Tonight I saw a pick-up truck with a Monarch style electric/hydraulic power pack mounted in the bed (near the cab) to operate the front plow. I know electrically if wire is sized properly to compensate for voltage drop no problem could be 1000' feet away. My question is what impact does this have on hydraulics i.e. pressure drop, decrease in speed of plow operation etc. Just curious! sly!
The only difference is the hydro lines are longer. The speed remains the same, and as long as 4 G cable is used there will be no electrical problems. The hydro lines are always full of oil, so it doesn;t matter if ya have a 2' line or a 20'. They are full of oil, so when the pump moves oil, it moves the same amount that would be required to complete the opperation. The lenght of the line in this application is no problem. Geoff
Interesting post about the powerpack being mounted in the pickup bed - never thought of putting one there! Just curious as to why it's installed where it is - I'm guessing it's a fairly modern truck with a pretty full engine bay. (I run the same powerpack on my '75 but there's plenty of room up front for it to sit on the fenderwell) And GeoffDiamond is right - I see no problem with this installation as long as proper size electrical cable is used (and steel line as opposed to rubber hose is used for the long run between powerpack and cylinders - keep the flexible line as short as possible!)
The truck I saw this on was an S10. Probable reason for it being in the box was no room. Weight would also be an advantage i.e. less weight on the front end maybe?? (every little bit helps on 1/2 tons and smaller trucks) sly
Thanks for posting a reply so quickly regarding the powerpack location! S-10, that would make sense - the Monarch powerpack is pretty long and there's not much room to spare in an S-10 engine bay. Placing a bit of weight closer to the rear axle would be a bonus too - you're right, every bit of weight helps especially with a smaller truck. Friend of mine has an F-150 and uses a similar powerpack, he has his in the cab. (Same problem - not enough room under the hood) It works fine for him too.
