Vaccy tank, 8” autofill or 6” turbo fill

[Tarw Coch]

As above, which would fill a vaccy tank quickest?
Talking to a dealer the other day and he was talking big money for 8” autofill compared to prices I’ve seen for turbo fills.

 

[daveydiesel1]

8 inch pipe is a brute to trail about from tank to tank

 

[Wellytrack]

What were your quote’s? I put an extra fill point on recently, doesn’t suit all tanks but still helps.

 

[Tarw Coch]

What were your quote’s? I put an extra fill point on recently, doesn’t suit all tanks but still helps.

Haven’t had an actual quote on either of those options, was looking at a tanker in a dealers yard and asked the price, I asked how much more for a 8” auto fill and he said about 4-5 k more. I have seen 6” turbo fill advertised for about £1700 so was wandering which was best value..

I’m not even sure wether either option is worthwhile, it’s quite a bit of money to gain back in a quicker fill time. As tankers get bigger it gets frustrating sitting there waiting for them to fill and time is allways precious however in the bigger picture fill time is only part of the equation as it won’t reduce travelling time or emptying time.
I haven’t made my mind up if I’m changing my tanker at all yet but I have been given a very tempting offer with a 6” autofill , just thinking if I did should I go for a quicker fill option. I like the simplicity of a bigger fill pipe, just I don’t like the price.

 

[Ormond]

Our quote for a 8" auto fill was £3k and £2200 for the 8" turbo fill on a redrock. Think if you go auto fill 8" is the way to go. I'd imagine both would be a great filler.....thinking of keeping what I've got and putting a 6" turbo fill on. Problem I've got is o have to get a out every couple of loads to fill the reception pit so with auto fill I'm losing the whole " you don't have to get out the tractor" thing!

 

[Tarw Coch]

Our quote for a 8" auto fill was £3k and £2200 for the 8" turbo fill on a redrock. Think if you go auto fill 8" is the way to go. I'd imagine both would be a great filler.....thinking of keeping what I've got and putting a 6" turbo fill on. Problem I've got is o have to get a out every couple of loads to fill the reception pit so with auto fill I'm losing the whole " you don't have to get out the tractor" thing!

I currently have a 6” autofill on my tanker, whilst I have a bigger reception pit than you so only have to get off every 6/8 loads the real saving with the autofill is that the tanker is filling within seconds of pulling up rather than the time it takes to get off connect the pipe, and restart the pto and again once full you’re off allmost straight away rather than having to disconnect pipe and get back in.
A chance to stretch your legs once in a while whilst the tanker is filling is quite welcome so I don’t mind getting off to top the reception pit up.

 

[cvx175]

Our quote for a 8" auto fill was £3k and £2200 for the 8" turbo fill on a redrock. Think if you go auto fill 8" is the way to go. I'd imagine both would be a great filler.....thinking of keeping what I've got and putting a 6" turbo fill on. Problem I've got is o have to get a out every couple of loads to fill the reception pit so with auto fill I'm losing the whole " you don't have to get out the tractor" thing!

Have 8" auto fill arm with turbo fill on 3000g tanker here will fill in a shade over 2 minutes in watery slurry and will be completely full, when you get to the field pressure relief valve will be blowing off by the time you move your hand from the pto switch to the spool.
Have a few jobs where I'm getting out every load/every other load to fill reception pit, would still use the arm rather than the 6" pipe

 

[TomAg]

As above, which would fill a vaccy tank quickest?
Talking to a dealer the other day and he was talking big money for 8” autofill compared to prices I’ve seen for turbo fills.

We’ve got a 8” auto fill with a turbo filler on the arm. If you’re level worh the lagoon we can fill 3500gallon in 3 minutes! 8” pipes are a pain to move about if you’re in multiple tanks!

 

[mf7480]

How big is the tanker? 8 inch turbo fill really is very good, 3500 gallons in 2.5 minutes.
Seems an awful lot extra at the money you’re being quoted though, what brand of tanker is it?

 

[Boohoo]

Have you any deep tanks or lagoons? I've seen tankers struggle to fill with 6" never mind 8" because the vertical distance between the floor of the tank or lagoon and the top of the tanker is to big. A turbo fill is meant to help with this, although I haven't tried one.

 

[neilo]

How many loads a year will you be moving and how long do you expect to be keeping the tanker? If you save 5 minutes on each tanker load it could add up to a lot of time over it’s lifetime.

I don’t suppose anyone ever wishes they’d got a tanker that was slower, or more cumbersome, to fill.

PS, auto fill sounds great compared to holding a dirty 6” pipe between your legs while you clamp it on the valve, whilst trying to avoid slipping down the muddy bank of the reception pit and getting covered head to toe in sh*t (30 years ago, before the HSE crusaders jump)

 

[Tarw Coch]

In answer to some of the above questions, the tanker I was looking at was a 3000 gallon NC, I did ask about both 8” autofill and a 3500, both seemed prohibitively expensive on off the top of head prices.
A bit of background, dealer was trying to tempt me with a sale, he knows I’ve got a couple of trailers here that aren’t getting a lot of use and I’ve considered selling, he’s given me a price based on taking them plus my tanker in part ex at maybe not top dollar price but certainly very realistic prices leaving very little to pay.
Haven’t made my mind up yet on a deal but if I do go ahead I want to make sure I’ve considered all the options. Based on what the dealer has said I could add a turbo filler to a 6” for less than half the price of an 8” so was wondering how much difference between 6” turbo and straight 8”.
It seems, without having a proper quote, that 8” with turbo would add about 6k, which is rocking on a bit for the use it will get. I also use a contractor with umbilical quite a bit around the farm but need a tanker for a block of land just up the road plus some use at home in summer,

