Traction Is my 4WD working?

[Jasperfield]

I have an '88 Ford 3910 4WD tractor with 964 hrs TT. I work alone all the time and can't tell if the front wheels are pulling or not.

Today I was backing uphill, on grass, and noticed the rear right tire spinning a little. I had a Caroni flail lowered & floating and was in low reverse. I would have thought the fronts would have been pulling, but don't know if they were or not. They never spun.

I've got 390 lbs of weights on the front.

What is a simple way to determine if the front axle is pulling without having to jack-up the whole tractor?

Thanks

 

[rmk700]

Turn as sharp as you can on asphalt. If it hops/jurks in front it's probably in 4WD. Probably not the safest way to tell though.

 

[dex3361]

If you have a FEL you can put the bucket all the way down and lift the front wheels off the ground the back up a little and watch the front wheels to see if they turn with the rears. Or you can jack up the front end and see if they are free turning with the engine off. If it is in 4wd they will not turn freely. The for sure and easiest way is to hook it something and spin the wheels a little use the draw bar on the back while on grass just be acareful it doesn't raise up in the front end.

 

[kebo]

Or you could go find a creek/ big mudhole to play in and see if you can get it stuck, then watch and see if the fronts turn!!!

Really though, the first two suggestions should tell you but another one would be to find some loose dirt or gravel near a big tree, and chain the drawbar to the tree. Ease the clutch out with a little throttle and you should see the front tires try to turn some. If not, make sure it's in 4x4 mode. If they still don't turn, time to jack up all four tires and block it up safely so you can figure what's going on with it.

 

[TripleR]

If one of your rear tires are spinning, one of your front tires should also be spinning or at least that is how all of ours work Kubota, MF, John Deere and Case.

 

[k0ua]

Another way to get stuck pretty easily without a lot of stress on your tractor is you have a shallow ditch you can cross at a sharp angle. Go gently into the ditch and calculate the angle to place say your right front and left rear tires in the ditch at the same time. Your left front and right rear tires will be on solid ground and your right front and left rear with have air under them. Then see if your right front tire is spinning in the air along with your left rear. If so then your MFWD is probably working OK. To get unstuck just stop spinning, and engage your differential lock, apply a little power and you should be unstuck, if need be use your loader bucket to push yourself backward. I am thinking though that if you saw one of the rears spinning and did not see one of the fronts spinning too, then your MFWD is not engaged or broken in some way.

James K0UA

 

[blueriver]

Just put the front bucket against a non moveable object ... a tree ... use low gear and watch the front tires.

 

[RoyJackson]

If you have a FEL you can put the bucket all the way down and lift the front wheels off the ground the back up a little and watch the front wheels to see if they turn with the rears.

If you use this method, and the fronts do turn...stop before you lower those front tires. There have been posts suggesting that this may stress the front axle (primarily on Deere 790's, BTW). Although there is no solid data to support those posts, no use trying to become a statistic.

 

[Ford tractor]

Really though, the first two suggestions should tell you but another one would be to find some loose dirt or gravel near a big tree, and chain the drawbar to the tree. Ease the clutch out with a little throttle and you should see the front tires try to turn some. If not, make sure it's in 4x4 mode. If they still don't turn, time to jack up all four tires and block it up safely so you can figure what's going on with it.

That's a VERY risky action. It's a great way for an open station tractor to flip over and squish the operator.

It's better to just bite the bullet and jack the machine up. You're going to have to anyway to fix the 4wd. (at least if it were mine, I'd find it was broke)

 

[brewdog]

Just put the front bucket against a non moveable object ... a tree ... use low gear and watch the front tires.

i totally agree with blue river, I've done the exact same thing when I was in doubt. A large tree stump works nicely and you don't mind a couple spin marks in the grass.

 

[TripleR]

In the OP, it appears he has already "tested" it as his rear tires were spinning and his front weren't doing anything, how is hooking to a tree or pushing against something etc. going to be any different?

I am not a mechanic, but it "seems" if on a 4WD the back tires are spinning and the front are not, either it is not in 4WD or 4WD is broken.

 

[Short Game]

Yeah, when I see the rears spinning and the fronts aren't, I think, "oops, forgot I was in 2WD."

Backing uphill with extra weights on the front? With weight transfer involved, normally the fronts would be the main driving force. Looks like you just barely kept going, with that spinning rear getting just enough bite to keep you moving.

 

[blueriver]

I would have thought the fronts would have been pulling, but don't know if they were or not.

He may not have seen it ... put it up against something and remove the doubt.

 

[TripleR]

From the OP:

"Today I was backing uphill, on grass, and noticed the rear right tire spinning a little. I had a Caroni flail lowered & floating and was in low reverse. I would have thought the fronts would have been pulling, but don't know if they were or not. They never spun."

 

[Steve HEF]

If you use this method, and the fronts do turn...stop before you lower those front tires. There have been posts suggesting that this may stress the front axle (primarily on Deere 790's, BTW). Although there is no solid data to support those posts, no use trying to become a statistic.

Perhaps he already has.....

 

[Baby Grand]

Find muddy spot.
Enter with 2WD.
Get stuck.
Shift into 4WD.
Still stuck?
Dang!

 

[k0ua]

Yeah but my "shallow ditch method" will not be a strain on the tractor, tears nothing up, and you wont have a stuck tractor when you confirm what you already know, that the 4WD is broken.

James K0UA

 

[Jasperfield]

Thanks for all the replies, fellows. I mowed more today and found that the
4WD is working.

I believe what had happened (before) was that I had weight on the front, the mower setting on the bank, and very little weight on the rears.

Thanks again.