An enormous new tube conveyor for shifting grain gets all the power it needs from a John Deere 6068T1 industrial engine.
Queensland industrial engineers Oztec manufactures a range of grain augers and tubeveyors in a variety of lengths, diameters and engine sizes to suit any farming operation.
Oztec managing director John Sheehan said the tubeveyor was built for a farmer with specific requirements, with the capacity to carry a wide range of grains.
“We have been building self-propelled augers and tube conveyors since we started in 2003, but this is the biggest one we have ever done,” Mr Sheehan said.
The tubeveyer is run by a John Deere 6068T1 industrial engine, which Mr Sheehan said was a reliable engine with more than enough power for this job.
He said the 40-metre long tubeveyer had the height needed to fill 15-metre high silos, featuring four wheels on six-metre wheel centres for stability.
“We could have built it as a shorter self-propelled grain auger, but over that height an auger puts a lot of pressure on the grain,” Mr Sheehan said.
“The belt is a lot softer on lupins and chickpeas, so it handles the grain more gently. That’s the main reason this farmer went with the belt conveyor this long.”
John Deere’s 6068T1 is a six-cylinder engine providing nett continuous at 144 horsepower. It runs at 1800-revolutions-per-minute, so it won’t work excessively hard for this job.
It has a dynamically balanced crankshaft, forged-steel connecting rods for increased durability, a self-adjusting poly-vee fan drive that can be matched to specific application requirements, and replaceable wet-type cylinder liners to dissipate heat.
There is an optional gear auxiliary drive which produces up to 50-hp for gear-driven accessories, while standard front-and-side mounting points provide easy installation and application flexibility.
“The engine is working well. We have put a Kensho K27 engine controller with it, which is a computer that provides the engine with greater protection and management,” Mr Sheehan said.
“It is very easy to operate and has a lot of features which we don’t need to use, but it has very extensive software in it and it goes well with the John Deere product.”
Oztec is developing its relationship with Power Equipment, which distributes John Deere industrial and marine engines in Australia and New Zealand.
