Grooving Cylinder Heads
Chad Travis, Drasco, Ark.: “I mounted a standard, off-the-shelf 14-in. long toolbox on the hitch of my Kuhn 3-pt. mounted, 8-ft. rotary hay mower. I used angle iron and flat steel to make a mounting bracket for the toolbox that welds to the hitch frame. The toolbox bolts to the bracket.
“I use the toolbox to store mower blades and the wrenches that I use to install them. It eliminates a lot of extra clutter on my tractor. I call it ‘point-of-use’ tooling.
“I also installed an extra guard on top of the bar on which the rotary blades are mounted. Sometimes it’s possible for a rotary blade to bend downward into the mower bar, causing the blade to cut into the gearbox which then loses oil. The extra guards prevent that from happening. I used 3/16-in. thick steel plate to make the guards, mounting one guard between each set of rotor blades.
“After reading in Farm Show about grooving cylinder heads (Vol. 35, No. 4), I decided to try the idea on a Briggs & Stratton 5 1/2 hp engine and found that it worked and was fairly easy to do. I use the engine to operate a water pump for my livestock and it cut fuel use by 20 percent. The photo shows a white mark that looks like a bird’s foot where I used a rotary end mill file on a milling machine to make the grooves in the engine head.
“Basically, the grooved head channels the explosion to the edge of the cylinder. This channeling scours the ring area by creating more effective turbulence. The burn is more complete and more energy gets transferred to the crankshaft. After modification, leaning of the fuel-to-air mix helps maximize efficiency.
“I had problems with sediment in the biofuel I use in my tractor. The sediment settled in the tractor’s factory fuel filter, so I had to change the filter often and it got expensive. To solve the problem, I installed two extra spin-on fuel filters. One is located underneath the tractor’s footboard and the other behind a homemade metal guard. “The add-on filters I used are the same kind of filters used on many bulk storage tanks. They’re a lot bigger than the factory filter and they catch a lot of sediment so I don’t have to change the factory filter nearly as often.
“My homemade wire stretcher, designed to be used with a come-along, saves a lot of hassle. It’s made from a length of twisted, 3/4-in. dia. metal rod with a hook at each end. A tapered metal ‘gripper’ with a donut-shaped hole at one end fits over each hook.
“I fit the wire under a loose ring on the gripper, then slide the ring up over the wire until the tapered rod grips it tight. The hooks are spaced about as far apart as the distance between two wires in a fence. That way the rod keeps the wire strands separated so they don’t get tangled up.
“Each gripper can be used individually, or I can stretch two wires together at the same time.”
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Grooving Cylinder Heads ENGINES Chad Travis Drasco Ark : “I mounted a standard off-the-shelf 14-in long toolbox on the hitch of my Kuhn 3-pt mounted 8-ft rotary hay mower I used angle iron and flat steel to make a mounting bracket for the toolbox that welds to the hitch frame The toolbox bolts to the bracket “I use the toolbox to store mower blades and the wrenches that I use to install them It eliminates a lot of extra clutter on my tractor I call it ‘point-of-use’ tooling “I also installed an extra guard on top of the bar on which the rotary blades are mounted Sometimes it’s possible for a rotary blade to bend downward into the mower bar causing the blade to cut into the gearbox which then loses oil The extra guards prevent that from happening I used 3/16-in thick steel plate to make the guards mounting one guard between each set of rotor blades “After reading in Farm Show about grooving cylinder heads Vol 35 No 4 I decided to try the idea on a Briggs & Stratton 5 1/2 hp engine and found that it worked and was fairly easy to do I use the engine to operate a water pump for my livestock and it cut fuel use by 20 percent The photo shows a white mark that looks like a bird’s foot where I used a rotary end mill file on a milling machine to make the grooves in the engine head “Basically the grooved head channels the explosion to the edge of the cylinder This channeling scours the ring area by creating more effective turbulence The burn is more complete and more energy gets transferred to the crankshaft After modification leaning of the fuel-to-air mix helps maximize efficiency “I had problems with sediment in the biofuel I use in my tractor The sediment settled in the tractor’s factory fuel filter so I had to change the filter often and it got expensive To solve the problem I installed two extra spin-on fuel filters One is located underneath the tractor’s footboard and the other behind a homemade metal guard “The add-on filters I used are the same kind of filters used on many bulk storage tanks They’re a lot bigger than the factory filter and they catch a lot of sediment so I don’t have to change the factory filter nearly as often “My homemade wire stretcher designed to be used with a come-along saves a lot of hassle It’s made from a length of twisted 3/4-in dia metal rod with a hook at each end A tapered metal ‘gripper’ with a donut-shaped hole at one end fits over each hook “I fit the wire under a loose ring on the gripper then slide the ring up over the wire until the tapered rod grips it tight The hooks are spaced about as far apart as the distance between two wires in a fence That way the rod keeps the wire strands separated so they don’t get tangled up “Each gripper can be used individually or I can stretch two wires together at the same time ”
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