how many GPM is needed

[scootr]

I'm shopping 40-50 hp hobby farm tractor like Kubota, TYM, Mahindra, Kioti new and used. Trying to compare apples to apples I see hydraulic gpm varies a lot. What is a good number for this size? Some tractor have 2 pumps - 1 dedicated to steering, so what's a good number for that one too? Thanks for any help.

 

[oldnslo]

What type of implements do you plan to use on this tractor? That is a bigger deciding factor on flow required.

 

[scootr]

Understood but I don't know what I might run in the next 10-20 yrs.
I saw gpm from 7.5 to 16. Just wondering if there was a rule of thumb. Thanks

 

[5030]

There isn't one that I know of.

 

[RjCorazza]

If you shop hydraulic gpm without an idea of what potential hydraulic implements you may run, you will end up looking at much larger tractors than may be necessary. The vast majority of implements have relatively minimal gpm requirements for run of the mill hydraulic cylinders.
Hydraulic motors as on some augers, snow blowers, etc can have high gpm requirements (mostly seen on skid steer machines). I run a hydraulic auger on my Kubota L4060, and it works very well. The rest of my hydraulic needs are just cylinders.

 

[Tinhack]

That's like asking how much money you need to go on vacation. It depends on where you go, want to do and for how long. There's no fixed answer for such an open question. YOU must decide what you're going to do with the tractor NOW. If you need more tractor later, buy another tractor that fits your needs then. And just what is a "hobby farm"?

It's hard to suggest a tractor in terms of hydraulic flow without knowing the purpose. Otherwise, we'd all be plowing with a Bobcat.

 

[oldnslo]

Understood but I don't know what I might run in the next 10-20 yrs.
I saw gpm from 7.5 to 16. Just wondering if there was a rule of thumb. Thanks

I suspect that if you dig a little deeper the ones showing 16 GPM are combining the power steering and implement flow rates. To the best of my knowledge the steering flows are never available for implement use and vice versa. Large 150 + HP tractors yes, utility tractors no.

I have not looked at actual specs but would guess implement flow on tractors that size in the 8 to 10 GPM range. Possibly a little more.

 

[jigs_n_fixtures]

Most hydraulic valves are rated for 11 to 13-gpm. You can buy bigger ones, but the. 11 to 13 are most common.

As others have pointed out it really depends on what you want to do. 5 to 7-gpm will be fine for most things involving cylinders. if you get into things with hydraulic motors or vibrators, the demand goes up fast.

However, if you wanted to run a hydraulic driven snowblower, mounted in the front, instead of the rear, you could mount a hydraulic pump on the PTO and plumb it forward to the hydraulic motor on the snowblower.

There are work arounds. Tractor Time with Tim, installed a higher volume pump in the JD 1025, he is experimenting (playing around), whitch also has a turbo which got a 50% gain in PTO horsepower. But that is a JD1025, which is kind of the 10-22 of the tractor world, just about every second vendor, custom parts source have things to bolt onto the 1025, which most other brands are impossible to find. But as tractors get older, less folks have aftermarket offerings made to fit it.

 

[/pine]

Why do you think you need 40hp-50hp ?

 

[M59]

I'm shopping 40-50 hp hobby farm tractor like Kubota, TYM, Mahindra, Kioti new and used. Trying to compare apples to apples I see hydraulic gpm varies a lot. What is a good number for this size? Some tractor have 2 pumps - 1 dedicated to steering, so what's a good number for that one too? Thanks for any help.

Scootr,

Based upon what you have written, I suspect you are asking the wrong question of the contributors on TBN. You would be better served by describing what your current known objectives are that aren't being met with existing Terex and Bobcat machines. Then add possible future desired capabilities for new machine.