Air tank on tractor.

[Bedlam]

Just thought I'd put a couple of pictures on to show how I solved a problem .
I often move trailer around the yard, (mostly off road ones). And the tire loose air after months or years. Well I have a portable air tank that I fill, and then use to fill the tires .
I searched And did find a compressor (12V) but the price was more than I wanted to spend right now.
So, my solution was to mount the tank on the tractor. But I was space limited, So I found a used truck air tank form a friend and made this mount for it.
Total cost was 9 Dollars.
The most aggravation? Finding a 1/4 inch ball valve. I went to three local hardware stores, and all didn't go smaller than 1/2 inch. They all recommended using a bushing, which would have worked but I wanted it to remain slim.
I did purchase one 1/4 inch close nipple for $1.69. I thought it was a bit much, and was surprised when I found Home Depot has the nipple for $.49. But even more happy when I saw their ball valves varied from 3/4 down to 1/4...
So Home Depot does do good.
To mount I used the clamps that were stock to hold the lines to the loader, and added some "ears" to it to make a cradle, and halved a bungy cord to secure it. I had some old welding hose around, and used some quick dis connect fittings to hook them up instead of the barbed fittings.I suppose if I were to add a 12 volt compressor, I could use this as a storage tank to it.
Oh the reason why I dint just throw the store bought tank I have into the bucket and use it that was is , old age, I tend to forget whats in the bucket before scooping some dirt. etc.( especially with snow, I don't see it till it thaws in the spring)LOL.
Surely nothing to fancy but fits the need and bill for me.
Allan

 

[Dusty]

Interesting project. How long did it take from start to finish?

Dusty

 

[Bedlam]

How long? well. about a week. LOL
Off and on , here and there, probably an hour and a half.Most of the time outside of actually "doing' it was looking for and finding how to save a buck.Remember I am way cheap.
Am beating myself up over paying the 6 dollars for the valve.I could have use an oil tank valve I had, but dipped into the penney jar..LOL
Its amazing how a small project seems trivial, but ive used it already.
Oh, if anyone has a portable air tank, A tip on filling. set up a connector with both male ends , back to back. Then when you fill just connect it to the compressor, and open valves. You don need to hold it on the tank to fill such as the case with the hand gauge.
Al

 

[Timber]

You can actually mount a compressor cylinder head on you tractors engine like you would and alternator. Change the pulley or the belt and when the tractor runs so does the compressor. Road service trucks are set up this way. It would also let you use air tools far away from power depending on how big a cylinder head you use. Most road service truck use a 2 cylinder but what ever you can make fit

 

[markct]

most service trucks nowdays drive a compressor off the pto, the problem with belt drives is that you cant get enough hp for a compressor to run anything bigger than a half inch impact. to run a impact gun big enough to do roadside tire service or much truck or equipment repair its pretty much gota be off the pto. for just running a small impact or other air tools tho you can tap into a trucks air brake system, or if the truck doesnt have air brakes you can mount an air brake compressor from a larger truck on it, along with the air governor and other associated parts

 

[jwstewar]

most service trucks nowdays drive a compressor off the pto, the problem with belt drives is that you cant get enough hp for a compressor to run anything bigger than a half inch impact. to run a impact gun big enough to do roadside tire service or much truck or equipment repair its pretty much gota be off the pto. for just running a small impact or other air tools tho you can tap into a trucks air brake system, or if the truck doesnt have air brakes you can mount an air brake compressor from a larger truck on it, along with the air governor and other associated parts

I don't agree with this. Dad has done work for years with a compressor driven off a belt off the front of the engine. You might ask what size gun did he use? 1". His last truck that he did this with was a '93 Chevy 1500 with the 4.3 V6. They are still using this truck, but their later trucks have gone to a compressor in the bed just because of cost and speed of repair/replacement. The underhood compressors were so expensive plus required the truck to be running all of the time. Cheaper to just run the small ac engine + saved wear on the truck since sometimes he would need the compressor all day.

Just a little bit about Dad. He will turn 68 on the 29th. He is about 5'10" and weighs about 125 lbs. Has been that skinny forever. When he was working full time a typical day for Dad was changing 4 or 5 semi truck tires and throw a tractor tire or two in for good measure. Once in awhile he would go work on a FWD Log picker down at the local paper plant. I remember him saying it would take a couple of days to change one tire. Dad is still working, just doesn't do too many of the big ones any more. Mostly shows the "young guys" how to do it. He has been down ever since they took him "off the road" about 5 or 6 years ago.

 

[Bedlam]

Actually, I searched with no luck finding. But I more envisioned a small compressor that ran off the PTO. Just big enough to do what Id want. but not be overly heavy etc.Seems that they should make on that wouldn't be much larger than my backhoe hydraulic pump, I guess there isn't much call for something like that.If anyone has links etc Id love to check them out. Thanks
Al

 

[MikeD74T]

Look at "pto compressor" on EBAY -there's 2 listed right now. The John Deere ones appear frequently. MikeD74T

 

[Bedlam]

well, thanks MIKE> ILL check it out.
Al

 

[Timber]

You can use any compressor pump it doesn't have to anything special and just make you own mounting plate