stored energy

[jac]

This is an idea I’ve had bouncing round for a while now regards horse drawn fertiliser spreaders.. A land driven spreader is ok but if the horses slow down for any reason the discs slow down too with a resulting narrowing of the spread.. Im talking of the broadcast spreaders not the “new idea” type of full width machine.. My idea revolves round using the half ton bag to prime some kind of spring that when released would have enough stored energy to spin the disc for long enuf to spread the half ton at the lightest setting ? Once the spring is primed the bag can be cut..I know it might seem a petty idea but it might be worth it for someone who spreads a lot of fertiliser and I firmly believe if the horse is to be taken seriously then we should try and aim for the bigger farmer too… We have a spreader over here that has a land drive delivery for the fertiliser and a hydraulic disc.. this was the kind of machine I had in mind for a conversion.. Any ideas/thoughts guys ???…
John

[mitchmaine]

hey john, what about a flywheel? like a baler. your horse could slow down but the spinner would have its own momentum. then maybe the problem would be on the other end wanting to spread when you stop. but you have the choice then to shut off the supply. don’t know. can’t quite see it yet, but maybe. mitch

[jac]

Mitch having the spinner going all the time and shutting off the supply was how I saw it too. I just thought that a half ton bag being lowered onto a paddle that rises the full depth of the fert box would exert a lot of leverage that could be used to prime something… but its the “something” im stuck on..if it could be made to work it will be one less job for engines without the drawbacks of pure land drive regards the spinner…
John

[Andy Carson]

What about using a compressed air tank or a car battery to run a motor that spins the disc at a constant rate? I know it’s not primed by the weight of your bag, but it might be easier to set up and could use more “off the shelf” parts… At first pass, I would think there would be enough energy in the weight of that bag to power the spreader, but it seems the friction in a system like that would likely be substantial.

[jac]

Thanks Andy. Was just an idea really, Got it watching a program about the tower bridge in London and how they used counter balance and the bridges own weight. Just thought it might be worth a try to use the half ton without the batteries. ….
John

[mitchmaine]

hey john, it’s the same idea as a hall clock. suspended weights, right? what if you had a false bottom in your basket, heavy hardware cloth, or expanded iron, that would pass your fertilizer but hold the weight of the bag, with a brake, and the descent ran the chain to your spinner. release the brake, and everything is in motion. then everything depends on emptying your bag before it hits bottom. timing, really. interesting idea.

[jac]

Thats bang on Mitch tho Id thot of a paddle that the bag sits on and pushes down and pressurises/primes the bit im stuck on… then gets cut at the bottom of the stroke and that way i thot the timing issue wouldn be a prob…
John

[Gabe Ayers]

You could use a White Horse hydraulic accumulator forecart to run the disk and they have a pto driven off the other wheel. Maybe?

[jac]

The accumulator is a good idea but I wasnt sure if it would have enuf flow to keep a motor turning.. I think Im right to say hydraulic motors are greedy and need a lot of oil. As I said, it was only an idea i had.. trying to keep the horse drawn machine moving forwards…
John

[farmerdave]

off the top of my head without being able to explain it right now, how a about a coil spring and reduction gear(sprung large gear) ? the ground drive could probably be modified to both run the spreader and load the spring whilst moving and then when you slow down the coil spring and reduction gear could run the disk .

[Author]

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