Attacking that power problem CT225

[bbse]

Good info. Thats only about 9 degrees. Are you easing the pedal all the way to the metal and still pulling the hill or are you going up at partial pedal?

My impression is that yours and the OPs tractors react similarly in midrange.
larry

I'm not so sure, we shall see. As stated I am not running 2000 rpm and I am trying with as little pedal as I can just to see if I could get it too start or creep. My hill is steeper I admit. But if I could get mine to just go up it, I wouldn't care that I had to get way off the pedal as long as I didn't have to change into low range the way I do now.

 

[Sprocket]

At 2000rpm and above I can hold the pedal all the way down without a problem...at 2800-3000 I can almost make it in high range but I have to come out of the pedal alot and the trans kind of makes a chattering sound that I dont really care for so I dont do that. 2800-3000rpm in mid range is no problem but I dont really like to run the engine that high if I don't need to. I do most of my work between 1500 and 2500 depending what implement I am Using. I am very happy with my 225 but if I could get more power cheap I would.

 

[lilranch2001]

I thought about buying a 225 or 230, glad I decided to spend a few more bucks and got the 235 from all of these posts........

 

[bbse]

I thought about buying a 225 or 230, glad I decided to spend a few more bucks and got the 235 from all of these posts........

I'm not so sure it is a HP problem. From some of the problems I was able to find that sounded closest to mine, all turned out to be HST transmission issues. If you had a bad HST you could experience the same thing I have. Of course, as I stated earlier, if all CT225's are as weak as this one then Bobcat has a bigger problem than I do.

 

[SPYDERLK]

CT225,230,235.... Do each of these have different HSTs or do they just adjust the same trans differently??????????
larry

 

[tinman955]

Its just not the 2 series tractors, my 440 has the same problems. I had no luck with my dealer fixing my 440 either. Ive gone all winter and now have 100hrs on it and its worse now than it was before. Im waiting to see what you find out with yrs before I start calling again.

 

[Doosan Grief]

Howdy, bbse

Boy am I glad I found this community and this thread. I, too, purchased a CT230 last summer and experiencing the very same problems that you are concerning slippage in the HST. This ain't an HP problem. The CT230 engine produces way more power than the size and weight of the tractor can hold back. The problem is with getting the power reliabley to the wheels.

Yes, I am having the same issues in high range and some in middle range. The HST just cavitates and groans with the RV popping under normal use on moderate grades with very little load at the three point hitch. The tractor will barely pull itself empty in HIGH range when the implements are not touching the ground. Moving snow during the blizzard last winter was a low-range experience from ****.

I live near Kansas City and purchased my tractor from KC Bobcat. KC Bobcat has had my tractor for 3 weeks now and gave me the same sad story that I see others have been told in this thread-- 'there is nothing wrong with your tractor. everything is at or above spec.'

Sounds like the Bobcat corporation is getting some of its strategy from the Toyota game book. It's starting to look like denial and stalling is the game plan hoping the customer will go away. Yes, I agree with a previous post suggesting that these rebadged-Kioti tractors are fairly new to the Bobcat service departments and they don't have a handle around issues that are becoming apparent such as weak HST's. (Last summer when I was in the market, I now realize why I saw more than one CTxxx tractor forsale on Craigslist with very low hours with some vague reason why they were selling the tractor. It was likely due to poor HST performance.)

It is gonna take lots of customers like us complaining loudly back up the chain to get them to accept that there just might be a problem. I am definitely going to share my reviews of what may be turning out to be a lemon design so at least others will avoid dropping a load of money on a product that doesn't live up to the Bobcat reputation and hopefully, cause a little pain back on the Doosan Group who is hearding this cow these days.

In all fairness, I have managed to schedule a meeting with district Bobcat department managers at my ranch to demonstate the weeknesses of the CT HST. They are supposed to be out in two weeks. (I get the impression nothing is very urgent with these guys.) Anyway, I'm fixin' to write a review on this tractor for TRACTORBYNET. I do have some good things to say, but they are all overshadowed by the HST problems which nearly renders the tractor useless to me.

