Filters on Agricultural Machinery - Top Tips

Over the past 20 or 30 years, the quality of many of our basic items of farming equipment has just got better and better.Today's tractors, balers, mowers and other devices are perhaps built to higher quality and robustness standards than ever before - at least if you selected a quality manufacturer to begin with and avoid 'bargain basement' items made by people nobody has ever heard of!However, that doesn't allow or excuse a lackadaisical approach to some of the basics of maintenance and particularly engine maintenance. One area worth keeping in mind at all times is a basic one - that of filters.Things here may vary a little depending upon the machinery we're talking about, the type of fuel it uses and its maker but typically, if it has a combustion engine of some sort then it's likely to have filters. Let's look at the three generic types.Oil filtersAnything that has moving parts will generate friction as those parts move against each other and against even the surrounding air. In most cases, friction is bad news as it causes energy that could be used to help achieve whatever it is the engine exists for (e.g. to drive your tractor) to be transformed instead into heat and perhaps light.That means you'll be burning more fuel than necessary. Friction also aids in generating engine wear, not something most owners appreciate!So, engineers spend a lot of time trying to find ways to reduce friction and one agent that does so is appropriate oil. Typically, as it moves around doing its job, your engine will need to circulate oil from a reservoir to assist in lubrication, thereby reducing friction and engine wear.The problem is that as oil ages, it can pick up gunkand 'bits' from the reservoir or wherever it was previously stored. If they get into your moving parts, they'll act like an abrasive - more bad news!So, oil filters exist in order to prevent that happening but over time they can become cloggedand corroded. Therefore, make sure you change them regularly in line with the manufacturer's recommendations.Fuel filtersIn spite of modern production techniques, fuel can sometimes still contain minute particles upon delivery.It's even more likely to have bits of 'stuff' in it if you've stored it for some time in an old tank, in other words, just like the fuel tank in your tractor or lawnmower!The big issue here is fuel feeds. If the fuel isn't flowing freely and cleanly into your engine's combustion process, well, expect to see a lot of spluttering and perhaps grinding to a halt.Yet again, filters are part of the answer and they need to be cleaned and replaced periodically on allagricultural equipment and tractors.Air filtersDepending upon how an engine is aspirated, it'll need to take in air to aid combustion and perhaps cooling.There are a lot of different technological approaches to this one but most involve sucking in air from outside the engine. No surprises for guessing that the one thing a busy working farm won't have a lot of is air that's dust and 'bit' free!Once again then, there will be some sort of filteringsystem to stop those bits getting into the internals of your engine, impeding air-flow and reducing engine efficiency. You might be amazed though at how quickly an air filter can get clogged with dirt, dust and pieces in the air. You can clean them sometimes but in other cases, a fast replacement is the only viable approach.All in all, keep an eye on those filters and check/change them regularly!Article Source:http://EzineArticles.com/expert/Eby_M/2140360