Changing from a two pump system to a one pump system

[jd4310man]

I just purchased a Magnatrac 5000 Hydro. It uses two gear pumps. One larger one to run the drive motors, and a smaller one to run the rest of the hydraulic functions. The larger one is around 15gpm, and the smaller one is about 7gpm. I would like to upgrade to a larger engine and use only one hydraulic pump to run all the hydraulic functions. The combined flow from both pumps is around 22gpm. Can I use one larger pump say around 25gpm and a priority flow divider to split the hydraulic flow into two separate outputs of flow? I'm looking to speed up the entire function of the machine.

 

[J_J]

Is one of the pumps a variable speed pump for the drive, and the other one the attachment pump?

If they both are the same kind of pump, then you can probably use one pump and split the flow with a divider valve.

 

[jd4310man]

Yes, they are both fixed displacement gear pumps. One for the drive and one for the attachments. Is the divider valve adjustable? I want most of the flow to go to the drive motors and less flow to go to the attachments.

 

[J_J]

This valve is a fixed flow divider, with 4 GPM going to the priority circuit, and the remainder of the pump flow to the other side.

Surplus Center - 4/30 GPM PRINCE PRIORITY FLOW DIVIDER W/RELIEF

So if you had a 20 GPM pump, one circuit would get 4 GPM and the other circuit would get 16 GPM.

These dividers come in different sizes so you can choose based on the pump flow in GPM.

Surplus Center

You might be able to use one of these flow control valves for speed control.

http://www.surpluscenter.com/item.asp?item=9-064-75&catname=hydraulic

 

[jd4310man]

Thanks for the info J_J. Ill see if I can find the right priority flow divider. Im thinking around 8gpm should be fine. I found out that the bigger pump is 12gpm. I want to increase the output to around 15 or 16 gpm to speed up the mph of the machine.

 

[burnieman]

I guess a 2 pump chump comment would not be appropriate for this conversation but I said it anyway!

 

[oldnslo]

One of the nice features with a double pump system is less heat generation / wasted HP. With the double pump only the system doing work is under pressure. With a single pump and flow divider ALL of the flow is being pumped at what ever is the highest load / pressure requirement.

 

[jd4310man]

I had another thought, could I use a flow control valve ( Surplus Center Item# 9-7960-8 ) to limit the attachment flow and have the remainder of flow go to the drive motors? I think that it might affect speed depending on whats putting a larger demand for flow.