Looking for help de laval 73 pump

[Rodshobbies]

I recently picked this pump up . Looking for information on what's needed to make this work. Any ideas ? What to use for a releaser .

[Haynes Forest Products]

How much vacuum are you wanting to make??

[Rodshobbies]

Don't think I require a whole lot . Woods have a good slope down to shack . Probably more to clear lines at end of day

[Haynes Forest Products]

Any vacuum is better than no vacuum so the pump you have will run around 14 Hg's all day long. Increase the vacuum level by restricting the air intake by removing the regulator and you will over heat the pump. That's why I ask what your target level is. Most vacuum dairy tanks wont take vacuum levels above 20 hg's.

[Russell Lampron]

The type of releaser won't matter, it will work with both types mechanical and electric. The size will depend on the number of taps. When I had a DeLaval 73 I ran it at 18" and it handled it without overheating. I had a 6' pipe on the exhaust side of it to catch the oil that came out of it. You will want to clean the sump out real good because there can be a lot of gunk in there. I used ATF for oil in mine but would probably use vacuum pump oil in it now if I still had it.

[Haynes Forest Products]

I agree with Russel if your not familiar with the working of the type and style of the oil lubricated dairy pump ask any questions you can think of. If all you have is the basic pump without all the correlating equipment you will need some help setting it up. They are a great unit starting out but can have there pitfalls. Remember creating vacuum creates heat and to dissipate heat you need air to cool it. Oil is for lubrication but it also helps cool it. The better you tubing system the less cooling air enters the pump. A vacuum pump a air compressor in reality just like a compressor is a vacuum pump. They are one in the same but designed differently depending what side of the unit your needing.

I know I'm sounding simplistic but its because I have been down this road for a very long time and once you know where you want to travel and how you want to get there your journey will be a little less rocky. We all like to travel in style and money is what makes that happen. I have flown in a few airplanes and I'm trying to to stay out of the cheap seats but I can tell you avoiding the cargo area or the wheel well is and has always been my goal.

I will also say that When you look back at this little roller coaster ride in 5 years you will smile and say " Life is a Journey, Not a destination" SCREW YOU CHUCK I want high vacuum NOOOOOOW

[BreezyHill]

D73 is a great little pump. I have one that runs 29" of vac when we were at 700 taps. Then we added more and had to put a D75 on the system to keep up with drops that were pulling off.
I have rebuilt several of these pumps and they will go and go as long as good vc oil is used, moisture is drained from the reservoir daily, and you keep an eye on the housing temp toward end of season.

best releaser is an electric one. These units produce vacuum when they dump where mechanical releasers consume large volumes of vacuum.


Build yourself a moisture trap and adding a set of electric valves and check valves to make it empty automatically is a very useful setup.


This series of pump has a common vail vein oiling setup and metal veins if it is original. Works great for sap.


Do ask any questions. It is fair easier to answer a simple question than to correct a simple mistake.


And yes high vac is worth every penny and minute you invest in building and maintaining the system.