What to do?

_RaT_ · May 30, 2000

Jim, you havent even burned the paint off your TC 18 yet. New Holland has used on its old series tractors simple hour meters. I won't assume they still use the same actual time meter on the Boomers, but in your case it sounds like you pretty much just mow grass or weeds which means close to full RPM and therefore a fairly accurate representation of the wear hours on your tractor. The Kubota L4850 uses a Hobbs meter, that gives me the true representation of the wear hours I have on it. Much like airplanes that use Hobbs meters, it gives you a perfect way to maintain your equipment. A great way to find out what meter you have is how its attached. Most diesels use a tachometer. If the meter is run via the tachometer, run via a cable (like that of a speedometer) to the engine, you have a Hobbs meter in all likely hood. Check yours out. Rat...

JimBinMI · May 30, 2000

Re: Proofmeter

Rat,

This was a discussion earlier on hourmeters, mine is called a Proofmeter and it records one hour for every hour at 1833 rpm. When I use the rear mower, I'm at 2450 rpm so it records an hour in less than an hour. I've checked it out and it does! So, based on some comments I got from Kubota owners, even though their manuals do not state it, they think they record an hour for every hour at pto rpm. Mainly this means that I will record hours at a faster rate than a Kubota but I guess one consolation is that my maintenance will be more regular...better maintenance = longer lasting? I don't know if all NH's record at the same rate or not though.

JimBinMI

We boys and our toys!

_RaT_ · May 30, 2000

Re: Proofmeter

Jim, I will have to check into the most desireable RPM for a given motor to use as its index for an hour of engine time. That is, why would 1833 RPM be selected as the hour of engine time to an hour of actual time. It could very well vary from engine to engine, even to the point of basing it on the torque/hp intersect. At any rate, the bonus of using the Hobbs type meter is that it only operates while the engine is running and it more accurately determines the true "wear time" of a piece of equipment. In my boat for instance, it is a simple hourmeter connected to the 12 volt side of the coil. If we forget and leave the key on, motor running or not, hours will accumulate until we turn the key off or more frequently, the battery goes dead. The real bonus in all this is that at the rate at which your accumulating hours on your tractor, you will probably be dead before you need to consider rebuilding the engine. Isn't that a nice thought? Rat...

JimBinMI · May 30, 2000

Re: Proofmeter

Rat,

"The real bonus in all this is that at the rate at which your accumulating hours on your tractor, you will probably be dead before you need to consider rebuilding the engine. Isn't that a nice thought? Rat..."

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa....yes and no! /w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif

JimBinMI

We boys and our toys!

W5FL · May 31, 2000

Re: Proofmeter

Paddock

Most manufacturers set the hour meters to read one hour at pto speed, since that is where tractor normal operation usually takes place, at least for many sustainable activities on tractors. Have no idea why NH decided to do theirs differently. /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

JimBinMI · May 31, 2000

Re: Proofmeter

Wen,

Do you know how your Kubota clocks hours? When I posed this question before, I got few answers and maybe one definitive! From what you Orange guys told me before, it is not listed in your manuals. Did anyone ever find out how it works on Orange, or others? And just because my NH TC18 records at 1833 doesn't mean that the others do!

Any other BLUE owners out there gonna post how yours records hours?

JimBinMI

We boys and our toys!

Hawgee · May 31, 2000

Re: Proofmeter

Can't say yet as to how the TC40 will record hours. Our old MF35 with Perkins ran the tach cable off the back of the cam. Working RPM was marked at around 1450 or 1650. Can't remember, been awhile since I looked. Because this was being used in a multi RPM Utility mode, the key to any Hour meter or Proof meter was to let ME know what it had done. Something to think about the next time you look at a used tractor. Where was it being operated and what was it doing. RPM and what kind of work?
To argue the type of meter is more important to me if I was shopping for used. Reminds me of the guy when asked "How tall is the tree?". He replied, "I rightly don't know, but if we were to chop it down, I could tell you how long it was".

"What is a weed? A plant whose virtues have not yet been discovered."
Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882)

tbarber55 · May 31, 2000

Re: Proofmeter

My NH 1220 records hours at 2000 rpm,the service manager said it's a good average rpm for usage.
I also have a Kubota L345DT, I have no idea of how the hour meter works on it. Ive been on it for 4 or 5 hours at a time
and im lucky if it puts 1 hour on it. It has 970 hours on it
but it runs and looks more like 9070 hours.I personally will take a NH over Kubota but thats me....

Anonymous Poster · May 31, 2000

Re: Proofmeter

Maybe it actually has 9070 hours on it...

gordon · May 31, 2000

Actually thats not that many hours compared to alot of tractor owners and alot compared to others. I hire out so really its not a bunch of hours they rack up before you know it.
For personal use 100 hrs a year is a good amout of time on the meter and there is no sense to over buy in the purchase of a tractor ---get what will work best for you./w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif
Even if its blue!!!/w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif
Gordon