Branson 4815C PTO Dynamometer Test Results

[ruffdog]

Here is a video of a Prony brake dyno. As the band around the flywheel is tightened, more pressure is put on the scale. The final gear ratio through the mechanism and distance from the flywheel to the scale is used to calculate torque. Then, knowing the pto rpm, they calculate HP.

 

[Cougsfan]

I agree that You should not place any value on absolute numbers, but comparative numbers are great. I'd be interested in seeing what it does if you remove the soot blower. I gutted mine, and by the seat of the pants, it appeared to gain noticeable power, not to mention better fuel economy and removed the fear of running at too low of an RPM. I know from a lifetime of experience that the seat of the my pants is sometimes prejudiced by wishful thinking.

 

[LouNY]

It would be interesting to find out were the fuel screw on that pump is,
I'd be tempted once any scrubber is out of the exhaust, to tweak for just a touch of smoke
when loaded heavy at pto speed.

 

[K5lwq]

Cool video Ruffdog!

Lou, I had to laugh a little when I read your post. That was the first thing my Dad said when he was looking at the tractor. He was looking at the pump and said "let's turn her up a little, I bet we can get 55 horses out of her!" :laughing:

I am going to call Buster with Branson, when this is all done, and ask about getting that done with Bransons blessing. I have read about a Branson dealer somewhere that adjust every Branson they sell to meet specs. Don't know if that is true or not.

 

[K5lwq]

Haven't had much time to work on the exhaust but decided to take off the DPF to start the process.

That was a no go. It will not clear the studs on the back flange to come out. I have decided I am going to remove the studs and go back with four bolts instead. That will make removal and replace much easier later in life.

Hope to get it off Sunday so next week I can drop it off at the muffler shop to fabricate the replacement muffler.

 

[Asteral]

hey K5lwq, the dpf to be removed you will first have to disconnect the front section and removes it as it is installed in 3 parts, then you can proceed in removing the middle section then the final rear section, in the middle though you will have to unscrew the DPF hot gas temperature sensor, and differential pressure sensor and tie them up out of the way of the other engine components, once you do that the rest of it should come out without much issue. and from there you can move forward with your muffler mod.

 

[K5lwq]

Thanks Asteral, I really wanted to remove it as one unit. Just makes it easier and no chance of damaging the DPF.

I removed the four studs by getting two regular M8-1.25 nuts and jam nutting them together. This way I could remove the studs without damage to threads so they could be reinstated if someone desired. I will be going back with four flange bolts.

Once I got the studs out, the DPF lifted right out as one unit. Tomorrow, I will pick up a Stanley IH-4 muffler as Slowpoke Slim used. Monday morning I will drop it off at my local muffler shop to fabricate.

I will be out of town till Friday next week so hopefully they will have it ready by then. That would allow me to put it together next weekend.

 

[LouNY]

Making progress from the sounds of it.

 

[Slowpoke Slim]

Sounds great. I just hope the muffler length will work for you as it did for me. I have no idea if our 2 DPF filters are the same dimensions. Also, are they going to fab a mounting bracket for you, to bolt to the OEM mount? My exhaust guy thought it should have one, instead of just using the pipes for "mounts". Here is a pic of my mount with the welded on bracket:



Sounds like your exhaust shop is going to fab everything up on a bench and hand you a finished assembly. If that's the way you're going about it, it can work, it's just harder to do. I just hope they can get everything lined up, straight, and the flanges angled and "timed" properly for you. Do these guys do a lot of custom fab work? It would be much easier to make sure everything fits and seals up correctly if they had the whole tractor down there.

Good luck and post some pics when you get it finished.

 

[K5lwq]

Slim, your picture really helps as well as your thread. I debated taking the tractor and still may need to do that. The shop I am using said they could do it either way. They may change their mind once they see what needs to be done.

Their shop is on the main highway with no gate, so I was also concerned about leaving it there very long. I have to travel a good bit so it might would be in their way waiting on me to pick it up.

My DPF is 20" long and has a diameter around 7". Everything looks very similar to your pictures except mine has a four bolt flange on the manifold side. I am a little concerned that flange may be difficult to find.

With removing the studs, I can R&R in about 20 minutes without removing the hood. My plan is to write the instructions down and store that with the DPF. That way if the kiddos need to put it back on after I am gone they will know how.

