Building your own PT?
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MossRoad
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Nope. The manuals are very sparse with details.
As for a 292, yes, I am serious. It has been around for almost 40 years and there are tons of them in junk yards in running condition. I have quite a bit of experience with Chevy straight six engines and in my opinion, they are a great motor. Smooth running and quite. Very little vibration.
Some day after I retire, I would like to build a crawler. What I plan to do is use a straight six to power a variable volume pump with three fixed volume pumps piggybacked off the rear of the vvp. I will use one hydraulic motor for each side to drive the tracks. However, each motor will connect to a 3sp gear tranny, then to the drive sprocket of the tracks. That way, I can put them in 1st for max torque, or shift them to 2nd or 3rd for higher ground speed for transport around the property. Should be lots of fun.
As for cooling, the engine radiator will cool the engine coolant, a seperate hydraulic cooler will have to be used to cool the hydraulics.
As for a 292, yes, I am serious. It has been around for almost 40 years and there are tons of them in junk yards in running condition. I have quite a bit of experience with Chevy straight six engines and in my opinion, they are a great motor. Smooth running and quite. Very little vibration.
Some day after I retire, I would like to build a crawler. What I plan to do is use a straight six to power a variable volume pump with three fixed volume pumps piggybacked off the rear of the vvp. I will use one hydraulic motor for each side to drive the tracks. However, each motor will connect to a 3sp gear tranny, then to the drive sprocket of the tracks. That way, I can put them in 1st for max torque, or shift them to 2nd or 3rd for higher ground speed for transport around the property. Should be lots of fun.
As for cooling, the engine radiator will cool the engine coolant, a seperate hydraulic cooler will have to be used to cool the hydraulics.
MossRoad
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Around 1980 or so, I took an old Nova with a 230 straight six and a three on the tree. I did a little work to it. I had it bored 60 over, had some head work done and the engine balanced at a company called Shaker Racing. Then I put in some higher compression pistons and a crazy lift cam from a company called Clifford In Line Performance. Topped it off with one of their 4 barrel manifolds and headers and a holley carb. Don't remember all the specs, but I'll tell you this. That sucker would run 7200RPM at about 112MPH... until I blew the tranny out. I swapped in a 4speed from a Monza and that dropped the top end down to 85MPH. But it would get there in a REAL hurry! 
I'd blow people away out of the light, smoke the tires in all 4 gears, then shut it down about the time they would have come by me and blown my doors off. I'd tell them I had them so bad, what would be the point of running any further! Oooo, they hated that!
Anyhow, I just have always liked those motors. We have had many in our truck fleet at work in step vans hauling heavy delivery routes around town. They go for a couple hundred thousand miles with regular maintenance and should last just about forever turning a hydraulic pump.
I'd blow people away out of the light, smoke the tires in all 4 gears, then shut it down about the time they would have come by me and blown my doors off. I'd tell them I had them so bad, what would be the point of running any further! Oooo, they hated that! Anyhow, I just have always liked those motors. We have had many in our truck fleet at work in step vans hauling heavy delivery routes around town. They go for a couple hundred thousand miles with regular maintenance and should last just about forever turning a hydraulic pump.
bjustice
Bronze Member
As for cooling, the engine radiator will cool the engine coolant, a seperate hydraulic cooler will have to be used to cool the hydraulics.[/quote]
The hydraulics may be able to be cooled with a radiator with an automatic transmission cooler on the bottom. Should be no pressure if it is the last stop for the return line on its way back to the tank. Have to keep an eye on volumn and consistancy of flow. I like it. Could be good temp control as well.
Bill
The hydraulics may be able to be cooled with a radiator with an automatic transmission cooler on the bottom. Should be no pressure if it is the last stop for the return line on its way back to the tank. Have to keep an eye on volumn and consistancy of flow.
I like it. Could be good temp control as well.Bill
woodlandfarms
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JerryG said:
I have never seen this before. I knew Tazwell built other things... You have any other links to other things they build?
Guys,
I'm liking the thought processes here. Automotive engine for unlimited power at a very reasonable price. Liquid cooling both for engine and, with a piggybacked transmission radiator, for the hydraulics. Off the shelf cylinders, motors, and pumps etc.. Steel and other components aside, this could be a fun and managable project, and I might just do this. Costs would be very difficult to nail down at the start, but I'd also be spreading this out over time.
The hydraulics are still new territory for me, but I'm thinking that could be figured out as well. If I could figure it out, my new machine would have some sort of hydraulic plumbing that would allow for two joysticks to operate the minihoe. Maybe some sort of electric diverter to direct hydraulic flow from the steering wheel circuit to the second joystick when using the hoe.
I'm liking the thought processes here. Automotive engine for unlimited power at a very reasonable price. Liquid cooling both for engine and, with a piggybacked transmission radiator, for the hydraulics. Off the shelf cylinders, motors, and pumps etc.. Steel and other components aside, this could be a fun and managable project, and I might just do this. Costs would be very difficult to nail down at the start, but I'd also be spreading this out over time.
The hydraulics are still new territory for me, but I'm thinking that could be figured out as well. If I could figure it out, my new machine would have some sort of hydraulic plumbing that would allow for two joysticks to operate the minihoe. Maybe some sort of electric diverter to direct hydraulic flow from the steering wheel circuit to the second joystick when using the hoe.
KentT
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ddonnell said:
Using "open-center" mechanical control valves, you can stack several of them together off one main hydraulic circuit. You're not limited to the 3 that a PT has under the dash, nor are you necessarily required to use diverters to get "double-duty" out of a circuit. Here's a bank of 5 valves stacked on each other, just as an example... The types of valves can be different also, depending on what you're controlling.
Prince Control Valve, 4-Way/3-Position, Model# SVW1BA1 |Valves | Northern Tool + Equipment
JerryG
Super Member
They don't have a very good site for things they build other than the PTs.woodlandfarms said:
Hydra Power
2deeskip
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Regarding using the 6 cyl engine for constant speed hydraulics use, you may want to think about fuel consumption. You wont need but 20-30 % of that horsepower but you will need the RPM's. Just thinking out loud here.
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