this engine pretty powerless and a fuel hog. the TIER3A version is quite an improvement: The same improvement could be achieved by using an aftermarket ECU mapping, most of these engine tuners have cured this timing issue, meaning a bit more NoX emission but a 15% fuel saving and a more responsive engine.

The standard turbo of the 4045HF285 isnt capable of producing more hp because of the parasitic load of the EGR system. With the TIER 2 version i could only see improvements.

Swapping another motor in it: the Cummins QSB5.9 has a continuous rating up to 160hp somewhere, but at 190hp they didnt last 8000 hours. The JD 4045 has the same wet weight as the Cummins 5.9 because the JD is an non-road engine only, where the Cummins is also used on-road. The weight does bring the lifetime...

 

[APSmulching]

I have not seen any engine tuners available for the tier 2 that our mulchers have. I checked ts performance but they only had one for the four valve.

 

[GreensForestryMulching]

I have not seen any engine tuners available for the tier 2 that our mulchers have. I checked ts performance but they only had one for the four valve.

Have you checked with Area Diesel? They have a large range of ag applications.

 

[mulcherguy]

Hi there,
I'm new here but noticed your post regarding repowering a Rayco. I enjoy building prototypes very much and used the compact Rayco chassis on several projects.
I have not repowered a 140 but have indeed used Rayco C87D chassis to build some 200+ hp mini mulchers.
I needed a mulcher that was 1.75 M wide or less for cutting Seismic exploration lines. The Rayco c87 mulcher is exactly 1.75m wide and is a very well built machine with great hydraulic response. I had purchased several c87 forestry mowers for line cutting but they were not capable of grinding up the size and density of trees we needed to mulch. They were great for small brush as you know but I needed something with far more cutting performance and oem reliability.
I bought a C87D dozer chassis from Rayco and extended the frame 16 inches. I modified a Cummins B series 12 valve industrial engine to handle the 788 ft/lbs of torque I needed @ 1400 engine rpm. I used the B series because of the large aftermarket support for the truck guys. (If you are going to build one do not pay any attention to the horsepower rating @ max rpm. It is all about matching your torque curve to your most efficient rotor rpm.)
The rotor hydrostatic drive system is as important as the engine torque when modding or building a mulcher. I purchased a tractor pto dynamometer and used it to set up the pump,motor,flow,pressure,RPM,final drive ratio of the hydrostatic rotor drive. It was also very helpful for testing the cooling capacity of different engine radiators, fans, fan speeds, coolant flow rates and partial radiator blockage performance. The ability to put a known load on the mulcher head with the dyno was invaluable during the design process. I believe we spent over 100 hours of testing at full load just to evaluate the hydraulic cooling performance of different heat exchangers at varying levels of obstruction.
I ended up building 4 mini mulchers and they are still running very well to this day. The mulching performance they provided was beyond my highest expectations and the huge cost to build them was more then offset by the productivity. They create more revenue per dollar invested then any machine I have purchased by a long shot. I will attach some pictures and try a link to a youtube video I shot during early field testing.
I would say that if you are looking for more power in a compact size forestry mower then try and approach it from a systems perspective rather than just installing a bigger engine. Cooling for the engine and hydraulics is critical. The only part of the original Rayco chassis I used was the cab and track system.
The C140 chassis will make a great platform for a 300+ hp mulcher with the proper mods!
For a video try searching "high powered mini mulcher" on youtube posted by "rohaymico"
Also you could try searching my name (Rob Staples + mulcher) on google. There may still be some magazine articles or tv clips about this and other machines I built. I think the first prototype was built in about 2001-02.

Rob Staples

 

[DIRTROAD]

Rob, that's an awesome looking Rayco. Maybe the manufactures will pay attention.

 

[Scooby074]

Rob the videos are very impressive. That thing seems like a little powerhouse.

 

[mulcherguy]

Thanks guys. In the timber density and size we regularly worked in, the operators went from being frustrated for 8 hours to fighting over who would be running the mini mulchers. I spent many hours in the unmodified mini mulchers nibbling at a solid wall of 8" spruce and it never seems to end. The 200hp version just cuts through it like balsa wood. In typical conditions the daily average went from 1.5 km to 7 km. In density like the youtube video shows they will cut 15 to 18 km per day.
Rob

 

[DIRTROAD]

Here's the video for ya Rob: [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HzDnbzvpyDg"]Custom Built High Powered Mini Mulcher - YouTube[/ame]

 

[coastalcutter]

Very Nice, mfgrs should pay attn to this

 

[tonyoz]

Rob, that's an awesome looking Rayco. Maybe the manufactures will pay attention.

I very much doubt that Dirtroad, Rayco won't pay attention to anyone.
The biggest problem with manufacturer's is they don't build the machines from hands on experience of owning and operating them, example, try and change an engine oil filter on a Rayco C140 on the job site. I got so pissed off I relocated mine ( now mounted on the fuel tank), Showed Rayco rep what I had done and all I got back was a very vacant look, I don't know whether the drugs were working or not.
Mulcherguy, you gotta be proud of that, deserves a big YAY for the day