Ford 8000 and hydraulic vacuum motor

I have a '68 Ford 8000 that I am hoping to use to run a JD MaxEmerge 2 system. What I can't find is whether the Ford remote valves will handle continuous flow reqs of a hyd vacuum motor. The Ford output is 12 GPM. Can't find the JD flow req. Besides flow, are there other issues to consider? Thanks!

You need to tell us what planter you have. 12 rows planter can have two vacuum motors meaning additional flow requirements.

There are two ways to run the vacuum motors from your tractor.

1)The best would be to have the PTO driven hydraulic pump system JD made for tractors that did not have enough hydraulic flow to run the entire planter. New this was a $1200 kit.

2) You can get a kit that changes the plumbing to allow you to use a tractor with an open center system on the vacuum motor. I can tell you very few older tractors will have good enough hydraulic as far as pressure and flow to run the vacuum motor while using all the other hydraulic that the tractor uses. Example the lift and steering.

The open center kit number is found in a planter attaching guide. JD has these for the salesman and mechanic to use to know what to order to make a planter work on the different tractors. I looked and I can not find my copy right now. You would need to check with the service dept. of you local dealer.

Here is what the JD sales guide says about the hydraulic requirements for a Vacuum planter.
1) Planters equipped with the vacuum seed meter require a closed center hydraulic system or a pressure/flow compensating hydraulic system.
2) All vacuum planters utilize a case drain vacuum blower motor and require a flush face tractor sump drain coupler to return the vacuum blower motor oil to the tractor. See 6700 Series ordering codes.
3) Tractor SCV requirements:
Tractor hydraulic system must have 2350 PSI operating pressure to ensure proper functioning of planter hydraulics. (Exceeding 3000 PSI pressure is not recommended.)
1750 Planter hydraulic requirements depend on planter configuration. Basic systems requirements are as follows: Vacuum seed metering system: 2-5 gpm depending on seed disk and crop; Markers: 2-3.5 gpm; SeedStar Variable Rate Drive: 2-4 gpm depending on crop and desired population.
A 1750 with base equipment requires three tractor SCVs—one for planter raise/lower, one for vacuum seed metering, and one for markers.
Separate SCV and closed center hydraulic system required for vacuum metering system. (Tractor power beyond kit can be used to eliminate SCV requirement.)
4) Competitive tractors with open center hydraulic system require 540 rpm or 1000 rpm vacuum pump PTO driven hydraulic system. "


Also some things to watch an NOT DO!!!!

DO not return the oil from the motor through the SCV. Two reasons: 1) It only takes one time on pressure to be applied on the return port and the hydraulic motor is junk!! I do mean junk. That motor is $600. You want to make sure and use the flat face return Pioneer fitting. It makes powering the system backward impossible. It has a check valve that only allows flow one direction. 2) If you power the vacuum motor through the SVC yo are to use down as run and float as off. They do not want the oil flow to suddenly be stopped like a normal SCV does in the middle position. IF you do stop the flow all at once it can snap the motor shaft right at the vacuum impeller. Usually get one or two each year when guys forget to use the blocking kit on the 55 series or old JD tractors.

Long story short the safest and easiest way is to just go with the PTO pump driven system. Used they usually are around $500-750 for everything. IF you have a planter larger than a 4 row the PTO setup you get should have the oil cooler with it. You can make one out of a heater core on the return side if the one you find does not have it.

Moral of the story if you are buying JD implement make sure your tractor has the hydraulic system requirements to run what you are wanting to buy.

In the case with planters I always tell the guys that if they want a JD planter ran on an older tractor just get the finger pickup. It is a simple and proven system. This is even true on the 3020-4020 tractors because many of them have tired hydraulic system that are getting some age on them.

You'd need to find the requirements for the planter. Main thing to be aware of on the Ford is that with 12 gpm flow at any kind of pressure will make a lot of heat. I'd probably install a return oil cooler on the planter as well as a check ball between the tractor and cooler to make sure you don't accidentally pressurise the cooler...
Also be aware that on the 8000... it's only going to run one function at a time so if you need to move markers or anything like that the fan will probably stop...

Rod

Thank you, gentlemen. This is great information. The planter is a 7300 and will be run as a 4-row. I'd prefer the simplicity of a 7000/7100 right now as I'm learning but the 7300 is what is available to me through a fellow rookie and good friend. I'll look around for a PTO drive. I've never had to deal with the intricacies of the hydraulic system as I've only used it in the past for the basics.

A few questions:
1. Closed-center vs. open-center - is it correct that closed center means that hyd flow is shut off when the lever is centered?
2. Flat faced fittings and return oil - how do you avoid returning the oil through the SCV? Do you just mean using a one-way flow fitting to avoid that event if you hook it up backwards or do you mean somehow plumbing the return straight back to the reservoir?
3. I read the bit about using the draft control to turn the motor on and off in the JD manual but I don't understand how that affects the remotes. My draft sensing mech. is currently inop so I don't use draft and have never noticed if I lose hyd remote pressure when in the draft pos.

Thanks for your help. You've already prevented me from blowing out that motor!

Adam: The manual will be useless to help you hook it up to your Ford 8000. Anything JD talks about in the manual concerning hydraulics would just apply to JD tractors not your Ford.

What they are talking about is a sump return port. The reason being JD hydraulic system has charge pump pressure on the return side when in the float position. This is just a coupler that returns the oil to the sump. The newer JD 7000s and 8000s have a port in the back of the transmission/rearend housing. On the 55 series and older you removed a plug on the side/back of the rock shaft housing and dumped the oil back in there.

I have zero idea what you are talking about using the draft control to turn the motor on and off.

The long and short of it is you really need the PTO driven hydraulic system.

Thanks for the clarification. I am looking around to see what I can find for PTO hyd pump systems.

12 GPM is not going to run a JD vacuum planter.

A 4840 with a 4960 hydraulic pump in it is marginal on a 16 row (only one vac pump up to 12 rows, 2 on a 16 row). It will run the vac but you can read a Russian novel in the time it takes to lift and set down the planter.

4840 was rated at 23 GPM, 4960 around 27.