Hi, I'm Ted from Everything Attachments, and we're here today with the Danuser brand of auger with their down force kit that goes on a PTO-driven 3-point auger system.
If your tips are in really good condition, in most conditions you should not need a down force kit. But if you have some really difficult ground, it's been really dry, and you've got to get your holes in no matter what, then a down force kit will help you.
The last thing you want to do is be anywhere near this. I've even seen people hanging on the back of these to get more down force, and that is like the last thing you ever want to do.
This kit is designed a little different than most hydraulic things in the way it works. This has a regular hydraulic cylinder on it that can plug into one of the remote valves on your tractor, and that would be your pressure valve that you would activate. The way this works is you would activate that valve. This is a relief valve. This is preset at the factory and it's not meant to be tampered with. When you activate this hydraulic cylinder from your tractor it's going to apply approximately 500 pounds of down force. Any more pressure than that and you're just going to heat up your bits and burn them up faster. A little bit of force is good, but too much is just too much.
The way this is going to work, from the time you activate it, it's going to activate about 500 pounds of force extra down on your bit, and it's going to constantly have oil flowing through this relief valve. Your tractor operates on somewhere around 2200 to 2500 psi system on your hydraulic pressure. This valve is set quite a bit lower than that. That means the fluid will constantly be going through this valve. You can return the fluid through the other port or through where you add oil to your tractor. The only thing that's not good about that is if you're doing long-term digging, this oil is constantly flowing. It's making some heat because it's going through resistance on the relief valve, and you're going to be emptying the oil. If this is the oil level in the tank of your tractor, the rear end, you're going to be emptying the oil above the oil level. That's going to create some air in your system.
What they would like for you to do is enter at a plug, like a drain plug, or some of the other plugs on the rear end of your tractor, which is below oil level. Just remember, this circuit is constantly flowing. It's not really going to matter in most cases if you go above or below, If you are digging all day long it probably would make a difference because of the foaming and so forth of the oil. In most cases you're okay just to plug it in. Once you activate it, it's going to push down on this bit. It's going to jam this bar against this hoop here. Then this cylinder is going to be pushing out which is going to force this downward.
If you go changing this pressure regulator, which is not recommended, it's going to do two things. It's going to possibly pick up your tractor and make a dangerous situation. It could bend any of this linkage. It definitely could slide this down the boom, so you don't want to go monkeying with the pressure relief. Just remember, the fluid is constantly flowing, and when you relieve the pressure to stop the down pressure, it will just kind of release all the pressure. It's not going to pull the cylinder back, but it will let you raise and lower your boom just like you normally would. It will just kind of stay in the position it's in until you reactivate it and activate the down pressure. Just remember how it works when you're applying the pressure to it.
If you've got any questions or anything, if you need to know if this will work on your tractor, or if it's suited for what you're doing with the bits and conditions you have, just give us a call or email at Everything Attachments, and we'll be happy to help you.
