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Len,
I have both an older Longevity 200-amp AC/DC TIG welder and one of the ForceCut 50D plasma cutters. Both do all that they say they will. The Longevity people stand behind their products and I've found them to be fine to deal with. If you're going to use one of their 50-amp machines on a machine drive, I'd suggest you get the ForceCut 50i, rather than the cheaper 50D. The 50D does not have pilot arc starting so you need to make contact with the electrode to initiate the arc, which doesn't work well with automated tracking or cutting. If you're thinking of later building a CAD-driven table, you'll absolutely require the pilot arc machine.
I think you'd be very happy with the ForceCut 50i.
Hey! Nobody said not to get one, just to be realistic about what it will do. I never discourage anyone from buying cool toys, errr tools.
I sometimes have brief negotiations (
) with my wife over tools I want. Heck, I even use most of them! The problem with budget plasma cutters is that they rate them by what they will cut, which actually means “sever.” A sever cut is going to be crude, ugly and slow as can be, needing a lot of cleanup grinding. What counts, in the real world, is how thick a material it will cut cleanly while traveling at 12 inches per second or so – that's about the slowest you can cut and hold a smooth line, freehand. A 40 amp plasma cutter may be able to sever as much as 3/4″ stock, but it will only do a smooth sweeping cut on material up to about 3/8″, possibly 1/2″ on a really good day when the local utility is overreaching themselves.
To zip through 5/8″ MS you'll need a 50-amp or better machine unless you resort to track guides, machine cutting or the like. Or are willing to spends a bunch of time getting intimately acquainted with an angle grinder. You can check out the plasma cutters on http://www.longevity-inc.com to see what they rate their machines at. I've found them to be pretty darn honest on the detailed specs. If you're willing to drop the big bucks, the top brand in plasma cutters is probably Hypertherm.
Personally, I'd draw up the parts in a CAD program and have them cut by someone with a plasma table. MY plasma cutter is a 50-amp machine and I know I can't hold steady enough to do a smooth job of long cuts on heavy plate.
Hmmm…our code here requires that a sub panel any distance form the main panel, like in a separate building, have it's own ground rod and that the neutral be bonded at the sub panel. The inspector told me this was to prevent having a floating neutral if the main panel bond failed. Makes sense to me, but I'm not an electrician.
I do know that in my shop the sub panel is bonded and I have three ground rods, like Bob, one at the main service entrance, one at the sub-panel and one for the genset. I purely hate getting zapped by transients.
I'd be interested to know the actual NEC code language. I may try to look it up if it is available online (for free).
Thinking back on an older truck I owned that had a manual transmission, Tommy is right. The throwout bearing went out on that one and it squealed when my foot was off the clutch and quieted a bit when I began to depress the clutch pedal – at first. In short order it was squealing all the time and I finally had to replace it. So disregard what I said and try Tommy's suggestion first – he knows more about these tractors than the people who build them.
I'm not 100% certain on the 284 with the single pump setup – my 304 has two pumps. But somewhere in the hoses between the hydraulic system and the loader controls there may be a pair of QD's – they look like hose couplers on steroids. Same concept as the ones on air hose or some garden hose setups. They are (or should be) two identical pairs that are set up backwards of each other so that when you uncouple the two of them the hoses going to the loader control can be hooked to each other to keep dirt out and the hose sections going to the tractor can be hooked to each other to maintain the closed loop hydraulic system.
It sounds as though you have some obstruction in the system somewhere, causing the pump to work against too much head pressure, heating it up. My first guess would be the quick disconnect couplings if your loader is equipped with them. The Chinese OEM QD couplings are notorious for failing and causing the pump to deadhead, which it sounds like it is doing.
I'd start by disconnecting the output hose from the pump and *briefly* letting it pump into a bucket so yo can see the output flow is good. Then you need to check each component of the whole system to find the culprit.
Another thing to do would be to remove the loader QD's from the system. disconnect the hoses from the loader and connect them together to complete the circuit. If the QD's are bad on the loader side, the steering will now work and the pump won't overheat. If they're bad on the pump side, then there will be no change. Next step would be to eliminate the QD's by direct coupling the hoses with Sch. 80 plumbing fittings. If that works, then order some better quality aftermarket QD's from one of the dealers here.
If none of that does any good, the next place to look would be the priority valve or diverter valve, whichever you call it. Last place would be the steering motor/controller, but I doubt that. Start with the common ones first and see what you find. Obviously, don't continue to use the tractor with this condition or you'll blow the pump.
Hmmm…If you mean the noise is present when you push in the clutch pedal (disengaging the clutch), and is quiet when you let off the pedal (engaging the clutch), then yes, it sounds like the throwout bearing may be the cause. To the best of my knowledge these are not bearings that can be lubed. That being the case, you need to check it out more thoroughly.
Pull the clutch inspection cover – you'll have to remove at least one loader tower if your tractor is equipped with a loader. The loader tower mounts over the clutch inspection cover.
You'll need a strong flashlight and a small mirror to see anything in there. Check first for proper spacing of the clutch fingers to the face of the release bearing, and look for signs of heat discoloration – bluing, scorching, etc. Any signs of friction heating mean the bearing is seized up or dragging badly and it will need to be replaced. Unfortunately, that means splitting the tractor, but it isn't that bad a job if you're careful.
You cannot leave this inspection for later. If you let a bad clutch release bearing go it will ruin the clutch fingers, possibly (likely) the clutch discs and may end up damaging the pressure plates/flywheel by overheating them. All much worse than just a release bearing.
Yep, what Tommy said. I have one of Ronald's (RanchHand Supply) aftermarket loader valve packages and it is a huge improvement over the OEM. Took me about 1-1/2 hours to install and now I have float and rapid regen, smooth control and no slop. Now I'd like to have the bigger pump to make compound moves better, but that's down the road a ways. Always something. The upgrade on the valve is well worht the cost and time, believe me.
