So, I have got a stub shaft which comes off a flange which I bolt to the flywheel of my little Kubota diesel generator engine. The stub shaft is a factory Kubota item and it will be the output shaft off my flywheel. I don't have a side load bearing in front of my fly wheel, so I can't run a pulley off this output shaft. Instead, I have to connect this output shaft to a shaft set in two pillow-block bearings with a pulley in between the bearings. I can then run a belt from there to my gen head pulley.

Here's the question: what kind of coupler should I use to connect the stub shaft coming off my flywheel to the short shaft in my pillow blocks (with the pulley attached)? Do I want a solid coupler or something flexible. I assume I can get the two shafts perfectly aligned for coupling purposes.

Second question, should I put a clutch in between the shafts so I can disengage the gen head if needed?

Thoughts?


TIA,


Jordan

Max horse power rating of the drive engine and output shaft diameter and pillow block shaft diameter?

Lovejoy coupler rated for the HP.

Shaft's a bad man...can you dig it?

Max intermittent on the engine is 13 hp. Not sure output shaft diameter. Whatever it is, no doubt I can match diameter with the input shaft. I was thinking Lovejoy, but not sure.

look here

Falk Coupling.

hmmmmm. Never heard of the Falk coupler.

Rob, no offense, but have you ever heard of a guy named Rube Goldberg?

A lovejoy will carry the mail just fine and is easier to align - has a looser tolerance (up to 0.020" runout in most cases). I believe I would look into ditching the pillow block/ V belt and just direct couple the drive to the driven. Simple is good and you were going to buy a coupling anyway and you will not have to maintain belts, sheaves and pillow blocks...dos centavos from okieland

Falk Coupling. Check out Motion Industries. We use them exclusively from 1/2hp to 2000hp motors.

Falk are good couplings.

+100 on Motion Industries

Yep, that is exactly what I was thinking.

The more I think about this, the easiest route might just be to switch out the flywheel bearing for a side load capable bearing. Wonder if I'll have to pull the crank to do that? Who knows. Talk to Kubota I guess.

Thanks guys for the suggestions.


Jordan

No offense taken. Yes, I've heard of Rube. My wife knows him well!

Lovejoys are a POS! Frekin plastic insert goes to hell when you need the machine to run the most.

What the falk you say?

Ya know how many millwrongs have asked me to make the inserts out of steel for them...

I think this is my solution if the price is right (Hayes bell housing with integral side load bearing and stub shaft).

http://www.bing.com/search?q=hayes+...mp;cvid=bd9c67d9cee047d5b83a1699398704c7

I could imagine. I have a wood splitter that has a lovejoy from the engine to the pump and it does fail once in awhile but I always have a spare spider on hand, a few minutes and I'm back to work.

The more I read on this thread I'm ready to guarantee that your smart move would be to go BUY a generator.



VERY, VERY bad assumption.

and another one to add to a GROWING list of assumptions you're making regarding this project, Rob.

still haven't heard a THING about how this rig's to be governed.

GTC

by way of at least TRYING to figure this azzbackards stunt out.
.....is there some reason you can't use the NORMAL (e.g. PTO) end of this Kubota engine to power up your lay shaft ?

what you're callin'


....IS a lay shaft,...that's all

If you NEED 24VDC,...have you looked at the 60's through '80s Leese Neville "Piggyback" alternators that were on all of the larger U.S. Mil Spec. vehicles ? Permanent magnet excitation,...self exciting.

If 24VDC is not an imperative, why not look at a simple heavy 100 amp 12VDC Delcotron alternator ?

GTC

The spider costing a heartbreaking $4.50 a pop, no doubt. My 1" X 16 HP Kohler drives a Commercial Sheering pump,....booting my Case 446 "Hy-Driv" around. Align the thing by EYE, and forget it. Forget the plastic spider,...go with the upgrade Urethane.....all of an additional $.90, IIRC.

No doubt the entire family has to tighten it's belt if the thing fails.

driveline couplings, and drivelines are like Harley Davidsons,....there's nothing REALLY wrong with em',....it's the people that work on em' that give em' such a bad rep.

GTC

These might be "overkill", but the easiest to work on, and longest lasting coupling when misaligned is the Rex-Omega. I would use these if I had the need.

http://www.rexnord.com/Products-Ser...gs/Elastomeric-Couplings/Omega-Couplings

We use tons of the of the Wrapflex style couplings at work, don't know if they're Falk branded, or something similar, but the principal is exactly the same. Up to about 75hp is what we have them on.

http://www.rexnord.com/ContentItems...apflex-Elastomeric-Couplings_Produc.aspx

Crossfire:

I have not looked at the Lees-Neville product you mentioned. C.E. Neihoff makes a line of milspec 12/24 alternators. Not cheap either. And yes 24 volt is the way to go.


Jordan

The Leece-Neville product looks like the way to go. Price is right for sure. Thanks for the tip. BTW, no doubt I don't have near your knowledge on how to put this project together. That's why I come here for advise.

Tech tip,....the LNs that I've worked with had no THRUST CONTROL, and a certain amount of end float was found in em' brand new out of the box. I'll attribute THAT to the fact that they run ball bearings on both ends

Be VERY fussy about drive /driven pulley alignments, and allow a long enough run of belt between em' for the rotor to find it's "Sweet Spot" at service speed.

I've got an old leece Neville m35a2 Duece and half Alternator laying somewhere in the rubble out back,....been meaning to hand a fan on it and get it up in the wind, ....but will have to add a tapered roller on the outboard end to cope with that "float", or will have to run a lay shaft on a taper opposed setup.

Regardless...it's all just parts and pieces.

GTC

He will buy one when he finds out his doesn't work very long.
I think he's playing.

We had a big electric motor (IIRC 1200HP) on one of our dust collector's where the rotor floated until the motor hit run speed. Millwrights set the fan shaft too close to the motor shaft, thought it would be a good idea to put piece of sheet urethane to act as a bumper so the two shafts couldn't hit each other. Motor couldn't hit run speed, went into automatic shut down. Then we set it up right...

In the old days we used indicators and shim when doing shaft alignment, now everything is done with laser. The unit has the motor offset preloaded in it's software.

I'd been in S.E. Az. quite a few years , when an old millwright push tracked me down and called,....had work for me up in Elko,....new heavy stuff in some mine, I guess. I laughed at him when he called out the wage offered, and he replied, "You old school hands are a dying breed"

.....what could I say except, "Yer' damned right, we're all starving to death."

His tired, frustrated response,..."yeah, I know"...

Man, some of those hack engineers that drifted up from Chile were the living definition of junk hands and were clueless, in a cultural sense, as to how to work with Americans.

Greg

For those that haven't walked the dust collector trail, a 1200 HP motor will stand one's hair on end as it spools up to run speed, and shake /vibrate the ground hundreds of feet away if the fan balance is off much. The gnat's azz coupling alignment required is NOT an option, and when something that big and fast becomes unhinged, you'd best be behind solid cover.

Of course, us boneheads that grew so fat an lazy setting the stuff up have to be right there practically sitting on top of it during the run in.

GTC

This one had temp & vibration sensors installed in the fan shaft bearing cases. I don't recall the parameters it was set at for vibration limits, it would shut down real quick if things weren't right. Six foot diameter fan rotor, you couldn't talk to the man next to you due to the noise.