Recent content by diyfarmer

I think I'd avoid steel too just for aesthetic reasons. If there is in fact bending, any reason you can't use a longer knee brace at a steeper angle and support the beams closer to their ends?

Thanks for the image tip, I should have looked harder for that button! All posts are original, I just removed the aluminum off two of them to see what was underneath.

The front wall of our late 70’s bungalow is partially set in to create a narrow porch. The roof is standard trusses all the way across so there is a beam and posts under the truss ends where the wall is not there to support them. The bottoms of the posts are nailed to the concrete walkway with...

Yes, we call it a pig, but I figured "foam plug" would make more sense to most people! The hoses have to be flat and therefore empty to roll them up, pushing the pig with water is pointless. Too little air is hopeless as it takes forever to clean out the hoses and the pig will often get stuck...

The tractor we use on the applicator bar is about 95 pto hp. We also use this compressor for cleaning off equipment so it can run for an hour or more. A tank won't cut it.

That's an interesting rig you have there! I assume you are emptying the buckets manually now? Are you keeping samples separate to generate maps or combining several samples for an average? Losing some material might be a problem using air if it's dusty. I can see a central vac type setup...

300 cfm in. Screw compressors are definitely the most common for that kind of capacity, but they require oil separators and coolers which is no longer simple or compact. The compressor that we currently use is a large sullair screw compressor that I converted to pto drive. It was formerly...

You could likely experiment with a shop vac. Essentially it depends on the velocity of the air and the weight of what you're trying to move.

I want to build a manure application bar with an integrated compressor for cleaning out the drag hoses by pushing a foam plug from the field back to the storage pit. What's a simple, compact and inexpensive way to generate 300 cfm at 50 psi powered by a 1000 rpm tractor pto shaft? One thought...

Thanks for the replies, you've given me some starting points to look at.

My wife and I make a bit of maple syrup every spring in a traditional wood fired evaporator. I am intrigued by the vapour compression distillation process and am trying to figure out how I could build a small setup. The biggest stumbling block is what to use for a compressor. The only idea I...

Thanks Ted, that makes sense. The pump is pressure compensated. I suppose plugging the excess flow port of the flow control does not make it a two port flow control? How does all this relate to using an open center versus closed center control valve?

Sorry, I realize now that I wasn't very clear regarding the gauge. It is measuring the output pressure from the pump, before the flow control. The flow control valve has three ports: in, controlled flow, and excess. With the flow control, we are hoping to obtain constant flow.

Hello all, My boss got a good deal on some hydraulic parts so I am building a power unit to use on whatever application he dreams up. It consists of a 40 hp Deutz engine with a gearbox on the back that has two outputs. One output drives a gear pump which is simple enough. The other output is...

More good responses, thanks to all that posted. I did not consider the possible effects of a VFD on animal health, that is definately something to consider, as the slightest negative effect would nullify any energy savings pretty quick. I'm 95% positive it's a lobe pump, and changing it would...