Current tanker is 17 years old and hasn’t done huge amounts of work so doesn’t have to go OTOH what is the lifespan of Russian 30.5/32’s and how much cost/hassle if one pops on the road, at the moment they look perfectly good which is good from a selling point of view but undoubtedly I’ve had the best out of them.
Whilst on subject of tires, new would be tandem axle on 560’s, are these big enough or something else to think about upgrading, as I alluded to earlier all or at least the majority of its work would be over summer months after silage when hopefully ground conditions are more favourable.
Other consideration is future legislation, new tanker would come with brackets for a dribble bar. It’s perfectly possible to fit one to back door of mine but by time legislation comes in it will be at least 20 years old so might well be past it’s best for that so maybe wise to move on now before such things become a requirement.

Decisions decisions,

 

[Wellytrack]

In answer to some of the above questions, the tanker I was looking at was a 3000 gallon NC, I did ask about both 8” autofill and a 3500, both seemed prohibitively expensive on off the top of head prices.
A bit of background, dealer was trying to tempt me with a sale, he knows I’ve got a couple of trailers here that aren’t getting a lot of use and I’ve considered selling, he’s given me a price based on taking them plus my tanker in part ex at maybe not top dollar price but certainly very realistic prices leaving very little to pay.
Haven’t made my mind up yet on a deal but if I do go ahead I want to make sure I’ve considered all the options. Based on what the dealer has said I could add a turbo filler to a 6” for less than half the price of an 8” so was wondering how much difference between 6” turbo and straight 8”.
It seems, without having a proper quote, that 8” with turbo would add about 6k, which is rocking on a bit for the use it will get. I also use a contractor with umbilical quite a bit around the farm but need a tanker for a block of land just up the road plus some use at home in summer,

Current tanker is 17 years old and hasn’t done huge amounts of work so doesn’t have to go OTOH what is the lifespan of Russian 30.5/32’s and how much cost/hassle if one pops on the road, at the moment they look perfectly good which is good from a selling point of view but undoubtedly I’ve had the best out of them.
Whilst on subject of tires, new would be tandem axle on 560’s, are these big enough or something else to think about upgrading, as I alluded to earlier all or at least the majority of its work would be over summer months after silage when hopefully ground conditions are more favourable.
Other consideration is future legislation, new tanker would come with brackets for a dribble bar. It’s perfectly possible to fit one to back door of mine but by time legislation comes in it will be at least 20 years old so might well be past it’s best for that so maybe wise to move on now before such things become a requirement.

Decisions decisions,

If you want an opinion, I’ll start. I’d go with a turbo filler on a 6 inch auto.

 

[daveydiesel1]

Another opinion i wouldnt go for nc as ov had 1 and had real problems with axles and other bits and nc wouldnt stand over it. Od look at new rock or abbey and for tyres id be wantin wider than 560s

 

[ollie989898]

Is it worth asking the manufacturer to quote for a positive displacement pump instead of plain vacuum?

 

[NI farmer]

Is it worth asking the manufacturer to quote for a positive displacement pump instead of plain vacuum?

Was considering new 3000 or3500
How much benefit is positive displacement pump
Can it lift from ten foot tank's
What is the problem with nc tankers

 

[daveydiesel1]

Was considering new 3000 or3500
How much benefit is positive displacement pump
Can it lift from ten foot tank's
What is the problem with nc tankers

Axle broke twice. Various problems with pump and gearbox. Very boncy along road compared to any tanker iv ever pulled to the point ye couldnt sit in 40k tractor above 2000 revs and by end o day bottom of back/hips are in real pain and it will not fill full and when comin near full ye have to have your hand on pto switch to turn her of the minute the slurry hits the top or shel pull the slurry out thru the pump leavin it way no oil. Complained about all these things few times but they never come out to sort any o it like they promised they would. We run a hire business and ye would think they would try to look after ye for future possible sales of dump trailers tankers silage trailers and slurry pumps. Itl be last thing we buy of them. Very disappointed

 

[NI farmer]

What should we buy 3500?
Tyres 710 tandem big enough?
Redrock
Newrock
Hispec

 

[ollie989898]

Axle broke twice. Various problems with pump and gearbox. Very boncy along road compared to any tanker iv ever pulled to the point ye couldnt sit in 40k tractor above 2000 revs and by end o day bottom of back/hips are in real pain and it will not fill full and when comin near full ye have to have your hand on pto switch to turn her of the minute the slurry hits the top or shel pull the slurry out thru the pump leavin it way no oil. Complained about all these things few times but they never come out to sort any o it like they promised they would. We run a hire business and ye would think they would try to look after ye for future possible sales of dump trailers tankers silage trailers and slurry pumps. Itl be last thing we buy of them. Very disappointed

Wait a minute, much-vaunted Irish agricultural equipment being criticised? Hope you have a TFF-approved stab vest handy!

 

[ollie989898]

Was considering new 3000 or3500
How much benefit is positive displacement pump
Can it lift from ten foot tank's
What is the problem with nc tankers

Rotary lobe pumps can pump from deeper tanks than a vacuum pump, produce no froth and do it faster and more efficiently as well.