Booster Engine Gives Forage Harvester More Zip

Booster Engine Gives Forage Harvester More Zip HAY & FORAGE HARVESTING Forage Harvesters 22-1-6 A British farmer recently souped up his pull-type Deere forage harvester with an add-on engine that gives it the power and capacity of a newer self-propelled model. "I knew the harvester could handle a lot more power, thus improving output," Colin Gay told Practical Farm Ideas, a British farm magazine. He could have bought a tractor larger than his Deere 3350 but couldn't justify the expense. So he mounted the engine and clutch from another tractor on the back of the forage harvester to work in tandem with the tractor pulling it. He used the 72 hp engine out of a Leyland 272 tractor with a burned-out front end. It mounts on the rear of the harvester on a frame built out of 4 by 2-in. angle iron and channel iron. The axle was moved back 12 in. to en-sure proper weight distribution. The engine drives a right angle gearbox from a junked Deere 3405 forage harvester. It matches the gear ratios of the Deere 3765 harvester. Gay controls the Leyland engine with an old pto lever from the tractor. A diesel tank mounts above the engine to provide fuel for about 7 hours. To keep the add-on engine's radiator free from debris, Gay enclosed it in a box covered with perforated metal screening that's kept clean with a car windshield wiper. The air cleaner intake is routed into the box as well to keep the air filter clean. In dry grass, the windshield wiper is used to clean off the screen. With 100 hp from the shaft on the Deere tractor in front and 70 hp from the Leyland booster engine, the harvester has at least 170 hp, enough to increase harvesting capacity by 50 percent. Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Colin Gay, Eastwood Manor Farm, East Harptree, Bristol, Somerset, U.K. (ph 1761 221237). (Practical Farm Ideas)

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