Hydraulically controlled mower deck deflector?

[hwp]

Has anyone devised a hydraulically controlled deflector shield for their mower deck? I often want to change the position of the deflector several times while I am mowing and it is a pain to have to stop and move the deflector up or down manually every time. I have a hydraulic circuit available in a convenient location but haven't been able to think of a way to control the position of the deflector using a hydraulic cylinder. The deflector rotates 90 degrees from horizontal to vertical. All suggestions are welcome. Thanks.

 

[Will_C]

Howard, i have sen some landscapers use an electric powered chute deflector, but can't recall seeing a hydraulic one.
Will

 

[RoyBrooks]

Howard what about adding a bracket that mounts on the top of the deflector perpendicular to the deflector sheet metal. Then add the cylinder to the parallel to the ground on top of the mower deck. When the deflector is down the cylinder is extended and when the cylinder retracts the deflector raises. you would want to make sure that when raised the braket didn't go over 90 degrees.

 

[AltaLawnCare]

The electric unit has its own deflector which will block off the discharge completely when closed.

MasterChute (MasterChute.com) makes te electric unit, I think it runs around $350.00. manual units are available from York Sheet metal (YSM.com). I have a manual unit on my Lazer...its a knock off of the york, I couldn't live without it!
I'm getting ready to make one for my Walk Behind. /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif

 

[hwp]

Thanks Roy. That is what I have been thinking about but I haven't solved the geometry problem of always having the cylinder rod clevis at close to 90 degrees to the top of the deflector chute.

 

[hwp]

Thanks Alta. Those are a couyple of intersting options. BTW the York site is www.yorksheet.com. I couldn't get a clear picture of the mechansim that controls the deflector. Could you post a couple of pictures of yours? /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif

 

[AltaLawnCare]

Heres mine, if I can get the pic to load..

 

[AltaLawnCare]

And another....
Mine isn't the york sheet metal director, though. Its a copy, which isn't set up as well. I wish I'd went with the York. /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif

 

[hwp]

Thanks for the pix.

 

[hwp]

After considerable thought, I realized that trying to use a hydraulic cylinder wasn't going to work, but a hydraulic motor would. So after some more thought, here is what I came up with. This is a view from the rear with the deflector in the down position.

 

[hwp]

This is a view in the down position from the front.

 

[hwp]

And this is a view in the up position from the front. The hydraulic motor turned faster than I want it to so I put flow restricing orifices in both hydraulic lines and now the rotation speed is slow enough to control. It takes about two seconds to rotate the chute 90 degrees either way.

 

[Inspector507]

hwp,
That looks sweet /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[MossRoad]

What stops the motor at the end of travel in each direction?

 

[hwp]

MossRoad

Nothing stops the motor per se in either direction other than the control valve on the spool. However in the up position the arm comes to rest against the deck support carrier and in the lower position, the deflector comes to rest against the deck. Due to the very small orifice, the torque produce by the motor is quite limited so nothing gets damaged from trying to over-rotate.

 

[MossRoad]

Thanks for the explanation.

I would think the size of the oriface would not limit the torque(pressure), but the rate at which it flows. To me, it would seem that if the valve were left open the pressure would just keep on building until it hit the max pressure of the pump supplying the hydraulics or something gave. Are there some relief valve settings on the motor?

Not trying to nitpick here. I really think that is a great way to do it and am impressed with your modification abilities and really like all the things that you have done to your machine. Having a Power Trac that is all hydraulic, I'm always looking for cool things to do with hydraulics.

What made you go with the motor over a cylinder? I would think the motor would be much more $$ than a cylinder, unless you already have one on hand.

Thanks in advance /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

 

[hwp]

Moss Road you're right about the pressure eventually builidng up to full system pressure, but with the very small orifice it takes quite a bit of time to get there - more time than I leave the valve open. But the hydraulic motor I used also produces a relatively small amount of torque even at full pressure.

I went with a hydraulic motor rather than a cylinder because the geometrics of getting cylinder with linear motion to transfer to circular motion wouldn't work out the way I wanted them to and in the space I had. So I decided to go with a hydraulic motor, even though it cost about twice as much as a hydraulic cylinder.

 

[MossRoad]

Sometimes costing twice as much saves 4 times the aggrevation, so it's well worth it in the long run. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

I saw the little slotted arm assembly. Pretty slick. Did you fabricate it or salvage it from something else?

 

[hwp]

I had to make the slotted arm but the idea came from a car window mechanism. I put the mechansim to the test today when I cut my lawns and it worked well. /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif

 

[MossRoad]

Cool! Glad it worked well for you. And thanks again for the specifics. I appreciate it.