Hello everyone, I'm wondering if anyone knows or knows where to find what the differences may be between a on highway and a industrial 15 liter cat. I operate a custom agricultural spreading business and this environment means more of a off road industrial, dusty, and lots of changing engine RPM application for the engine. So I'm trying to figure out if it would pay in terms of engine life and maintenance costs for me to start with a industrial engine and build it up with the properly configured front cover and gearing, bell housing, and head that would be needed for it to accommodate air compressor/power steering pump and engine fan bracket, clutch, and jakes involved with a truck chassis. But these along with ECM settings might be the only differences anyway in which case there would be no cause for doing it. Thank you for any information, opinions, or thoughts you may have!
Welcome to the Forums J spreader!:drinkup
Thanks! Good to be here!
I was in a rush to get out the door this morning but I'm interested as well in the difference between the industrial engines and the road versions.
Could you be specific as to what you call an industrial engine ? Such as a generator engine or some other constant RPM application. Torque curves are one of the main differences I can think of.
You need to figure out what will be bolted on for hydraulics. A on road platform might be a better start with a industrial ft cover, rear gear drive or whatever depending on your auxiliary needs. Its not like the old days when there was big differences between on and off road platforms. Today its one size fits all. Some of the smaller insides are different, cam, pistons, fuel settings. Nothing major just minor things that affect duty cycle, hp, torque. On the outside the oil seals/ft rear cover will be about the only difference. Industrial engines are constant rpm lower horsepower flat torque and you would be very unhappy. You would have a one off engine that you can't just type in the serial # and order parts because you changed all the settings/parts. No one would charge a reasonable rate to fix it either except the guy who built it. I have 2 of those but it's worth it when loaded, I can pass you empty up the big hill.
Maybe I used the wrong terminology when I said industrial. What I meant was something in a wheel loader for example that has to handle the constant rpm change, dust, and fast throttle response required to be effective in this application. What I am looking for is engine life and got to wondering if these engines had a heavier bottom end, a main seal setup that is better capable of handling fine sifting dust, and what ever else is associated with a off road application. I recently replaced the front main seal in the current truck I am running in this application and found that the crank was already grooved a surprising amount even with only 160,000 miles and 8,000 hrs. on the truck from the dirt buildup in between the seal lips. So that is what started this train of thought. I found a speedy sleeve that fit the width I needed but was the same size as the shaft so it didn't stretch on and fit tight like it should which I remedied with blue lock tight even though it's not normally recommended to lock tight speedy sleeves. I'm also hoping that this will fill in the air pocket under the sleeve that would be left by the groove although I don't know if it would matter. If someone has any experience on this speedy sleeve business any input is welcome because it's a experiment for me. On the auxiliary hydraulic requirements, I think I'm going to use a transfer case with shifting PTO outlets. There will be 2 hydraulic pumps to drive each requiring 200 horsepower and I don't think that this is possible with rear or front cover gearing (if someone knows different any comments are welcome). I would rather use a transfer case than go off the front of the crank unless someone has a different idea. I do all my own repair work so trying to talk a shop into working on my engine that is mix and matched wouldn't be a issue as long as I know the ins and outs of which part numbers to order when it's repair time. A parts manual from each model represented in the composite engine would probably be a wise purchase.
What kind of spreaders are you running? I have been running drybox spreaders doing mostly lime and fertilizer, and some litter. I have gotten great life out of Cummins LTA 10s. I had one do 25,000 acres/year for 13 years before dropping a valve.
New leader spinner spreader. Doing lime and a little bit of litter.
The c15 Cat front and rear seals all come with the crank sleeve as part of the seal even from factory so that wont be a problem. Injectors , turbo, oil cooler size are the only things I can think of that change.
Thank you very much for your help!!
New Leader makes a nice spreader, most everybody around here uses them. I have GFE Speedy-Spreads myself though. You should try to get some fertilizer work, too. It's harder on the equipment but there's good money in it, since you can get 30-40 acres to a truck load.