Remote Control Valves.

[durallymax]

Were trading our apron trailer for a new Belt trailer. Our apron trailer currently uses air to control the hydraulic valves from the cab. The new trailer has an option for remote controlled electronic valves with a wireless remote. The issue with that though is that its over $6,000 grand just for that option.

The controls are simple levers at the rear of the trailer. What I am looking to do is either put some air rams or electric actuators to run the handles. Then using a wireless remote to operate the air solenoids or relays for the actuators.

If I only had to move them one way I think it would be pretty simple. The issue is that I would need a parked position and be able to run the lever both ways.

There are 3 hydraulic functions. One of them is the belt drive and only needs to function in one direction. That control though I would want to stay engaged with a click of the remote then shutoff with another click. The next function is the door. It would need to move both directions but only be momentary. The last function is the knife gate. If costs get prohibitive this would be the one that could be left manual as it is only used for unloading grain when you will be standing back there anyways.


Anybody have some better ideas and parts suppliers for me? Thanks.

 

[durallymax]

Bump

 

[nar]

What trailers? When I priced aulick it wasn't that much but maybe they've gone up.

 

[durallymax]

Trail King Super Hi-Lite.

This is the 46' were looking at. Probably will be ordering a 42' though so we can get in narrow driveways easier.

 

[A.Koehn]

Sweet trailer. I pull a Wilson Patriot. I don't have any input in your question tho.... So you're wanting to go electric over air over hyd?? Or just electric over hydraulic? Seems the latter would be simpler and easier to control. Dunno what type of controller you're wanting to use but wouldn't you almost want something proportional?? Instead of just a click on click off system...

 

[durallymax]

Electric only would work but enough times air is cheaper and is much faster for running actuators. The electrical side of things would just run air solenoids.

I could replace the entire valvebody with one like whay we currently have that is operated by air on one half or manually on the other side just like a wet kit control.

I do not want to do what we currently have though due to it requiring hooking up additional air lines when hooking to trailet and also requires a lot of plumbinh in the cab. It limits you to only running on that truck too. You also have to sit in the cab which is fine for chopping but for unloading other products where its nicer to stand at the rear, a remote would be nice. Especiallly with some of the dustier products.

We wouldnt need a proportional control on anything. Maybe the knife gate but I could set it to open slowly so thay you could stop it in between. The main door will either be all the way up or down and the belt speed will always be maxed.

 

[A.Koehn]

Unless the controls are housed in a multi-function block as opposed to just standalone valves, couldn't you just run electric over hydraulic solenoids parallel to the original valves? I.E. t-ing off ahead and behind the valves making it operable from both remote and at the controls.

 

[durallymax]

Unless the controls are housed in a multi-function block as opposed to just standalone valves, couldn't you just run electric over hydraulic solenoids parallel to the original valves? I.E. t-ing off ahead and behind the valves making it operable from both remote and at the controls.

It's a multifunction block. Flow comes in the end and is distributed from there. I think adding additional lines and solenoids may get a little sloppy and complex as well as costly.

I'll be calling Force tomorrow to price some of their manual/electric valvebodies. Then i will just need a simple remote kit which is only a couple hundred.

Although I doubt I could get trail king to ship it without a valve body for a reduced cost haha. Sure would be nice though.

 

[durallymax]

Talked to Force America today. They said they can build me a sectional control valves that will run the motors at their high GPM capacity and run the doors at the lower capacities needed. The one he quoted me was actuated by 12v power. There is a manual override as well. This valve would not be proportional just on/off for each function which is all we need. Belt speed is controlled by a seperate flow valve already. He said about $2,000 should cover the costs to build it. That's much less than $6,000.

I looked at the manual controls on one at the lot today. The above valve will be much larger than the manual controls. It will be 24" wide by 12" deep and 6" tall. I do not know what size Trail Kings electric control is.

If I have to make some new hoses it isn't a big deal to me. We make all of our own hoses as it is.

