Air drills ran on oil

[beaconsboy]

How do people start them off. Do you just pull the lever. What rpm do you run them at. And how do you stop them . At the moment I switch the tractor off. I just worried about blowing seals. I go a 3/4 return straight to tank

 

[Badshot]

I've never had one that is a sudden stop.
I slow the engine to idle and slowly release the spool lever to neutral, it just slowly stop's.
if worried stick it into float.

 

[towbar]

On mine there is 2 non return valves set up as a bypass arrangement and if you put spool in float it brings it to a sharp stop. If you put spool in neutral bypass valve opens and motor gradually slows down.

 

[Steevo]

I just treat it like a normal spool - never been an issue.

 

[Andrew]

Depends how the motor is plumbed, what width drill is, what crop etc etc.
The drill we have at the moment is 3500rpm in wheat.

Most motors will have an overun valve plumbed in so oil can recirculate when you stop it, but if you’re worried you can put the spool into float.
You’re most likely to blow the seals starting up on a cold morning, as the case drain is normally connected into the return. Starting a lot of cold oil moving will ramp the pressure up which is not good for the case drain.
If you’re really worried you can get soft start valves to help with this.

 

[Fish]

Just reduce the flow on start up, let the oil warm up for a few min, then increase the oil flow until the fan is running at the rpm you need for that type of seed.
The fan does not need to run at full chat in all crops, you don't need much air flow for osr, beans on the other hand need max air flow.
To stop I usually just hit float or some times slowly reduce the oil flow.

 

[Will 1594]

Just reduce the flow on start up, let the oil warm up for a few min, then increase the oil flow until the fan is running at the rpm you need for that type of seed.
The fan does not need to run at full chat in all crops, you don't need much air flow for osr, beans on the other hand need max air flow.
To stop I usually just hit float or some times slowly reduce the oil flow.

Do same here fish , just set spool flow low and let it tick over to get oil warm , and when stopping just lower flow till stops . Even run power Harrow on tick over to get the oil moving and warmed a bit before crucifying it . Tractor or forklift same leave it a few mins to warm through

 

[Robt]

it’s good practise on all air drills to start the fan on low then gradually increase a few minutes before you intend to start seeding. It gives the oil chance to warm up, it dries the pipes out and stops the seed sticking to them

 

[Farmer Roy]

err
have only ever run air seeders with hydraulic fans for my whole farming career

best practice is to start them at idle & let the oil warm up ( 30 years ago Steigers / Versatiles etc didn't have adjustable flow spool valves ). Would normally use this time to walk around machine, check all outlets etc etc
to shut down, idle engine back then put spool into float position & let fan stop, before putting into neutral ( some tractor hydraulic systems you can "dead head" the motor if you just go straight into neutral. Better to just get into the habit of doing the same for everything you use )

same habit I use for vacuum fans or hypro pumps

in over 30 years, I think ive done one oil seal on an air seeder fan motor & one on the vacuum fan of a precision planter, not bad going I reckon. Current air seeder bin ( Simplicity ) would be over 14 years old since new, my precision vacuum planter over 10 ?

 

[yellow belly]

Plug into the down spool and the return into a free flow return
then run on the lever in down and push to float for stop
on cnh t7 on electric spool once set the lever will not return to neutral as it states in the handbook

 

[beaconsboy]

Tidy thanks ever1. It's a 4meter . Running at 4500rpm. Doesn't seem over to much air. The adjustable screw gets very stiff when hot . But I will put it in the top spool and I can push it straight into float .

 

[Farmer Roy]

Tidy thanks ever1. It's a 4meter . Running at 4500rpm. Doesn't seem over to much air. The adjustable screw gets very stiff when hot . But I will put it in the top spool and I can push it straight into float .

does your tractor have adjustable oil flow through the spools, from the cab ?
if so, generally you are best having the screw wide open & adjust flow with the spools.

if not, then ignore what I just said

 

[ACEngineering]

Tidy thanks ever1. It's a 4meter . Running at 4500rpm. Doesn't seem over to much air. The adjustable screw gets very stiff when hot . But I will put it in the top spool and I can push it straight into float .

motor probably has a valve on it which you can alter the speed with out changing the input flow. had to speed one up once so i could cut the flow rate down on the tractor, this reduced the back pressure down the return line and stopped it blowing motor seals.

 

[Pheasant Surprise]

does your tractor have adjustable oil flow through the spools, from the cab ?
if so, generally you are best having the screw wide open & adjust flow with the spools.

if not, then ignore what I just said

Yeh flow is always better adjusted at the spool, where you can. Stops heating the oil unnecessarily (and wasting power/fuel) too, which is what you’re doing when you shove it through a restriction.