I think, at one time, PW made a power unit compatible with the Spolar. Perhaps asking PW about it would yield more information. Whether it was electric or hydraulic I don't recall.

 

PW still makes the electric Autodrive for a Spolar.

 

Mine came with a PW hydraulic unit, but I have never used it. I watched the previous owner use it and it looks like it worked well.

 

I have 2 Spolars set up with PW hydraulics. Spolar used to sell the handle attachment to use the pw set up. The PW unit is a little slower working than the Spolar pump.

 

Has this thread had any updates? I am asking because I too have a spolar loader and a pw hydraulic unit. I want to set it up, but I am unable to find out how/what I need/will it work, ect.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

Call PW and ask them if they have any user manual they can send you. They are very responsive.

 

Call PW and ask them if they have any user manual they can send you. They are very responsive.

Does the PW manual have instructions on how to set up a spolar machine with PW hydraulics?

 

If the PW hydraulics were made for the Spolar, yes. I just acquired a PW Auto Drive for Spolar.

 

I believe that I just used the brackets that came with the pw hydraulic setup for my Spolar and called Dixie at Spolar to get the handle attachment.

 

I believe that I just used the brackets that came with the pw hydraulic setup for my Spolar and called Dixie at Spolar to get the handle attachment.

Thank you. I have message into Cole at Spolar

 

I believe that I just used the brackets that came with the pw hydraulic setup for my Spolar and called Dixie at Spolar to get the handle attachment.

I have spoken to the Spolar folks and they have no knowledge of any kind of adapter dls guide refers to.

Dls guide, if you don’t mind, might you post a picture of the adapter you are referring to?

 

The Spolar adaptor works for Spolar hydraulics and PW Hydraulics also.

 

Pic?

 

It works fine
Steve

 

I ran a PW autodrive on my Spolar for years I bought new from Jim Skeel when he was in Terre Haute. Zero problems with it, however set up can be difficult,(you`re short stroking the machine). Carter and Dicksie Spolar never approved of the PW setup, it was Spolar Hydro all the way. I`m not sure where Cole sits on the subject, but Carter and the Mrs.
disliked the autodrive. Good luck with your set up.

 

I can attest to the "short stroke". My patience ran out before I achieved a satisfactory operation.

 

No doubt about, it`s a balancing act with the auto drive because the press is never going to "Home" position in either direction. It`s right or it`s wrong, there is no in between. Rod length, friction clutch, etc. Everything needs to be "fooled" that the machine is going home in both directions when it`s not. Super neat set up once you get it right, quiet and no heat or leaks.

 

Another member was kind enough to send me the exact measurement for the position for the outer radius of the motor arm to the outer radius of the bushing on the slide adjustment. It's 0.226". With 4 threads showing between the end of the rod and the lock nut. Worked perfectly. It bottoms enough to cause the primer tray vibrator to activate and tops enough to center the shell turret for the next shell. I'm talking about the electric Auto Drive.

 

To all.

I have the pw hydraulic pump operating my spolar. Dls_Ghide was a big help.

This what worked for me. I had to get the hydraulic handle and clevis w/ pin for the spolar loader. The clevis had to be re-threaded by a machine shop to a 3/8“ hole. That was the size of the hydraulic pump rod.

Also, my pw hydraulic was purchased ~ yr2000. The 2 metal bars that came w/ the unit work for the spolar machine. There are 3 pre threaded holes where the base of the rod screws in. I had to move the rod up to the third hole to get the unit to bottom/top out/index.

Thanks for all the help

 

it would be nice if you could post some pix of what your linkage looks like.

 

No doubt about, it`s a balancing act with the auto drive because the press is never going to "Home" position in either direction. It`s right or it`s wrong, there is no in between. Rod length, friction clutch, etc. Everything needs to be "fooled" that the machine is going home in both directions when it`s not. Super neat set up once you get it right, quiet and no heat or leaks.

What is "Home Position" ? I have an AutoDrive and it works flawlessly! 10's of 1000's of rounds thru it.

Some people just aren't qualified to set one up.

