Hydraulic question

[rlk]

I have found what I think is a good deal on a John Deere 8200 grain drill. The only problem is that the drill requires hydraulics to raise and lower the unit. My Massey Ferguson 35 does not have an outlet where I can connect the hydraulics for the drill.

In talking to the John Deere dealer who has the drill, he does not think I can find a kit to add rear hydraulics to the MF 35. He thinks I can find individual parts and accomplish the same thing a kit will accomplish. He estimated it would cost at least $500 to "jury rig" a hydraulic connection.

After leaving the dealer, I got to thinking about a different solution (I'm dangerous when it comes to thinking up different solutions. Some will work but most will not.)

What I'm thinking about is a small electric motor that can run the hydraulics on the grain drill, something like the hydraulics you see on the dump trailers. They have a battery, a small electric motor to power the hydraulics, a small reservour for fluid, etc. Seems to me like this would be easier to do than jury rigging hydraulic connections to the tractor. Personally I can run electrical wires to the drill easier than I could install the hydraulics on the tractor.

What does the TBN brain trust think of my idea? Will it work? Will it be cheaper than tapping into the tractor hydraulics?

I'm attaching a small picture of the grain drill so you will have some idea of what I'm talking about.

Bob

 

[ronnie2005]

I'm not sure if the MF 35 has a pressure tap on the 3pt. If it does, then all you have to do is add the remote valve and the plumbing.
If it doesn't, still not a show stopper. It's not to hard to add a hyd pump that is driven by a small starter motor. The pump, motor, res, and valve can be fabricated and mounted on the tractor. I saw one under the rear axle on an 8N and it seamed to work ok. That would also give you hyd for anything else.
If you put all this on the seed drill, how do you controll the raising and lowering of the drill with only an electric circuit

 

[jinman]

Bob, spending $500 for a single remote valve is common, even when there is an OEM kit you can buy off-the-shelf. If you do enough searching, I'm sure you will find someone with a setup and copy their design. I think you will have to disable your 3PH arms with drawbar stays, but you'd want to do that while you pull the drill anyhow.

If you decide to go with the hydraulic powerpack, there are lots available from McMaster-Carr, Surplus Center, Northern Tool, and Bailey. These are self-contained DC units with a built in reservoir. They come with a remote control actuator switch you can run up to your tractor's seat and adjust the height of your drill with ease. The cost of these units is around $400, so they would be a little cheaper than the remote valve setup on our tractor. They would also have the flexibility of being portable and not dedicated to one machine/use. They pump a little over a gallon per minute which is perfect for a positioning application like a grain drill. /forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif

 

[rdbrumfield]

I once ran a mf35 that had a front blade. The hyd was ported out of the top plate of the tranny under the seat. It was back in the early 60's, but I know that it didn't use an external pump. You might look for a small pto pump. Of course that would entail a resevoir, valve, and hoses. But once configured it would stay on the drill and would be an easy hookup.

 

[rlk]

Ronnie & Jinman, thanks for the reply.

Jinman, on baileynet.com I found Fenner hydraulic power packs (See attachment). The information they offer is sparse, so how do I know which one to choose? Some have solenoids and some do not. Some are double acting and some are single.

The Fenner documentation states the solenoid operation allows lift/hold/lower positions with optional hand-held remote control. Then right under that it says this is a single acting. I would have thought this would have double acting. Does this mean that gravity lowers the implement and there is no down pressure? Would double acting have down pressure?

Sorry for so many questions but as you can tell I don't know much at all about hydraulics.

Bob

 

[yugo]

RIK, To power an outboard cylinder, I used an outboard hydraulic pump and starter motor. If you want to see a picture of my set up, look at Vintage tractors, page 1, #575444, dated 1-20-05. This was under 8N Fords Fans. But, I've seen them, but am not real familiar with the 35's. But if you have outboard hydraulic hoses that go to a the tractor's control valve, you can just add another outboard flow-through control valve- maybe from Northern tool, or whoever, and add a couple of remote plug ins. Piece of cake! Yugo

 

[jinman]

Bob, your hydraulic cylinder normally controls what type of pump you will need. A single-acting cylinder will have only one hose going to it. When you pressurize the hose, the cylinder extends. When you open that hose to the return, the cylinder retracts under the weight of the load.

You can make a double-acting cylinder single-acting, but you have to open the retract port to atmosphere (hopefully through a filter).

What type cylinder does your grain drill have? I suspect it is a single-acting cylinder. You'll want to buy a powerpack and remote control based on that use. If you expect to also have a double acting application, you can buy the double-acting powerpack, but the plumbing will be a little more complicated to make it work for both single and double acting applications. I think I'd buy the simplest setup I could get by with. I believe most applications can be operated with single-acting cylinders.

Also, I'm not sure how much help you will get from Bailey. I think I'd go into a Northern Tools store if you have one in your area. There you can probably find a powerpack on-the-shelf and maybe even someone to give you advice. They have some pretty knowledgable folks in the store I frequent in Arlington, Tx. /forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif

 

[rlk]

Jinman, thanks for your reply. I just confirmed that it is a double acting cylinder.

In talking to the dealer this afternoon he and the owner have not accepted my offer, so I'm not sure if I'll be getting the drill or not.

Bob