Foley Engines is on the phone all day long helping people with parts for Deutz®, Perkins® and Ford® Industrial engines, not to mention Twin Disc®, NACD®, Rockford™, and WPT Power® PTO clutches, and industrial flywheels. When we hear common questions, we like to get our knowledge down into a new Tech Tip to share with our community. Hopefully, this one will be helpful to you.
- Flywheel or ring gear?
Many people call us looking for a flywheel when all they really need is a ring gear. A ring gear is a removable item that is installed on the flywheel and engages with the drive gear of your starter. Most have part numbers on them. All have critical dimensions. We at one time did so many ring gear installations that we had a dedicated custom ring gear oven. To install a ring gear, just use a torch and light that sucker up to heat the ring gear so it expand enough to fit onto the flywheel and then install it.
If you need to replace a ring gear, we do need numbers and dimensions from the old ring gear. Because we stock plenty of different ring gears, if you can’t give us the model and serial number, we can usually work with your old ring gear’s OD, ID, and a tooth count. We stock a huge variety of Deutz, Perkins and Ford Industrial ring gears and should be able to same-day ship one to you.
If you are running a John Deere® engine, be sure to examine your flywheel carefully. The circle of bolt holes around the pilot bearing is close to the pilot bearing hole and we have often seen the John Deere flywheel get damaged from a mis-aligned PTO. Not to worry, we can get you the right flywheel and can ship you one with replacement parts order for your WPT Power, Twin Disc, NACD or Rockford PTO clutch.
- The SAE rules
The SAE rules are what we sometimes like to refer to as “Why you can’t always use a Deutz engine for a home-made Zamboni”. We get plenty of calls from people who have plans to reuse and pair an existing engine with an existing PTO to build a power unit. We love the ingenuity and want to help. Sometimes the SAE size of the engine flywheel housing and the PTO that wants to be reused differ, never mind the design specifications for the engine and PTO not lining up with the work the new unit is intended for, but sometimes they can work together. The first step is to figure out the SAE size of the flywheel housing and the SAE size of the PTO bell housing. For a refresher on a quick way to confirm these sizes, see Tech Tip #114 for our SAE Bell Housing chart.
Whether the SAE sizes are the same or not, the next step is confirm that the torque of the engine and intended application are well aligned. Give us a call and we can help with this. We will need to know the engine make, horsepower and RPM as well as whether the PTO will directly drive the application or have a pulley system and if a pulley system the number and diameter of the pulleys and type of belt so we can calculate application sideload range. If the flywheel housing and the bell housing were not the same size and the PTO will work with the application, you can either locate a new flywheel housing or a new PTO. While the idea of a new PTO might sound like it defeats the intended equipment re-utilization, you may be surprise at how cost effective it is to get a new PTO specified for your application, when compared to locating a replacement flywheel housing. Give us a call and we can help you sort out your options.
- Flat-faced vs. step-type flywheels
Foley Engines to the rescue. So, you have an engine all lined up and ready to be transplanted into your project’s chassis. But the flywheel on the engine is a “flat-faced flywheel” and won’t accept the PTO clutch you want to use. Foley Engines can usually hook you up with a suitable flywheel for your engine and PTO. But keep in mind that you have to have the correct SAE bellhousing and we will need the engine information and existing flywheel information to find you the right flywheel. We try to uncover all options including used/take-off flywheels, aftermarket and OEM so you can find the right part for the right balance of price and longevity.
- Variable vs. Fixed speeds
OK, you’ve done your homework and read this far. But before you pull the trigger on your project and rip a Perkins engine from a low hour ONAN generator set, you need to understand, almost all generators run at a fixed 1800 RPM. That may be too slow for the V8 snow blower project you have cooked up. Call us an let us help you think through the considerations before you get too far into the project. We want to save you time and money and help you complete your project.
