Boost Tractor Hydraulics

Boost Tractor Hydraulics TRACTORS Hydraulics 9-1-8 A.G. McConnell, Danville, Kty., owns a 560 Farmall gas tractor with hydraulic pressure of about 1,800 psi. He also owns a new Hesston baler that requires at least 2,000 psi to operate. Although he had been assured by the Hesston dealer that the two machines would be compatible, the baler could not lift high enough to unload completed bales. The dealer got nervous because he thought he'd get the baler back and McConnell was anxious because his hay was ready to bale. "The Hesston factory representative said we'd void our warranty if we put larger cylinders on the baler so we came up with an idea that I'd seen used on old compound steam engines. The idea is to use the large area of one piston to push against a smaller piston, increasing the per unit area pressure on the small piston. A friend, Dave Vogus, Terre Haute, Ind., helped me simplify the idea and make it work. "We hooked the auxiliary cylinder up between the pressure side of the tractor hydraulics and the two smaller cylinders on the baler. The volume of the piston rod end on the larger cylinder must be slightly larger than the volume of the two smaller baler cylinders. We hooked the feed hose on the baler to the piston rod end of the new cylinder and the return hose on the baler to the return on the tractor. The opposite end of the new cylinder hooks directly to the pressure side on the tractor. The piston rod end of the new cylinder had to be purged of air and some fluid added. "Because the piston rod on the new cylinder rod was so large, it exerted extra pressure on the smaller baler cylinders. When all hoses were connected, the machine lifted well. It solved the problem for everyone."

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