Bourgault 491 monitor

[countryguy]

I bought an airtank last year with the 491 monitor.Everything works fine except that it is about 10-15 acres short on the acre meter per quarter.

I'm kind of baffled because all the numbers are inputted correctly.Would this just be a case of tweaking the wheel size number to adjust for possible height differences in 28L 26 tires?Or is it more likely to be a mechanical problem such as a fault sensor?

[slinger]

If the monitor is consistently short by about the same number of acres each quarter section, it is more likely a calibration issue than a faulty sensor.

A good first step would be to go through the calibration procedure for speed/distance traveled - the manual for the monitor should explain how to do this. For greatest accuracy, have the tire pressures set to how you would normally use them, have an average amount of weight (ie the tank half full of product), and do the calibration out in the field, in similar soil conditions as you will be working in.

If you go through the calibration procedure, and end up having to change the speed calibration number in your monitor, there is a good chance that you will have fixed the problem. If you end up with the same speed cal. number that you were already using, you will have to look elsewhere for the problem. (eg ensure you have entered the correct implement width, etc.)

[poorboy]

There is a sprocket on the bourgault airtanks that you have to change to match your width of drill. Perhaps this sprocket is the wrong number of teeth?
I have the rice tires on my machine, and I noticed a large difference in rate depending if the ground was dry and the lugs rode on top, or if the ground was soft and the lugs sunk down to the rest of the tire.

[countryguy]

Poorboy,nope the sprocket is right.I think I'll take slinger's advise and actually do a calibration this year.I assumed it was right being a used machine and don't like to waste time farting around in season as long as the rates are right.

You bring up another question for me though.Do you like those rice tires?Around here in excess moisture country I found they would sink as far as they could and actually bring up dirt as they are going around.

I looked at putting some trellborgs on but they are way too expensive at this time.I think I will maybe do a switcheroo and put these on the liquid cart ahead of the seeder and put the diamonds from the liquid cart on the airtank.

[poorboy]

The rice tires on my aircart are a so-so option. It is not clear cut in my opinion if they are any better or worse than diamond tread tires. The thinking here is that when the clay soils are wet the majority of the compaction is occuring under the lug of the rice tire and the crop will grow between each lug mark. This is true in most cases, but there are lots of times where the canola emerging in the rice tires is not what I would like it to be. In general, I have felt that bourgault has under equiped its airtanks with large enough tire.

I find that on my airtank the 21.5-21 front tires are where most of my compaction was from. On my last tank I went with the optional metric front tires for the tow behind aircart and I am very happy. Metric rear tires on the airtank would be way better than rice tires in my opinion.

[kamichel]

I second poorboys opinion on the metric tires and the front ones are the ones that help the most. I even transfered those front metrics to my brant pull sprayer last year when we were spraying through long stretches of water. Kept the sprayer from sinking most of the time, maybe over 90 percent of the time compared to the useless diamond tread that was on the sprayer. In my opinion diamond tread tires are the worst tire in the mud, they will sink. A tractor tread of equal size will stay on top better while a diamond tread will sink.