Valmar metering drive redesign final report

Abstract

Valmar Airflo Inc. is a Manitoba based company that makes granular applicators for various agricultural applications. Valmar’s implement-mounted applicators make use of a ground driven gear and chain system to meter product accurately into their pneumatic distribution system. The variation in designs of each implement on which Valmar’s products must be capable of mounting to causes difficulty in making the gear and chain connection from the ground to the metering gearbox. Team Adamu & Associates (TAA) has designed two alternate metering drive systems, one using a flexible driveshaft, and the other utilizing a hydraulic drive. The flexible driveshaft system can be installed with minimal changes to the current system and represents the most cost-effective, simple solution. TAA is skeptical as to whether the hydraulic drive can remain accurate over a wide range of ambient temperatures without using expensive components; for this reason, TAA has developed a test procedure for the hydraulic drive to evaluate its accuracy.