How To Measure Diesel RPM

   / How To Measure Diesel RPM #41  
Harbor freight has a digital contact tachometer; 29.99.
just press it against the end of the PTO shaft.
I used a similar tach to check pto speed on my tractor since the factory tach no longer worked.

Digital Contact Tachometer

Good Luck
Not to be the Safety police here but I would try to avoid the contact type meters just to help eliminate the chance of getting "wrapped around the axle" of the PTO. The price is right on that though.
 
   / How To Measure Diesel RPM #42  
Clip a playing card onto a bracket and let it rub on the crank pulley with a notch filed into it. Record the noise with Windows Sound Recorder and analyze the wave file for dominant frequency.

I have found that sound analysis work very well for engine noises. I used a freeware program called Audacity for the analysis of sounds recorded in windows. I never tried the card trick.
 
   / How To Measure Diesel RPM #43  
Not to be the Safety police here but I would try to avoid the contact type meters just to help eliminate the chance of getting "wrapped around the axle" of the PTO. The price is right on that though.

IMHO.. I don't believe you have the pto driveline hooked up.. IE.. you are just staring at the pto stub, and using that as the measure point. not much different than standing next to the engine running and fan and belt 6" from you. be safe.. don't grab the stub or get loose clothing / hair near it..

soundguy
 
   / How To Measure Diesel RPM #44  
Old thread, but, it popped up on google, while I was searching for a cheap way to set the engine speed on my Kubota engined teramite. 36.99 for the non contact tach right now, I'll pick one up sunday when I'm out that way.
 
   / How To Measure Diesel RPM #45  
The tool I picked up from HF worked like a charm.
 
   / How To Measure Diesel RPM #47  
More info, please!

Digital Photo Sensor Tachometer

Comes with a couple of strips of reflective tape to attach to the crank or whatever, looks like I can get replacement stuff from my local sign shop for cheap, it appears to be the same reflective material they use on decals.
I had a 20% off coupon. Win!!
Will it stand up to severe abuse? Unlikely. But for occasional use, it will work just fine. I wish it used a single 9v battery, but it uses 4 AA units, not included.
 

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