Farm Machinery, Farming, Lubricants, Sprayers

SKF Lincoln offers automatic lubrication kit for sprayers

SKF Lincoln’s sprayer lubrication kit helps to ensure these complex machines are always running at their smoothest

Sprayers are a unique piece of agricultural machinery, with larger overall dimensions than the likes of tractors or even combine harvesters when the booms are at full extension.

The sheer size means there is always potential for things to go wrong; making the need for good lubrication and maintenance crucial.

Its very nature, though, with more lubrication points than other machinery, means the daily maintenance requirements for farmers to correctly grease their sprayer is a greater time imposition.

JSG Industrial Systems has a solution, courtesy of the SKF Lincoln automatic lubrication kit specifically designed for sprayers.

Like other SKF Lincoln automatic systems, it works by providing small amounts of grease regularly throughout the day to ensure the machine remains well lubricated, even after a long day of working in the field.

It is sold as a ready-to-install kit designed to cater for the higher number of lubrication points, with JSG’s kit being designed for the common number of 82 or 84 lubrication points.

“Obviously it takes a lot of time to manually grease that number of points, and some days it’s raining or it’s 40 degrees and the farmer doesn’t have any help, so it’s probably not going to get done,” JSG’s national sales manager Brendon O’Loughlin says.

“If you’re pumping in grease at the start of each day, it may dispense quickly during the day and then it’s gone by the end of the day.

“With automatic lubrication, we’re able to pump in a little bit regularly and then form a seal to stop the dirt and rain getting into the bush or the bearing.”

Once installed, the only requirement is to ensure it is filled with lubricant

Nitty gritty

The focal point of the sprayer lubrication kit is a Lincoln Progressive P203 pump fitted with a 12V DC programmable controller and 2kg grease reservoir to ensure the consistent lubrication to vital components.

The only manual requirement is to load the grease, which can be done with a push fill hand pump to facilitate easy filling of the reservoir.

Additional lubrication cycles can also be done through an in-cab switch if required.

A master divider valve delivers metered amounts of grease to secondary valves, ensuring optimal lubricant distribution while having the ability to vary the quantity to each point if required.

The secondary divider valves are allocated to specific grease points on the bi-fold and tri-fold booms, further ensuring lubricant is precisely delivered where it is needed most.

The kits are manufactured using high-quality hoses, fittings, mounting brackets and fasteners, while also designed to be efficient to install.

“A lot of the kits we put together are pre-harnessed and pre-assembled so then we actually label them to say where they go on the machine,” O’Loughlin says.

“The lines are already on them and we spend a bit of time getting it ready, which makes it more efficient to install.

“We’ve also got a network of installers that know how to fit our systems and are quite efficient at doing that.”

The kit is sold in a way which is ready to install

It is also backed by the SKF Lincoln brand name, which has a long history in manufacturing and is an OEM-specified product known for its reliability and performance.

This also means farmers can be confident they have the necessary backup for the system to be a strong long-term investment, no matter where they are located.

“You’ll always be able to find a part anywhere in Australia,” O’Loughlin says.

“It’s one thing to put a system on, but then you’ve got to be able to back it up in the aftermarket.

“We’ve got agents in every region, so farmers can always get a part for it anywhere in the country.

“No matter where a farmer is based, they will be able to find the product and have the knowledge that you’ll have backup for those parts.”

Bringing benefits

JSG’s lubrication product sales manager Branco Zivic says Australian farms can be broadly split into two demographics, both of which can benefit from automatic sprayer lubrication for different reasons.

“One group is your family-owned farms and the other are your multinational farms,” he says.

“With the family-owned farms, they don’t have the labour that they’d like to, so this is automating that process for them.”

The system is designed to lubricate the large number of points in a sprayer

Another benefit of automating the lubrication process for sprayers rather than relying on manual application applies particularly to the ‘ma and pa’ farms, according to O’Loughlin.

“The sprayer is probably only working three months of the year,” he says.

“It’s spraying before you’re sowing, so you can imagine, if it’s sitting out in the weather or even if it’s in a shed, it’s not moving.

“You’re providing lubrication to minimise the wear and tear on those points and it provides peace of mind.”

Minimising wear and tear is the core of why a good lubrication system is important, Zivic adds, as there is potential for significant problems otherwise.

A Lincoln Progressive P203 pump is the central point

“If you’re not doing lubrication properly on a sprayer, the machine starts to deteriorate a lot quicker,” he says.

“You have to remember that some of the chemicals that have been sprayed are also corrosive and that could jeopardise the performance of the sprayer.

“It’s also the dirt and the dust that gets into the wear points, so what we try to do is basically lubricate or purge the contaminants out of there.

“There is also potential for sagging as those pins and bushes wear.

“There’s quite a lot of weight on that boom, so you obviously don’t want sagging components.

“It’s trying to extend the life of the machine – these sprayers are worth a significant amount of money so it’s fair to say if you spend a little bit on a preventative maintenance system, you’re going to get better value for your money.”

The SKF Lincoln sprayer kit, along with lubrication systems for all farm machinery, can be viewed online at www.jsgindustrial.com and the brand’s dealer network.

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