Smoother Roads Ahead - John Deere Industrial Engines

A John Deere-poweredSonic Drill creates aborehole to install avertical piezometer intothe face of the Serre-Poncon, France, dam.Sonic drilling is accomplishedusing slow rotationin combinationwith resonate energy toadvance the core barrel.Sound DecisionsThis specialty drilling firm builds its own ultrasonicequipment using John Deere engines and Funkpump drivesProsonic Corporation uses many conventional methods andtypes of equipment in its extensive, worldwide drilling business.But the Ohio-based company’s flagship technology is sonicdrilling, using 36 machines Prosonic has designed and manufacturedfor its own use.CEO John Lehman says Prosonic is the global leader in sonicdrilling, a state-of-the-art technology that uses sonic energy to drillholes of varying sizes into any earthen surface. On each machine,John Deere engines and Funk pump drives power up to ninehydraulic pumps that supply oil to different functions.RELIABILITYEd Sprout, Prosonic’s sonic design coordinator, says enginesthat maintain their speed and torque under load are essential. “Wecan’t have an engine bog down and lose power when we kick inextra pumps,” he explains. “John Deere engines meet our powerdemands, and we’re very happy with the way they recover speedwhen a load is put on them.”Prosonic has been using John Deere engines and Funk pumpdrives since 1997. Sprout says they’ve tried engines of two othermakes but were not happy with the performance and engine droopof the competing brands.The company uses Funk pump drives for many of the same reasonsthey prefer John Deere engines – reliability, ease of service,and parts availability. Rob Rafter, Prosonic’s director of productionand logistics, adds that being able to run nine hydraulic pumpswith one drive is an obvious advantage. He says they also like havingthe option of being able to change pump mounting pads easilyto accommodate different pumps without replacing an entire drive.Being able to get both the engines and pump drives from a singledistributor, Superior Diesel in Medina, Ohio, is another advantage.“It’s basically one-stop shopping,” Rafter says. “They knowour operations, applications and design, and they work with us tocome up with a complete power unit specifically suited to ourneeds for each rig we build.”Engines: John Deere PowerTech 6068T – a 138 kW (185 hp),6-cylinder, 6.8 L, turbocharged diesel engine; John DeerePowerTech 6068H – a 168 kW (225 hp), 6-cylinder, 6.8 L,turbocharged, air-to-air aftercooled diesel engine.Pump drive: Funk Series 28000, direct-engine mount, 1:1 gearratio 2-pad pump drive.Distributor: Superior Diesel, Ohio Division, Medina, Ohio,(330) 239-2242, email: bob.jones@sdiesel.comA Sonic drill extracts core samples from a coalrefuse pile in Vancouver Island, B.C., Canada.PowerSource 19