Grain Vacs Repowered With Industrial Air Pump

Grain Vacs Repowered With Industrial Air Pump GRAIN HANDLING Accessories 19-1-4 Gary Ash, Mansfield, Ill., is doing a brisk business replacing original equipment air pumps on grain vacs with blowers built for industrial use, increasing capacity by up to 40%. Ash says his replacement pumps also last longer than original pumps because they're built much heavier. "The Duraflow 4518 pump we use originally was designed to move cement. It's a bigger, harder pump that makes the vacuum system work better than new," says Ash. "A complete air pump and conversion kit can be installed for about half the price of a new vac. I make kits for all brands and models of grain vacs and do whatever it takes to match the pump to the vacuum. However, I mount the pump only on models with 6-in. dia. lines - the pump is too big for grain vacs with 5-in. lines. I get the vacuum and pressure lines to match up, install a new base plate, change the gearing, drive, and mount controls above pump and run new lines to the controls. We guarantee your grain vac will move more grain further than any vac made, new or used. We already have 1 million bu. on the first units and they're still working great. "Air pumps are the biggest cost on a grain vac. However, most grain vacs don't work well because manufacturers over-rate their air pumps - they don't allow for tractors with slow pto's, wet corn, liners, el-bows, or rubber on the end of the nozzle. The grain vac may be rated at 4,000 bu. per hour but actually have a capacity of only 1,700 bu. per hour - and therefore it takes 45 minutes to load a semi. The bottom line is that if the air pump is weak, the air lock runs half empty all the time. "Price depends on the model and amount of retrofit work required. The pump sells for $5,400, and the conversion kit can cost up to $1,000." Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Mid-west Agri Sales, Rt. 1, Box 312, Mansfield, Ill. 61854 (ph 217 586-5770).

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