I asked the salesman to find me a picture of their Electric/hydraulic block just so I could see its size and fitment. I may have the neighbor make a nice aluminum cabinet for this control to sit in

Now I just have to find a nice 12v wireless remote setup the way I want. I'll have to wait for the price on the electric tarp to come back, if we decide to go with it , I am definatley putting that on the remote. Could even put the LED work lights on the remote as well. Maybe an air horn? Possibilities are endless haha. Sorry I have been up for 36hrs.

 

[durallymax]

Guess I never posted on here that we did get the new trailer a few weeks ago. I'll copy and past my posts from another site, if they don't make sense that is why. I was responding to some questions with them.

this week I picked up our new Trail King ASHR 2 4284 64. (Aluminum Super Hi-Lite Rolled, 2nd Generation, 42' Long, 84" sides, 64" Belt).

We previously had a steel 40'x60"sides (plus 24" silage racks) Northern Chain/Apron Floor trailer that we initially bought for hauling silage and manure. Our needs have changed and we needed to go to a belt. Trail Kings trailer impressed us the most and several others we know are happy with theirs new and old.

The 64" belt has dual planetary reduction drives in the rear and unloads quickly. The apron is still faster, but for a belt this trailer is very quick.

There is a grain kit available for the rear, this trailer did not come with it but it can be added. The 48" belt comes with a nice aluminum hopper that is stored on the side of the trailer. The 64" comes with a canvas bag that attaches to the rear. They say it looks odd and cheap but does work. We might just make a larger hopper for the auger we unload into.

The weight reduction was huge, tare weight is 6,000lbs(2700kg) less.

The trailer is very nice all the way around, you can see they have really put a lot into refining them over the years (Trail King bought Red Rive for those who dont know).






The controls for everything are wireless. I am going to wire some auxillary lighting into the shurco receiver so they can be run off of that remote as well.

I snapped a few pics of the details for you.

The front has panels in the fenders that flip up to allow you to adjust the tension as well as grease the front shaft. The tensioners have grease zerks in them as well to keep the threads lubed. There isn't any gauge on it other than taking a tape measure and making sure they are the same. Although mounting a ruler or something would not be hard. They said no matter how uneven it hangs underneath the trailer make sure the tensioners are exactly the same.

I haven't put enough use on it to really get any buildup and have only been hauling wet fiber with it, but that stuff is sticky and the belt stays clean. It gets scraped by a couple rollers along the way. The 5th wheel plate area has cleanouts that are exposed to let material fall through. There are access plates in the front that allow you to clean out the rest as needed.

Access panels on front fenders.




Underneath covers, you can see red cap on grease zerk and the tensioning setup.



Roller right before landing gear



between landing gear and 5th wheel plate.



You can see both front access plates in this picture as well as the adjustment nuts for the belt. The hydraulic filter is added for the EH controls. They are more sensitive to debris so they add this filter so that you do not have to worry about contaminants from trucks.



Inside one of the access plates.



Belt tension gauge. Keep tension between the fingers. They set it tighter from the factory to allow for initial stretch.



Rear controls, hydraulic and suspension gauges, and rear access panels. You can get in cab variable flow control as well.



Inside the lowest panel, jungle of hoses, upper ones allow access to the rams for door locks and such.



Bumper can be unbolted for bagging if needed.



Knife gate. Has a very thick seal, they said for chopping they tell guys to leave the secondary locks open and the knife gate up an inch or so to preserve the seal.



You can see the secondary locks in the picture. They are what the 4th function is for. You can also see the other door locks as well which are opened when sending hydraulics to the door rams.





Heres a short video of it, not running full speed, maybe 1300rpm on the truck, pump is 30gpm@1600.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3vsnnvtBJew

Big load of lime from today haha. It's actually 22 ton, just looks really small inside this trailer. Its all the way to the back because they overfilled me by 13,000 so I had to unload that much onto the ground, thus moving the entire load back.