I Learned a Valuable lesson last night!!

[Deerherd]

A good reminder of another benefit of 4wd. When in 4wd, all wheels provide braking. Thanks for sharing, this may save someone from a bad accident.

Good advice. I run my tractor quite a bit in 2wd but it engages the 4wd when you apply the brakes. A nice feature to have. Be safe!

 

[Gary Fowler]

I try to remember to take my LS P7010 out of 4 WD when I don't need the traction because it does rip up the grass when in 4 WD. The GOOD thing about my LS is that when I touch the brakes, it automatically engages the 4 WD. I would assume some of the other tractors would do that also. My 4 WD is engaged electrically with a flip of a switch so I would think anyone with that type of engagement could easily fix a switch on the brake pedal to engage that circuit on their tractor even if it does not have that feature.

Sad to say that I owned it for 2 years before I realized that this feature existed and only notice it by chance when parking with it in 2 WD and applying the brakes. The 4 WD indicator light came on and I distinctly remembered that I had taken it out of 4WD. I don't recall reading about it at all in the owners manual, but then again, I could have just missed it.

 

[Gary Fowler]

I forgot to mention that you guys with a manual shift lever will be S.O.L. with trying to make your tractors into auto 4 WD shift mode.
It will be interesting to see some responses from folks who have the shift on the fly electronic 4 WD activation to see if their tractors have the auto engagement feature and they just don't know about it.

 

[rd_macgregor]

Do any CUTs have front brakes as well as rear?

 

[k0ua]

Do any CUTs have front brakes as well as rear?

None that I know of. But all 4WD tractors have "front brakes" if you leave them in 4WD. The front tires are connected to the ground, the tires are connected to the wheels, the wheels are connected solidly to the front differential, the differential is connected to the drive shaft, the drive shaft is connected to the rear differential, and then to the rear axles and then to the brake pads on the rear (I might have left out a connection or two. ) But you get the idea. When you press on the rear brakes, the front wheels have braking action thru their ground contact patch also.

 

[k0ua]

Some of the larger tractors like Gary and Deerheard have, don't have front brakes either, but since their 4wd mechanism is electric/hydraulic they have electric circuits to automatically engage the 4wd when the brakes are pressed so that they gain the advantage of 4 wheel braking.

 

[texasjohn]

James, I'll bet that if you have HST then this contributes to the quick slow down as well. At least my tractor comes to a quick stop when going into neutral.

None that I know of. But all 4WD tractors have "front brakes" if you leave them in 4WD. The front tires are connected to the ground, the tires are connected to the wheels, the wheels are connected solidly to the front differential, the differential is connected to the drive shaft, the drive shaft is connected to the rear differential, and then to the rear axles and then to the brake pads on the rear (I might have left out a connection or two. ) But you get the idea. When you press on the rear brakes, the front wheels have braking action thru their ground contact patch also.

 

[Jay4200]

A combination of no brakes on the front wheels and being in 2 wheel drive, meant I had no stopping power up front were the weight was. Once I figured this out and checked my shorts!

That kind of event is known in the industry as a "pucker moment". Glad to hear you didn't crash. Been there, done that....WAY too many times.

 

[Topher265]

Thanks for posting a good story reminding us all to be "situationally aware".

 

[DavesTractor]

To take it one step further, most tractors do not have rear brakes, as few if any newer SCUT/CUT/Utility tractors actually have brake drums/discs out on the axle ends like a car. Instead they have wet or dry drum or disc brakes that mount somewhere on the drivetrain and stop all of the drivetrain (less the PTO of course) that is engaged. By default, the rear axle is always engaged. The front is selectable.

As mentioned above, if you are moving along at 5 mph or so on a slick surface (or loose gravel) in 2wd, your stopping distance is not good and the rear tires will slide a bunch. Put it in 4wd and you stop so fast to almost put you over the steering wheel. It is an easy test to see if your 4wd is working.

The LS with the electronic front axle engagement when the brakes are applied in 2wd seems like a great idea. My only concern with that sort of design would be longevity of whatever device is used to electrically engage the axle. Seems it would get a lot of work if a guy ran mostly in 2wd and used the brakes often.

 

[jejeosborne]

I trust my lever actuated 4wd and don't know if i want to rely on a selenoid and wiring to holding me back on a hillside. Maybe the system fails to 4wd but I would bet it is the other way around. Does the electric engagement type stay locked when the tractor is turned off? Surely so because otherwise the parking brake would just be the back wheels. I always lock mine when trailering too.

 

[Garandman]

"Good judgement comes from Experience.
Experience comes from bad judgement."

 

[k0ua]

James, I'll bet that if you have HST then this contributes to the quick slow down as well. At least my tractor comes to a quick stop when going into neutral.

