F.E. Myers Air Blast Orchard Sprayer Information

[r8f1k]

Found some key stock! Cleaned out bolt hole and lined it up a little better. I have a feeling it has been run for a while without a key and the hole is very oval shaped.

 

[r8f1k]

Increments marked on the sight glass

 

[old and tired]

Have you run it yet? or did I just miss that part???

 

[r8f1k]

I have not run it yet, but I am pretty confident it will do its job.

 

[Seven Gables]

The red wheels are what they seem to have in photos and mine were red too. Not exactly the same red, but very close.

Wow looking good, outta be in a museum . Hard to believe what it started as to now. Being mechanically inclined and able to understand how to fix things on your own is a huge asset to making a farm work.

 

[r8f1k]

So, looking at post #91 you can see the through bolt in the PTO yoke, is really grooved out. I don't think that bolt is really a shear pin/bolt. On my hay baler, there is a shear bolt and only a shear bolt, no key. If you are going to use a shear for any shaft, it needs to be softer than the materials it is holding together so it breaks first under a shock load. Since there is no set screw over the key, I am betting the bolt is simply there to prevent the shaft from sliding forward and off during operation.

Now, since it is so worn (which I think is because it was run without a key for many years), it may put an undue amount of stress on the key and key way. The best move is to probably replace the yoke to ensure a proper load is maintained on the shaft. I am going to drill and tap a set screw on the key for this year. I will replace the u-joints and yoke next year.

I have ordered all new belts for this unit and rather than individual belts, I ordered banded belts. As I understand it, banded belts take shock loads better and have less power loss. I hope for the sake of simplicity and overall reliability, they will work out as intended.

 

[r8f1k]

I drilled out the flange bearing housings to 1/8 NPT instead of 1/4-28. This allowed me to put in a double flare adapter so that I can add a remote zerk fitting rather than trying to reach under the machine to grease. I will be using 3/16” brake line in order to feed the bearings.

 

[r8f1k]

Update: Belts are in place but not tight, still waiting for bearings before it gets put back together.

The relay box has been built. I have to finish a little bit of the wiring from the solenoids to the relay box, but 90% done and functions. The control box is next.

The second photo has a cluster of red shrink tube. Under that shrink tube are a series of in series thermistor to protect the solenoids and circuit from voltage spikes. I have an RC snubber also built, but not entirely done yet. That is placed after the thermistors to assist in voltage spike reduction.

 

[r8f1k]

Not the best photo, but I drilled holes into the back of the relay box and installed nut-serts to mount it to the hood. This makes it MUCH easier to take in and out if needed. If you see a nut-sert tool and ever thought about getting it, get it. Makes it much easier to mount light weight items onto panels.

 

[r8f1k]

Update: Belts are in. That was a job! The olds belts were very worn and easy to slide off. The main jack shaft was pulled out and cleaned, which helped, but the new banded belts were tricky to get on all at once. Nevertheless, they are in and look great. New SKF bearings are in the flange housings and I am working on plumbing the remote grease fitting.