Air Compressor Questions

[9_Mile]

I'm looking for a portable electric air compressor to inflate tractor tires, as well as occasional air tool use. I have a Kubota 4630 with R4 tires, which are pretty good sized. What makes sense for:
- Tank capacity; i.e. how many gallons
- Pressure / CFM ratings
- Motor HP
- Other features
- Accessories

I see a fair number of 4 to 6 gal. portables rated around 135 psi / 5.3 scfm @ 90 psi. Will these do the job?

Recommendations?

 

[InlineDieselFan]

If you want to use an air tool (impact gun, air ratchet) or two I would look at the 20 gallon tanks with a 5hp motor as the minimum. This is what I have and I can run out of air just undoing lugnuts on the truck. The small gallon tanks just don't have the air reserve capacity to power up tools excpt for things like air nailers.

30 gallon 7.5hp is about the size limit of the portables.

Once you get an air compressor you will most likely wish you had a bigger one. Kind of like tractors and pick-ups.

steve

 

[Boondox]

Depends on your definition of "occasional" when it comes to air tool use. I have a little twin-tank Porter-Cable compressor that works great for inflating tires, blowing off machinery, and using nailers or staplers. But no way can it keep up with my air wrench! So now I have the little compressor (which I like because it only takes about 45 seconds to fill the tanks) and a big 60 gallon 240V unit for using air tools.

Pete

 

[BIGUN]

I would get the oil lube type compressor. I like them better and they are supposed to last 3 times longer than the oil free type. I never run short of air with this compressor. I had a 2 HP Craftsman for many years and it served me well but would run a little short of air using an air blow gun continuously.
Don’t know why you specified a portable but I bought an upright stationary model at Lowes, which I really like.
Stationary
You can run a 100 ft of hose to your tractor for very little money. If you buy this type and don’t want to bolt it to the floor you can leave it bolted to the shipping pallet making it very stable.
If you really need a portable, I like this one.
Portable
I really like this air blow gun for cleaning the dust and grass off my equipment.
Air Blow Gun

 

[Egon]

As others have stated:

Get the most CFM you can afford. The requirements of a tool seem to expand once one is acquired.

Try and find one with cast iron cylinders.

Egon

 

[Soundguy]

Depends on your air tool use.

If it were for just doing the tires.. those little 2 gallon pancake compressers really do a good job.. even work good for low volume tools.. like staplers / nailers.. lots roofers use them.

For more air tool use.. I would suggest either getting a bigger unit.. or have an aux tank.. like a 5,7,10 gallon tank.. like wall mart sells.. and plumb it in to the smaller compressor / tank.. let it charge up.. then you have decent air for intermittant use.

I do this with a 2 gal pancake comp, and a 7 gallon campbell housefield tank... runs a 3/8's air gun to take lug nuts off... Byt the time the last nut is off.. tank is pretty low.. but fills up ok.

Harbor freight generally has those on sale for about 89 bucks.. hard to beat that...

If you need more than casual air use.. I suggest you go with one of the 10 gallon units on a roll around cart...

Soundguy

 

[BIGUN]

One thing to watch for with the small portable aux air tanks is their limited lifespan. They are made of thin metal, I suppose to make them easier to carry and reduce cost. At least some of them have a warning label to dispose of the tank after a specified number of years. The reason being, they rust from the inside especially if not drained regularly, weakening the tank, then can explode when pressured up. I have seen pictures where this happened to one in the bed of a guy’s pickup while airing it up at a service station. Luckily he wasn’t injured. So if you use one of these follow the directions concerning the lifespan of the tank.

 

[Soundguy]

Yeah.. as with any presurized tank.. there -is- a definate life span.. and due care and maintenance will help prevent problems. I drain my tanks and check my oilers regularly.

Soundguy

 

[higgy]

Yea, it is exciting. I was doing some grain cutting for a guy down the road as a favor when I got a leak in the front tire of my combine. He said pull it to the shop and I will fill it for you. It was a 5 hp 10 gallon oil type compressor, hevy thing. He plugged it in and walked away to the bench to get the air chuck and I was still in the cab of the combine when the tank ruptured. The whole compressor was sent into the air, in fact the compressor went way above the top of my combine as I was able to see the thing crash into the ground after having the **** scared outa me.

If you calculate 120 per square inch and the weight of the compressor you start to realize that there is a LOT of potential energy stored there that can do a LOT of damage.

I showed him the vlave on the bottom, I think it WAS the bottom, of what was the air reciver. He said "I allways wordered what that was for" !!!.

This time we were luck. I use my compressor and air hogs now.

 

[zuiko]

I would get a small couple gallon pancake type compressor, then if you need more air for some tools, I would get a large oiled stationary compressor.

I have a 20 gallon oil-free compressor that I think is the worst of both worlds. It is very loud, a pain to move anywhere, consumes more power than I have available on many circuits, but also doesn't have enough air to run a lot of tools.

Either way I would get a compressor, the ability to use air tools (esp nailers) is great.