Brian's hydrostatic chopper build.

[Brian]

Leak update....

I had the swing arm apart again today to fix the leak. I took half of the plumbing out just to get access to the leaky fitting. I'm pretty sure I found the problem..... it was a flare problem on the steel tubing. I thought I had it fixed and tried driving it again tonight but..... it still leaks! Tomorrow I'm going to replace that tube with a new one. Now, with all the talk of steel hydraulic tubing on here lately, I just want to say, it was not something that failed...... It was a freak deal and it should have been caught by me during the original installation. Jeff tells me that he has some very nice, high quality tubing at his shop that we're going to make the new tube from. The original tube was bent and flared over 2 years ago so who knows where that stuff came from. It should be good to go by tomorrow evening.

Brian.

[x4158]

What are you referring to by "Upshift" when you said it could upshift a little quicker?

MH

[Brian]

Originally Posted by x4158

What are you referring to by "Upshift" when you said it could upshift a little quicker?

MH

Keep in mind, the pump I'm using strokes and de-strokes the swash plate automatically. I have no control of how fast the swash plate goes from zero stroke, to full stroke. If it strokes to fast, it would bog the engine down. If it strokes too slow, like I think my pump is doing, the engine revs up and doesn't sound (or feel) like there is much load on the engine, meaning it could possibly stroke a bit quicker. I used the term "upshift" in place of "stroke"

Don't get me wrong..... it's pretty damn close to being perfect, but I think there might be a bit of potential still in it!

Brian.

[Justajo]

Thanx for that video. The bike is great! (This kind of vid I can watch on my system since once it downloads it's playable again and again. Doesn't load initially any faster, but at least once I've got it, I've got it. Don't what the difference is between this kind of video -- not being a geek the way I am -- and the kind that has to load every time you watch it, but I appreciate it nonetheless.)

Neil

[Brian]

Originally Posted by Justajo

Thanx for that video. The bike is great! (This kind of vid I can watch on my system since once it downloads it's playable again and again. Doesn't load initially any faster, but at least once I've got it, I've got it. Don't what the difference is between this kind of video -- not being a geek the way I am -- and the kind that has to load every time you watch it, but I appreciate it nonetheless.)

Neil

Thanks Neil!

I'm glad you had a chance to view the video. It's a short video (about 1 minute) so I'm sure that helped keep the download time as short as possible.

Thanks again,
Brian.

[x4158]

Originally Posted by Brian

Keep in mind, the pump I'm using strokes and de-strokes the swash plate automatically. I have no control of how fast the swash plate goes from zero stroke, to full stroke. If it strokes to fast, it would bog the engine down. If it strokes too slow, like I think my pump is doing, the engine revs up and doesn't sound (or feel) like there is much load on the engine, meaning it could possibly stroke a bit quicker. I used the term "upshift" in place of "stroke"

Brian.

Ah, so you don't have the foot plate like Jeff does? isn't LeRoy's the same as yours? will yours reverse?

MH

[Brian]

Originally Posted by x4158

Ah, so you don't have the foot plate like Jeff does? isn't LeRoy's the same as yours? will yours reverse?

MH

Correct.

I've had this pump ever since the beginning of my build. It was never planned to use a pump like Jeff's. (see post number 2 of this thread) When Leroy had problems with the Eaton pump that was ordered and took 4 months to be delivered, he started asking more about my pump. Long story short...... the place I got my pump from still had another identical pump on the shelf..... Leroy drove up here to Minnesota and bought it.

Reverse is just an electric valve that bolts directly onto the pump. I don't have that valve yet but I will probably have one by the time the bike is finished. It's a heavy bike and it sure will be nice to flip a toggle switch to back it in/out of parking spots!

Brian.

[mudbug]

Originally Posted by Brian

Correct.

I've had this pump ever since the beginning of my build. It was never planned to use a pump like Jeff's. (see post number 2 of this thread)

Reverse is just an electric valve that bolts directly onto the pump. I don't have that valve yet but I will probably have one by the time the bike is finished. It's a heavy bike and it sure will be nice to flip a toggle switch to back it in/out of parking spots!

Brian.

I missed that(or at least my mind did) So did you install the switch for reverse? --and-- How about an update later on, with your thoughts on the two pumps once you have had a chance to compare the two.

[DiezelSmoke]

Hi Brian,
Bike sure looks sweet. That piping looks like the stuff we have. I spoke to our supplier this week and he claims the stuff we have is made here in the USA, he says that is not a seam but is from the die. Evidently the die has a split in it to compensate for the expansion from the heat. The little bit of flaring we do, I have never had a problem like you had.

[x4158]

this might be a silly question, but how do you deal with braking on the rear? with the swashplate flat wouldn't you just get fluid going straight through the pump and not be able to use it for braking? or do you have a separate valve for that?

I'm still learning the differences between the various variable pumps... especially one that auto adjusts to engine rpm's (or is it adjusting to PSI/volume?)...

MH