Ultrasound works magicOne tool that South Dakota beef producers Blane and Cindy Nagel can''t do without is an ultrasound machine. All heifers on their 300-head Maine-Anjou herd are scanned each May and then bred according to their muscle scores and marbling levels. Ultrasound data for all sale bulls is provided to potential buyers. "As a breeder, I use it as a mating tool," says Blane, who farms near Springfield. "The buyers of my bulls use it as a selection tool." Nagel pays most attention to the marbling around the ribeye area. His cattle naturally muscle well, so he is looking for those who are also heavily marbled.

Do You Need Chipping?Unlike hammer drills, which offer a choice between rotation-only and hammer-drill modes only, SDS-plus rotary hammers offer a third option: a hammer-only mode that permits the use of chisels, pointing tools, and other general purpose bits. Spline and SDS-max tools drop the rotation-only mode but allow the user to choose between hammer-drill and hammer-only. Hammer-only mode is great for tasks like removing tile, cleaning up concrete forms, and removing brick or stucco. Even though the rotary hammer won''t replace a demolition hammer, this mode is handy for light demo and greatly increases the tool''s versatility.

"Pressure at the fuel injectors has increased from 15,000 psi a few years ago to nearly 30,000 psi on new engines," says Pete Brown of Caterpillar''s engine applications group. "To get these higher pressures, fuel pumps are built to closer tolerances. Dirt in the fuel is like sandpaper, and it will definitely cause greater wear."To meet the challenge, Cat''s newest engines are equipped with increased water-sensing and fuel-filtering capabilities as well as a filter on the fuel tank breather. Primary fuel filters, once designed to remove 150-micron particles, are now rated for 10 microns. Secondary filters, once sized to remove 10-micron particles, are now rated for 2 microns. And the new high-efficiency filters can remove up to 99% of particles above those rated sizes compared to the 50% efficiency of older nominal filters. Filter improvements are also available for storage tanks. "Tank filters are typically rated at 10 microns nominal, so they take out 50% of particles greater than 10 microns in size. Tank filters with higher efficiencies, ratings down to 2 microns and water-absorbing capabilities, are now available," says Gall.

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