[Ron.Koster]

We just recently did an entire overhaul on our 220 swather with a 25 foot header. We put in a new schumacher knife and guards and we converted the old EGC wobblebox over to a Schumacher as well. We had the welding shop in town mount the new platform for it and we used our old hydraulic motor since cost of these kits to convert these 220's has just gotten ridiculous. We are cutting right now in green barley for silage with coarse knife which I have been told was good green material and at the moment it is leaving behind a really ragged cut. All the plants are pushed over a little which one of the indicators I believe of a slow knife. I was able to cut the same stuff last week with a worn old knife and guards and a leaky old EGC at about 5 mph and still leave a decent cut. But after the overhaul we go over about 3-4 mph with leaving a ragged cut, I think it should be reasonable to be able to go at least 5-6 mph with a new knife as well and still leave a nice cut.

So here's where the big question comes in. Are the schumacher wobbleboxs geared a little differently than the EGC or something since I'm using the same motor and pump setting as before. Would it be alright to turn up the pump I think from 15gpm to 17.5gpm in order to speed up knife or will this have ill consequences later on to other components like draper motors and reel motor. Or could it be something else. Could low hydraulic oil do this, last I checked it was sitting at 1/4 on the sight glass of the reservoir. Would just like to have this fixed soon since a better cut equals more tonnes per acre in silage.

 

[rseventyone]

I suspect the old motor is of a different spec then the schumacher box is expecting. I'd try speeding up the pump and go a short distance and see if there is any improvement. I'll look at my converted 220 and see if I can find any clues for you.

 

[whatswrong]

I would agree ,17.5 sounds within reason on a swather.

 

[Ron.Koster]

I'll give it a try and if the knife does end up overspeeding then I'll just put the engine rpm down. How hard is it to change it from 15 to 17.5 as this swather has never had any settings changed.

 

[rseventyone]

My 220 uses the original motor so motor spec should not be an issue. Adjusting flow is really easy - well explained in manual if you have it. If not let me know and I can explain it . Check that the control arm on the pump is not loose. Also the whole bracket with the 3 cable stops needs to be secure. I think its on slotted holes so can be adjusted up and down which will alter pump stroke and therefore flow.

 

[Ron.Koster]

ok so I just changed it 17.5gpm and it seemed to make a considerable difference in cut, but I will find out for sure when I can do a few full length swaths. Also topped up my oil reservoir just to make sure. I had to slow down my drapers and reel quite a bit since they were going really fast after the change. Just hope that more flow won't have any negative effects on the knife or the hydraulic motors. They already got really hot just with the settings I had before. I'll keep you posted on what happens.

 

[rseventyone]

Make sure your oil cooler is clean. Those Masseys tend to get clogged up quire easily.

 

[Ron.Koster]

Make sure your oil cooler is clean. Those Masseys tend to get clogged up quire easily.

Yeah I've noticed that. The radiator and oil cooler seem to always run on the hot side, right now my engine temp sits most of the time at about 190-198 on the gauge. So my hydraulic temp can't be far off either though I haven't set off any warning lights yet. Its just that its so hard to clean since I don't have a good tip for my air compressor

 

[Ron.Koster]

Update

Well after doing some more serious cutting it seemed that speeding up the knife hasn't made a real big improvement, though the cut gets really nice the lower to the ground I go. The only thing left I think is try out some regular tooth knife sections since the whole knife at the moment is course. Could there really be that big of a difference between regular and course knife sections?