Delaval 74

[chrisnjake9]

Does anyone know if this unit will work as a vacuum pump and also what I can expect out of it?

[Maple Hill Sugarhouse]

It's suspose to be a Vacuum pump for cow milking and it should have a suction end and a air discharge end.

[Haynes Forest Products]

I would like to add that when you turn it on it should suck air in one end and push air out the other. And as far as what you can expect out of it...................mostly trouble

[chrisnjake9]

well i guss i should have been more clear.will this unit work as a maple sap vacuum pump and why is it trouble

[Grade "A"]

I ran a Delaval 73 this year with no problems. You should take it apart and clean it, they are very simple pump. Then the best thing to do is keep it cool (I keep a fan blowing on it all the time, some trickle water on them), and check the oil level everyday. I don't know how many taps that pump will take care of but my smaller 73 had more then enough for 200 taps at 25" of vac.

[treefinder]

i know a dairy pump repair man and he told me to use automatic tranny fluid for the oil it can handle the heat and it'll keep the pump alot cooler.

[Breezy Lane Sugarworks]

I'm running a delaval 75, same pump but a size or 2 bigger, with no trouble after 2 years. I've been pulling 18" with it for 2 years with the stock oil system. anything more than 18" it'll get too hot. There was spells that it ran close to a week non-stop and that was the only reason we were getting sap close to the end of the season. The first year I ran it i went through maybe around a gallon of oil. this year I don't think I even used a quart, and it ran for more hours this year than last. I checked the oil tube and went through the whole thing to make sure an oil passage wasn't plugged and everything was fine. I'll be running 600 taps on it next year and hope it still holds together.

[maple maniac65]

I have 3 vacuum systems. One is a DeLaval 73 with a 3/4hp electric motor. I have 1500' of 1" mainline/265 taps on it. I ran it 23" this year and pretty much anytime the temp was above 32. It used about a gallon on oil with no reclaimer. This pump is about 40 years old and has original veins. It used to be at my uncles farm. He used to have it in his milk house until he put a Delaval 76 in. My opinion if it is used and the price is right. Any old pump will work if it holds at least 18" vac. They are simple to rebuild and veins are found online with a little bit of searching.

[Maple Hill Sugarhouse]

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[mapleman3]

I have run my 74 for a three years @ 19" with no trouble cept this year when she sucked a bunch of sap in !! time to tear apart and check out... the only thing is I run a box fan across it to keep it cool... other than that she's great!!

[Haynes Forest Products]

mapleman
How hot does your pump get? can you put your hand on it? What happens with the oil/

[danno]

Ryan - I had the exact same experience as you with my 75 this year. I burnt much less oil this year and also checked to make sure dripper was not clogged. I'm attributing it to the fact that it was a much cooler sugar season here this year and thus the pump was working not as hard = less oil.

Last year, every run stopped due to several days of warm weather. This year, runs only stopped due to freezes.

[chrisnjake9]

Thanks for all the great advice, my 74 doesn't have a reservior, it has a 1/2 pint little cup with 2 lines going to each side of the bearings, I was wondering if I could stick them in a jug of synthetic motor oil and if it would gravity feed it, someone told me that it would run alot cooler? Also I need a motor for this pump, I would like to stay with 110, could anyone recommend a motor for this unit?

[Russell Lampron]

If this pump is like the 73's and 75's that I have seen it should have a reservoir under the pump. There should also be a plate on the reservoir cover that tells how many rpm's it should run at with the hp of the motor. As a guess I would say that a .75 to 1.5 hp motor is what you should be looking for.

I have been running a Delaval 73 on 200 plus taps for 4 seasons now and have had no trouble with it. Mine has a .75 hp 1740rpm motor on it. I don't know how old it is and all I have done is clean the mung out of it. I run it at 18" sometimes day and night for days only shutting it off long enough to top up the oil. I use Dexron ATF in mine because I can get it free.

Make sure that the lines from the oil cups to the bearings aren't plugged. Vacuum will pull the oil into the bearings.

[Haynes Forest Products]

I turned my DeLaval into a boat ancor this spring. they do need their oil.

[mapleman3]

when I run a fan across mine I can easily keep my hand on it... The oil tends to go out the exhaust into a 5 gal bucket . I have 2 holes cut into the bucket and run the exhaust into it to catch the oil... I don't reuse that oil(probably could though,) I add maybe a 1/2 pint every other day. it has worked good for me, sure I would love a quieter, smaller,newer pump.... but it's what I have and the price was right!!! gave syrupmaker my shotgun when he brought me it... he was giving it to me but I was looking to unload the gun so I gave it to him as an extra for him.... love the barter system,

It pains me to hear some of the guys that buy the brand new pumps only to still have trouble into the season with them... Mapleking has had pump problems every year, they malfunction one way or another, just makes you wonder if they are not building them as bullet proof as the older milkers???

Those old pumps pumped a lot of milk through the years!!

[Haynes Forest Products]

Mapleman
Thanks for the info. Maybe Im a little gun shy no pun intended. With the Masport Im working on. Its a slower RPM pump so I run it at just over idle with my 9 HP briggs. I removed the oilers and allow the oil to enter the bearings and suction inlet thru a oil cooler. When I let it run with the intaks just about shut I get 22HG and the air/oil mix temp is 200 degrees and if I block the oil line I get 4Hg more in vacuum so I know im getting alot of oil thru the pump. I noticed that with alot of oil running into the pump under vacuum I can hear the vanes rattle and if I restrict the flow its quiets down so I think In causing the vanes to hydroplane. On this pump the vanes are rounder than other pumps I have seen apart. My thought process is more oil = cooler pump