A compact and fully automated system that fits neatly on farm machinery is taking care of ongoing lubrication needs
For much of Australian agriculture – particularly machinery required for demanding broadacre work – bigger is often seen as better.
One area defying that trend is lubrication, where a newly-released pump is fitting seamlessly onto existing equipment and taking care of ongoing greasing needs while the machine works.
Manufactured by SKF Lincoln and distributed nationally by JSG Industrial Systems, the Automatic Electric Cartridge Pump (AECP) has a name that perfectly sums up its purpose.
First released late last year, the AECP has received a positive reception from customers keen to have a simple, compact and automatic solution for their daily machinery lubrication needs.
It is well suited to tractors, JSG’s National OEM Manager Charlie Mouawad says, while also being ideal for other machinery often used on farms – including smaller telehandlers, excavators and skid steers.
The AECP works by being hooked up to each grease point on a machine, with regular lubrication being automatically provided throughout the day, with the operator’s only required to replace the 400g cartridge when empty.
The product has a 50 per cent smaller footprint than standard reservoir pumps, which Mouawad says is one of the AECP’s biggest advantages.
“The footprint is the biggest thing with the AECP,” he says.
“It doesn’t require a bracket to be made, it can just be mounted on any flat surface and it doesn’t protrude too high – that’s the best thing about it.
“One of the other good things is not everyone has access to a pump with a filling station with air.
“A cartridge is more readily available, the operator just swaps out a cartridge and off they go – there’s less work to be done compared to a larger pump.”
One example of the AECP in the Australian market this year has been its installation on a Manitou 3300V skid steer.
This customer, who was using the skid steer in an industrial setting, came to JSG wanting a lubrication system that would maintain durability but also had limited space, making the installation of a standard lubrication pump impossible.
The AECP was the answer.
It was installed in two of the customer’s skid steers without having to engineer brackets and was seamlessly integrated to one metering device to build a small progressive lubrication system, supplying lubricant to 12 points while the skid steers were running.
Connected to an SKF IG502 universal controller installed in the cab, the controller provided output of the low-level signal, adjustable timer settings and a manual push button for easy operation.
As the AECP is only a single block, it is limited to machinery sizes with no more than approximately 20 grease points – with JSG’s larger automated grease pumps being better suited to these bigger machines.
Mouawad says in addition to skid steers, the AECP appeals to farmers because it works well with tractors.
“Tractors only have 10 or 12 points on them and they can be quite large tractors, but have a small amount of points, and the AECP is perfect for these as well,” he says.
“They can be used for a number of industries, not just agriculture. We can use for construction and any industry that you can potentially put an auto-lube system.”
Currently, the AECP has been designed for 12-volt operation although an expansion to 24-volt is planned for the coming months which will increase the machinery size it can be paired with.
While the fully automated AECP used in the Manitou skid steers represents the top end of automation, it is not the only option available for customers looking to increase their lubrication efficiency.
“There are multiple levels of service in one particular machine for a grease system – all the way from a manual grease gun to a battery grease gun to a semi-automatic to a full-automatic system,” Mouawad says.
“You can spec it up all the way and have a fully automatic grease system with a controller and an indicator light that shows when the cartridge is low and so forth inside the cab, otherwise you can actually go a level down to a semi-automatic system.
“This relies on the operator to press a button inside the cab to activate the pump but still has a low-level indicator function.
“If someone wants a semi-automatic system that’s one way you can go, otherwise you can go with a fully automatic system with the controller inside the cab and all the bells and whistles to go with it,” he says.
The AECP, along with other SKF Lincoln lubrication systems, can be viewed online at www.jsgindustrial.com while a case study can be read at www.jsgindustrial.com/case-study-manitou-3300v-skid-steer/