 

Carter and Dicksie Spolar never approved of the PW setup, it was Spolar Hydro all the way. I`m not sure where Cole sits on the subject, but Carter and the Mrs.
disliked the autodrive. Good luck with your set up.

Yes, Carter and Dicksie never approved of a product they didn't make money off of! No kidding!

The PW Autodrive was so successful, that PW stopped making Hydro after the immediate success of the electric drive. Nobody wanted hydro any longer. Quieter, less footprint, no hydraulic mess....

Had Carter put out an electric drive, he would have pushed it immensely, but there was no money for him in pushing a PW Electric drive......

 

......... I`m not sure where Cole sits on the subject, but Carter and the Mrs.
disliked the autodrive. Good luck with your set up.

I give Cole a lot of credit, he is doing a lot of great things for Spolar....mostly...listening to the customers.

Carter never wanted to believe there was anything wrong, or anything that could be improved, with HIS machine!

Fact is, they didn't have proper mouth flare tools, the 410 dies were too large and didn't properly size, etc. These are things many Spolar users like myself had made by machinists to get them right. Cole is listening to owners and taking their ideas back and now offers many of the items that Carter wouldn't hear of!

 

FYI: " home " is the machine,(handle) at full stroke position in either direction. That never happens with the auto drive because it operates in one direction never reaching the stop in either direction. Call it whatever you want, but the machine never achieves full stroke in either direction.
I never implied the auto drive does not work. I said it could be tricky to set up.

 

FYI: " home " is the machine,(handle) at full stroke position in either direction. That never happens with the auto drive because it operates in one direction never reaching the stop in either direction. Call it whatever you want, but the machine never achieves full stroke in either direction.
I never implied the auto drive does not work. I said it could be tricky to set up.

The Hydraulics is not supposed to make the handle, or stub shaft, hit the stop. In fact, up to a 1/16th inch gap. Straight out of the Spolar manual.

The head reaches full top stroke before the machine handle would reach the stop...then it slightly comes back down. This is due to the scissor legs being fully open at 180 degrees, and then closing slightly as the handle is still pulled.

The Auto Drive easily reaches full stroke in either direction.

 

FYI: " home " is the machine,(handle) at full stroke position in either direction. That never happens with the auto drive because it operates in one direction never reaching the stop in either direction. Call it whatever you want, but the machine never achieves full stroke in either direction.

I would have to disagree with you on that point. Full up and down are accomplished with my AutoDrive. I wondered about the ‘short stroke’ comment, couldn’t figure out why someone with an AutoDrive would say that.

 

The PW instructions say that the arm should be about 1/8" from the stop block.

 

Jim Skeel sent me instructions on how to set up the auto drive and why when I bought the unit almost ten years ago. If you`re setting a gap, the press is not full stroking, period.
Ask him if the the machine bottoms out in both directions when set up correctly. It does not and I`ve run one on four gages, same machine for years

 

Jim Skeel sent me instructions on how to set up the auto drive and why when I bought the unit almost ten years ago. If you`re setting a gap, the press is not full stroking, period.

That statement proves you don't know what you are talking about!

It is the opening of the scissor arms (for lack of a better term) which make the platen go up. Once those scissors are opened 180 degrees, the platen is up as high as it is ever going to go. Keep moving the handle, and the scissors actually start to close in the opposite direction. When that occurs, the platen actually starts to come down slightly. Once the handle is stopped, and starts going other direction, those scissors open back up to 180 degrees which raises the platen again slightly, and then start to close back in the original position, which brings the platen back down.

This is why the machine reaches full top stroke without the handle hitting the handle stop. The scissors reach their 180 degree point, full top stroke, before the handle hits the stop.

If you lived close to me, I'd invite you over to demonstrate it.

 

With Spolar reloaders selling for such obscene amounts of money have you thought about keeping the PW as is and selling the Spolar?

 

I apologize Mr. Henry, I had no idea I was offending a subject matter expert. However, I rermember for a fact you loaded on Mec`s most of your shooting life and bad rapped the Spolar machines for ions until you purchased one, not that long ago. I remember you very well, and I wouldn`t ask you for advice on a Spolar if you lived next door to me.