Yes, mine too, almost like hitting the brakes.. and if you are in 2WD, going down a steep slope and yank your foot off of the forward pedal rapidly it can start a slide of the rear wheels unless you have a lot of weight on the back. With a hydro, you rarely ever have to use the brakes. Just to prevent "drifting" when stopped on a slope. Even then if you want, you can just give the hydro a little reverse direction pedal instead of stepping on the brakes and it will hold it still.

 

[k0ua]

I trust my lever actuated 4wd and don't know if i want to rely on a selenoid and wiring to holding me back on a hillside. Maybe the system fails to 4wd but I would bet it is the other way around. Does the electric engagement type stay locked when the tractor is turned off? Surely so because otherwise the parking brake would just be the back wheels. I always lock mine when trailering too.

That is a very good question.

 

[Gary Fowler]

I think mine stays locked when in 4 WD as long as the switch is not flipped to 2 WD. As soon as you turn on the key after it has been parked for a while, the 4 WD indicator light comes on if it was in 4 WD when parked. You can flip the selector switch prior to cranking it as hear and fell the 4 WD disconnecting. You can tell that the front tires are somewhat in a bind when it disconnects as there is a definite popping noise as the gears disengage.

I think it would be easier on the tractors when disengaging the front wheels to stop, backup a few feet and then disengage. I have to do this with my RTV 900 to get the gear lever to move. I just apply a bit of pressure and back up till it slips out of 4 WD. As most folks know, the front wheels are always pulling a bit ahead of the rear. I can see signs of this in the wearing of the tread in the front wheels on both my tractors especially the B26 that is always in 4 WD unless I am travelling on a highway.

 

[Guesseral]

And Nukes...

This is also a good way to check if you're Really in 4WD.

On gravel, goose the throttle and then hit the brakes (pedals locked).
The front wheels will skid along with the rear.

Kudos to Dave @ Daves Tractors for this tidbit, I wasn't sure my 4WD was engaging.

No you don't have to be close with a nuke!

 

[FTG-05]

Ah yes, the infamous "2 inch ride"!

You suck up two inches of seat cushion until you get it back under control.

I'm a charter member of the club. Welcome to the club!

 

[Code54]

Never take mine out of 4 wheel drive anymore except on the road - had that same experience once and really never want to repeat it!

 

[drizler]

I'm curious as I never had any slides with my old TO-20 Ferguson in 20 years of nothing but 2WD . I feel like I'm missing out on something important here since I just got a 4x4 Massey. I only put 55 hours on the new one so far but rarely use the 4WD. By any chance were those R4 tires you guys were sliding with? I heard from other guys about them being infamous sliders in mud . That's why I insisted on farm tires with their rough ride and tendency to tear up the lawn.
I did do a real nice slide in my old truck 5 years back after an ice storm. I had it parked on a tiny hill beside the house like I had for years. No prob till I started it up and tried to move and sideways i went. Forward, nothing, reverse nothing , switch to 4wd nothing. Right through the fence in slow motion and would have been ok but for my daughters horse hitching post I had sunk 18" in the frozen ground. Got the pax door and all down the side of the box in one long creeping scrape. Ah the perils of street tires on ice .:confused

 

[coobie]

I Learned a Valuable lesson last night. It's that time of year up North so I decided to unhook my rear finish mower for the season. I took it up the hill to a storage garage and put it away. Now my little tractor has no weight on the back and an empty bucket up front. Not thinking anything about it, I drove the tractor back down the fairly steep hill to the house. The Tractor was in 2 wheel drive and as soon as I hit the steep part (about 7pm, with just a start of dew on the grass) the rear wheels lost traction and away I went down the hill FAST, really FAST. I dropped the bucket down on the grass to slow me to a stop, and then I tried to figure out what heck just happened. A combination of no brakes on the front wheels and being in 2 wheel drive, meant I had no stopping power up front were the weight was. Once I figured this out and checked my shorts! I tried the hill again, this time in 4 wheel drive. No problems, I even stopped part way down the hill and backed up. A simple thing, but this could have been a really bad accident had I hit the brakes hard and the tractor spun sideways or even rolled over. Moral of the story, steep hills up or down = Tractor in 4 Wheel drive. I hope this can be a useful tip to someone!!! As usual one Man's Stupidity is another Man's Wisdom!!

A few years back I had my Kioti DK40 (loaded R4 tires)with my 6ft finish mower on a slight hill with wet grass and away I went down the hill as I tried to drop my front loader on the ground to keep from tipping over.Scared the crap out of me.Heck of a pucker factor on my tractor seat.Glad to hear you are ok and nothing worse happened.