Lawn Spreader Turns Pulley Into Pump Drive
A pulley acts as a pump driver in a fertilizer spreader that disperses liquids and solids at the same time.
A mechanically
driven pump was a
necessity in the spreader
because electric motorpowered
pumps and
highly combustible fertilizers
don’t mix.
“The best solution
seemed to be a drive
wheel attached to a pump
shaft spun by one of the
spreader’s turning tires,”
says Tom Jessen, owner
of lawn-care equipment
maker PermaGreen Supreme.
Jessen eventually stumbled
on a Companion PO3 pulley from
Torque Transmission, Fairport,
Ohio, that did the trick.
The pulley has a V-shaped
groove on its circumference,
which is just the right size to accommodate
an O-ring. The O-ring
serves as tread on the pulley. An
adjustable aluminum hub let Jessen align the pulley with the tire.
The glass-reinforced nylon pulley
is also lightweight, another criteria
for Jessen because he wanted the
spreader to be as easy to push as
possible.
Torque Transmission custom
designed a pulley, complete with
O-ring, and PermaGreen Supreme
bought 1,500 at $5.74 each. Not only was it a sizable order
for Torque Transmission, it saved
Jessen the cost of casting pulleys,
which would have involved expensive
tooling and manufacturing
delays.