The current global population is 7.2 billion. It is projected to increase by 1 billion over the next 12 years. There is only 5% of usable farming land left on earth. Food is a resource that humans must consume daily. These facts undeniably lead to a shortage of food in the future. It is essential to mankind survival that farming becomes more efficient and sustainable. This provided the motivation to design a more efficient transmission for the Victair Mistifier (orchard and vineyard sprayer). Victair Mistifiers are designed, engineered, and manufactured by H.F. Hauff Company in Yakima, WA. The Hauff Company’s commitment to manufacturing the best sprayer on the market accompanied with the desire to address sustainable farming, are the driving forces behind this project. The scope of the project is to design, develop, and test a gearbox that optimizes the overall function of the sprayer. The gearbox simplifies the overall design of the sprayer, by replacing 19 major components with 8. This design decreases material costs, increases manufacturability, and decreases assembly time. The gearbox receives power from the tractor’s power take-off (PTO) via the input shaft. It transmits the power through machine elements to two shafts that will power fans. The fans will spin in opposite directions at an equal, desired rotational speed. The transmission will be enclosed in an engineered metal casted housing. The gearbox design was proven, by the prototype, to perform to specifications while maintaining an oil temperature of less than 90 degrees Celsius.
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