 

[Slowpoke Slim]

That Stanley muffler is 15" long in the body, so it should work for you too. If you can tell from my pics, my guy basically cut off the inlet and outlet pipes off the muffler right at the muffler body. Then he welded on the new pipes directly to the muffler body. The bends are pretty tight. I hope your shop can make you a flange. It does sound like that's about the only difference between your project and mine.

Good luck, we're rooting for you.

 

[Slowpoke Slim]

Once you have the filter off, when you run the tractor, the filter's idiot light will be blinking on the dash. It's not hurting anything to run it this way, but the Data Logger can "tell" that the filter isn't there. Some guys have just left theirs on and let her blink. That's ok, but I disconnected mine at the data logger, and took it off. Mine sits on the battery hold down bracket, I'm not sure if yours is located in the same spot, but it likely is.

There is a retaining clip that holds the connector on the side of the plug:



Take a small, thin, flat screwdriver and insert it under the clip, and gently pry the tip of the screwdriver away from the connector to unsnap the retaining clip. In this 2nd pic, I have the blade tip just under the portion of the clip you need to pry outward on. Very little force here, you don't want to break the clip.

This next pic, the clip is loose, and I've pivoted the entire retaining clip to the right (in the pic) to be able to pull the connector off.



Here is the connector out of the plug. It was surprisingly tight to pull off, it was rather well sealed in there with that gasket. It pulls straight out and away from the connector plug on the logger.



I had originally thought to pull that entire portion of the harness off on my tractor. Once I started looking at doing that, I found it was much more intertwined with the rest of the engine bay harness than I cared to deal with. So I left mine in place, wrapped it in plastic and tied it up where hopefully nothing happens to it in the future.

I also took my logger off of the battery hold down bracket, and it's still sitting on the shelf in my shop next to my DPF filter.

 

[Slowpoke Slim]

Ok, "Pic #2" is on the bottom of the post, in "attached thumbnails" for some reason.

Clunky website tools I guess.

 

[K5lwq]

Great information! Thank you so much for your help! My data logger looks identical to yours and is on the battery as well.

We will figure something out on getting the muffler fabricated. If needed, I can go to a machine shop and have them make the flange.

 

[Cougsfan]

I just gutted my DPF, as suggested by Hombre. That is much easier to do, and I cannot see the need and/or sense of ever re-installing the DPF. IMO the DPF is a negative in every respect, including overall emission concerns (unless you live in downtown LA). By looking at it you cannot tell that anything has been modified. The pre-DPF baffle acts as a pretty good muffler. I can't notice it being noisier at all. My DPF idiot light still blinks for a few seconds after I first start it, then goes out. Not sure why.

 

[K5lwq]

I just gutted my DPF, as suggested by Hombre. That is much easier to do, and I cannot see the need and/or sense of ever re-installing the DPF. IMO the DPF is a negative in every respect, including overall emission concerns (unless you live in downtown LA). By looking at it you cannot tell that anything has been modified. The pre-DPF baffle acts as a pretty good muffler. I can't notice it being noisier at all. My DPF idiot light still blinks for a few seconds after I first start it, then goes out. Not sure why.

Nothing wrong at all with that strategy. I just can't bring myself to destroy a $1000 plus part. I most likely will never need it, but someone might. Maybe even someone on this forum that wants to keep their DPF but it needs replacing. I would rather give it away than waste it.

 

[4570Man]

Nothing wrong at all with that strategy. I just can't bring myself to destroy a $1000 plus part. I most likely will never need it, but someone might. Maybe even someone on this forum that wants to keep their DPF but it needs replacing. I would rather give it away than waste it.

If you weren’t concerned with maintaining appearance for inspection couldn’t you just weld in piece of pipe pretty easily?

 

[K5lwq]

If you weren稚 concerned with maintaining appearance for inspection couldn稚 you just weld in piece of pipe pretty easily?

That was my Dad's suggestion. The only issue with that is my wife works nights and I am a early riser. Don't want it to be so loud that it keeps me from using while she sleeps.

 

[Hombre]

The warning light on my 4020 comes on and blinks a couple times when first started then goes out. I left everything hooked up as normal when I remodeled the "soot can" a couple years ago by taking the "guts" out of it.

edit after reading your last post: My tractor isn't any louder than it was before.

 

[K5lwq]

Thanks Hombre for the information. I was referring to just running straight pipe and no baffling at all. I think that would be too loud.