slip clutch

[greg_g]

greg g, I do own & regularly use a slip clutch. I do know how it works & how / when to adjust it. Explain to me how having a slip clutch rated at 30 hp on a 6' bush hog can damage the transmission of a 100 hp tractor but a slip clutch rated at 100 hp won't ??

More to the point, why would anyone with a modicum of sense use a 30hp rated slip clutch behind a 100 hp tractor? Mine for example - and this is clear in the chart - is not intended for tractors with less than 20 PTO hp or more than 50. In between, it's adjustable (when properly maintained). Lacking additional info, I'd say the problem you describe may be attributed to either "wrong tool for the job" or "maintenance error". And by that I mean that it may have been neglected to the point where corrosion prohibited any slip whatsoever.

I believe your chart indicates the settings to limit delivery to the desired HP through the clutch rather than making reference to the HP the tractor can deliver.

That is not my interpretation. Compression springs adjusted to match the charted PTO hp require the associated amount of feedback torque from the implement to slip the clutch. Action versus reaction. Input versus output. Now if you run your slip clutch driveline at other than the specified 540 RPMs, all bets are off

Look at it this way. Assuming correct engine RPMs to maintain 540 PTO speed, this input represents a constant. The mower - more specifically the resistance to the spinning blades - represents the variable. The slipclutch in between is the equalizer. When the mower all of a sudden demands more torque than the PTO can provide - the clutch slips.

That said - my exposure to slip clutches is pretty much limited to the Eurocardan patent. If you have one of a different design concept, I'm willing to learn.

//greg//

 

[Soundguy]

Soundguy, Don't know if you're laughing with or at me. Either is OK! I was just trying to make an extreme example. Admittedly unfamiliar with batwing mowers. MikeD74T

Not laughing at you at all.. just musing over a huge mower with a shear bolt setup ... considering what I mow with my batwing.. shearbolts would be hitting the deck like machinegun spent shells!

soundguy