 

[bbse]

I was waiting to post an update until I had more info but i will share our side by side comparison the other day. My dealer brought out a new CT225 with a loader and the only difference being that my tires are loaded and the new ones was not. I am sorry to report that it performed as poorly as mine which does indicate that it is a design problem. The dealers CT225 would not spin the tires in low range wide open with the loader against a tree in a grass field. As stated his tires were not loaded so the extra traction question is answered there. As to climbing my hills, the new one was able to stop on the hill in mid range and take back off but....barely. Not enough difference to get excited about. Since my tired are loaded the weight may have been the difference.

What to do next. The problem seems to be the RV in the HST as stated. They are not adjustable. I have some ideas but I am not doing anything right now. The service manager was going to contact Doosan about the issue. I have not heard back from him yet. I am curious as to what they will say. I am also curious if the CT225/CT230/CT235 use the same RV in the HST. If they do, then the extra HP would be useless if the valve releases at the same level. I will be curious to know the answer to that one or if the Kioti CK 30 HST uses the same RV and what is it set at?

 

[tinman955]

I drove 5 different tractors at a dealer the other day all different sizes all but one performed poorly, oh btw the one that didnt was a SST, go figure.

 

[vwkismet]

I was going to rent one of these next weekend. Can you recommend some way to test the tractor to see if it has the problem?

 

[lilranch2001]

I dunno, I guess since it is my first compact tractor, maybe I do not have the same expectations that you all have, but I have 17 hours on mine now, I have dug and moved 50-60 K of clay, from a future retaining wall, graded my 900 foot driveway, and pushed back 30-40 foot of brush along 200 feet of my woods, and the worst thing that I have had happen with my CT235 is getting it stuck in a mud bog to its axles, but it kept on digging trying to get itself out, I finally got it close enough to my driveway where I could hook a strap to the frame and pulled it out with the GMC.

I will admit high gear is not worth much for anything but transporting it, but I do not seem to have as much problem climbing a grade in high gear as some of you have stated.

I hope Bobcat resolves your issues :confused2:

 

[lilranch2001]

oh, and so far I am getting about .6 - .7 gallons of fuel per hour

 

[bbse]

lilranch, I would love to hear how yours climbs a fairly steep long hill with a loader and a implement attached in mid range. If you can climb it, stop and start up again with no issues it would mean to me that they are putting stronger pressure relief valves in the 235's than they are in the 225's. Mine stalls on hills and has RPM, but I can't get my tractor moving. If you can find a steep hill, test it in mid range and let us know.

Oh, BTW, all that work you did, was it in mid or low. Mine does pretty decent in low...it is in mid that I am having trouble. Have not checked my fuel usage but it has not been bad either.

 

[lilranch2001]

bbse, most of the time I have been working in mid gear, mostly only when I was digging into the clay and when I buried it did I move into low gear.
I was at a neighbors house showing it off last week and he lives at the bottom of a pretty steep hill, when I headed home I started out in high gear, and it started to bog down a little, so I shifted to mid gear and it ran up the hill fine, it is a hill you want to be careful going down in the winter if it is icy, as far as the grade, I am not sure

 

[Doosan Grief]

This message is to anyone out there in the Kansas City area or eastern Kansas region that has purchased a Bobcat compact tractor from KC Bobcat recently and is experiencing HST peformance issues similar to those mentioned in this thread. Please contact me through this site's Private Message service. I would like to compare notes and find out if you are having any luck getting the problem resolved. Maybe we can work together. Thanks...

 

[bbse]

Lets say a hill that if it were dirt, you would have to have a 4wd truck to go up. I cannot climb my back hill in my 3/4 ton Dodge 2wd with positive traction. I have taken a pretty good running start at it but I spin out about 2/3rds the way up. So any road you can drive up in 2wd is not a good comparison.

 

[lilranch2001]

I am thinking you may be asking a lot out of a tractor wanting to climb a hill like that in anything but low range, I am interested in seeing what others think

 

[bbse]

I am thinking you may be asking a lot out of a tractor wanting to climb a hill like that in anything but low range, I am interested in seeing what others think

My thought is that if the relief valve would quit popping I could probably go up it just fine. I am not saying I should be able to go up it with a full load of gravel in the bucket while running a 5 foot brush cutter. It is just that I am sitting on the hill, full rpm, not moving with a popped relief valve. Give me enough pressure to stall the engine at least.

 

[lilranch2001]

what gear are you trying to do this in?

 

[bbse]

Mid Range. Like I said also, I can't spin the tires in low range on solid ground. I can keep my rpm's at anything below half a pedal so it has to be the relief valve.