# Good Farm Air Compressor?



## Up North (Nov 29, 2005)

Need to replace the 25 year old undersized worn out air compressor.
Requirements are: Run a 1/2 inch air wrench, run an automotive style paint sprayer, blow up wagon, implement, pickup, and tractor tires. Needs to be portable enough that it could be loaded into back of pickup and hauled to field location occasionally. Spend most of it's time at the farm shop, but will need to wheel it around to service tires on field equipment which is too large to back into shop. Budget of up to $800.

Any brand name or models you recommend? Electric powered model will suffice. TIA.


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## moopups (May 12, 2002)

There is currently a glut in the market for 'pancake compressors', about $88.00 each. An accumulation tank and such may fill your needs at a bargain price.


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## agmantoo (May 23, 2003)

Here are some of the more essential considerations for a reliable compressor
You want a tank that is ASME certified.....no compromise on this safety feature
The compressor needs to be belt driven....direct drive units eventually kill the drive motor bearings.
Do NOT use the HP of the unit in an attempt to determine the performance or value, this is a marketing ploy to sell to the uninitiated. Any decent compressor should deliver 4 CFM per HP. You will have to calculate this on your own as most manufacturers try to hide this info rather than use it as a sale feature since their units underperform!
Try to locate a compressor that is cast iron for longer life.
A 2 stage unit with a inner cooler (finned tube) is preferred.
Look for an unloader that in intergral to the compressor and not one that resembles a well pressure switch.
Only run fully synthetic oil in any compressor and never buy a non lubed machine. Synthetic oil will not mix with water and you will not have the complications associated with moisture in the air.
As a farmer I want a compressor at the farm shop that will accomplish any task that may surface. It will take an industrial related one to get all of the features above. For going to the field I would get a cheap second unit purchased from a pawnshop. 
If you elect to plumb a compressor in place to supply a shop let me know as I have some information to share that will avoid problems


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## ninny (Dec 12, 2005)

Make sure you get a compressor with plenty of tank volume. Too small a tank runs your compressor to death. With the tools you're talking about using, impacts, paint guns, you need quiet a bit of volume. Don't skimp on the size of your tank...


.


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## Blu3duk (Jun 2, 2002)

I have a campbell hausfeild witha 5 horse electric 110 on it, my 4400 watt genset will start it without lugging down, it produces enough to run 2 air sprayers that some of the smaller apinters use til they get into the big airless units for 10 times the cost.

It has a 20 gallon tank on it, making rather bulky to load and such by myself but once in the pick-up it travels nicely to the sawmill to blow off the fine dusts and oils that accumulate there on the motor.

they are around $400 USD and i recomend putting a qwik connect on the tank for adding hoses and taking them off for transport and keep them elswhere whilst the unit is sitting in the sun to keep the hoses from the harmful UV rays [some hoses are better rated than others against this type of problem]

The only problem i can see with them is they need an easier drain valve on the bottom of the tank [a pop off there would be better than the petcock] similar to what are on trucks for draining, as the metal in the tanks are prone to moisture and rusting through [as are any of the aircompressor tanks] and should be drained daily or at least weekly to get the water out and make the unit last a little longer, once pitted and rotted, nothing to do but replace the tank and they are not cheap to replace though Surplus Center has Air tanks the 30 gallon for $150 and the 20 gallon for $130 plus shipping then you got to add the compressor unit too and the motor, either 'lectric or fossil fueled

William


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## agmantoo (May 23, 2003)

Blu3duk, if you will look on your motor on your compressor it should state 5 HP SP. That is why your 4400 watt gen set can start the compressor. This is an advertising gimmick that states the compressor is a 5 HP. The motor is rated as a special purpose (SP) 5 hp. In actuality the motor is only making maybe 2 HP. Look at the cfm and you will see that the rating is somewhere from 7 to 12 cfm. In the real world that is somewhere from 2 hp to 3 hp for a true compressor. The gen set is only having to provide enough power for the compressor and not for the 5 HP drive motor. Nice the way things are marketed isn't it?


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## morrowsmowers (Jun 14, 2004)

I just bought a nice, portable compressor from Tractor Supply. Its made by Ingersoll-Rand and has a continuous duty rating. Sells for about $235.00.

Ken in Glassboro, NJ


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## james dilley (Mar 21, 2004)

Right now I have one from Harbor freight. 2.5 gallon I beleive. But I have A 5 gallon tank I can add to it if need be for Volume, I have only had to wait for air to build About 6 times in the year I have had it. I would love to plumb A bigger tank for feild use too. Can run the unit from A genny then . Have you thought about A new tank and A under the hood compresser in the truck. Then A decent one for the shop???


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## Up North (Nov 29, 2005)

Thanks for all the good info. Would it be feasible to put a stationary unit in shop, and then get a carrying tank with just a hose and gauge on it for airing up a tire in the field?
Is it expensive to run wall lines and have quick-connects at a couple different locations in shop? Could a person run a line such that you had a quick-connect on the outside front wall of shop to service an air hose for equipment tires, etc.Any rough estimates on what such a system would cost if I installed it myself?
Btw the paint gun is just an automotive Devilbiss one quart handheld I use for painting tractors. My old compressor would run continuously when painting with it though.
Thanks again.


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## agmantoo (May 23, 2003)

Someone will probably post that you can run PVC and that it is relatively cheap to do so but PVC is not suitable long term for air lines. The PVC will react to the small amount of oil carried over in the air and become brittle with age. Even the small oil misters that are sold and approved for lubing air tools will fail in time and they can blow up in your face. Plumbing a shop as you described is very feasible and preferred. I carry air in a tank as you described for inflating tires. The manner you install the shop lines can have a big impact in the overall performance of the system. I do not have the time now to suggest the manner as it will take a lot of typing. Should you elect to install shop air with permanent lines come back and repost. Schedule 40 black pipe is the material of choice. Research Ingersoll Rand type 30 air compressors to see the features you need in a compressor then go shop the various brands. Anything less is a hobby machine.


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## DaleK (Sep 23, 2004)

It's very easy to make a tank to carry air to the field, so easy that my neighbour "borrowed" mine 2 years ago and now claims he's never seen it so I'll have to make another one. You should be able to use the tank from your worn out one to make it UpNorth, maybe the gauge and some of the fittings as well.


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## Up North (Nov 29, 2005)

agmantoo said:


> ... I do not have the time now to suggest the manner as it will take a lot of typing. Should you elect to install shop air with permanent lines come back and repost. Schedule 40 black pipe is the material of choice.


A generous offer, and I may take you up on it later in the year. perhaps take some pics of shop for suggestions of optimum layout, etc. The black pipe is good stuff. We used it to run hydraulics on a bi-fold tailramp we designed and built for a dropdeck semi trailer which you could just plug tractor hydraulics to quick couplers to fold out and retract tailramp.
I suppose over the longhaul plumbing the shop would result in time savings and further efficiency.


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## Up North (Nov 29, 2005)

DaleK said:


> It's very easy to make a tank to carry air to the field, so easy that my neighbour "borrowed" mine 2 years ago and now claims he's never seen it so I'll have to make another one. You should be able to use the tank from your worn out one to make it UpNorth, maybe the gauge and some of the fittings as well.


Hey, you have same neighbors in Canada as we do here, LOL. Now that you mention it, my father built one of those carrying tanks and it's lying alongside shop in the weeds. have to dust it off.


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