I am looking for feedback from anyone who has used a Tiny Tach in an open cab dozer with a cold climate like northern Vermont. I would like to install one if they are rugged enough to take the physical and damp, cold thermal abuse. Thanks.
I don't think a tachometer on a bulldozer is of very much use. A speed-sensitive attachment (Like a PTO) would need one, but for spreading dirt, a tach won't tell you much as you are usually running at a constant speed. With a properly adjusted throttle linkage and governor, the engine will not over-rev, which is what a tach is meant to help prevent.
I have one on a woodsplitter and its held up fine to -20* temps. I mainly got it for the hr meter but the tach is handy too.
Thanks for the replies. Puffie40 I understand what you are saying. I have had this old machine for 3 years now and have no idea what the rpms are. I am mostly curious to see if my throttle linkage is in fact adjusted OK and also a way of checking my TC stall rpms. At the same time I get an hour meter. At $95 I thought this might be a worth it if they really work. But maybe there is a better way?
The operators or service manual should give the RPM figures at each end of the throttle, and a handheld tachometer is used to measure the engine speed. For measuring TC Stall speeds, the Tiny Tach is probably a better (And safer) solution than any way I can think of using a hand tach. You might be able to find that tiny tach for a little cheaper online.
$95? I paid about $20ish for the one I have.
Valley, is your wood splitter a diesel? if so, where did you get a tach for $20, and what does it read?
No it's a gas engine. Sorry, I was assuming your dozer was gas. The unit I have has a couple ft wire that wraps around the spark plug wire and it gets a tach signal off that.
yep, gas is easy, there's no electrical signal from a diesel. Some use the alternator, but that almost has to be OEM. Tiny Tach is a brand name, I really would like to know how good they are, too.
Yair . . . mitch504 . We had one jury rigged on a little Honda to establish gearing on a special built machine. It worked spot on as an hour-meter too. It seemed a well made little jigger. Cheers.
Here is a link to their web site. Just above this --- Diesel Tiny-Tach™ ---- Are links to more detailed information about it. http://www.tinytach.com/diesel.php
From what I can tell, aftermarket diesel tachs use a magnetic reed switch on the crank pulley to encode the revolutions. It might be possible to convert a gas tach to read pulses from a reed switch, but you will have to do a lot of screwing around (Like finding out if the pulses are generated using ground as the base) to find out.
This one, Tiny Tach brand, uses a transducer to detect pulses in an injector line. I had read about it before, but haven't tried it. I don't know if it would work on common rail stuff, but most of my stuff still uses one line per injector.
Have a 3.9 liter cummins in a d39, the crank pulley is to slim to put a sticker for photo tack and the next option is the fan pulley, but it is about 10% bigger so you have to adjust for that when you tack the engine. With a tiny tack you probably get a better reading and safer also. Looks like it can save different timers also, think I might order one. Thanks for the heads up.
That's the same motor I have (non-turbo though). I have also decided to just go ahead and try one.
I was really starting to like you.
not sure about your climate, my tiny tach works fine in Texas. The resetable job and service timers were a major selling point for me, especially since the hour meter quit working on my D21p-6 Komatsu