Takin it to the MAX

[piercedtiger]

Actually Black it appears you are not wrong at all. It is I that have been doing it incorrectly. The manual states (for my 3016 that is, and it seems to be the same process for hydro or gear) that as long as you engage the pedal with your foot down on it, it remains in diff lock. Foot off: it disengages. My method of engaging and then taking my foot off as soon as it engages must be working because i could be keeping my foot on the pedal longer than I actually think I am. I just use it to get me out of a trouble spot. The manual did state that all wheels must be stopped before engagement by either depressing the clutch on a gear, or putting the hydro in "neutral shift" mode.

I believe what you're experiencing is tension on the locking mechanism. You'll push it down to get out of a trouble spot, and while driving the tension on the drive system keeps it locked until you unload that tension by stopping, or reversing direction. That way you lock it when needed, and when you don't need it (because you're stopped, or backing up) it automatically unlocks.

 

[oldpilgrim]

The manual states (for my 3016 that is, and it seems to be the same process for hydro or gear) that as long as you engage the pedal with your foot down on it, it remains in diff lock. Foot off: it disengages.

I haven't read the manual but my 3016 HST seems to work that way. My observations while using it made me determine that this is the case.

The manual did state that all wheels must be stopped before engagement by either depressing the clutch on a gear, or putting the hydro in "neutral shift" mode.

This is how I do it for the reasons I stated previously about engaging/disengaging causing damage.

When all else fails, read the manual seems to apply here.

 

[AchingBack]

I haven't read the manual but my 3016 HST seems to work that way. My observations while using it made me determine that this is the case.



This is how I do it for the reasons I stated previously about engaging/disengaging causing damage.

When all else fails, read the manual seems to apply here.

I just reread the 2615/3015 manual. I was incorrect in thinking the diff. lock was still engaged after the foot was released from the pedal. It operates the same as the 3016.

 

[arrow]

A lot of good ancillary stuff comes up when someone such as Blackmax ventures into uncharted waters most of us are hesitant to sail in. Uncharted waters for me mostly has the effect of the Bermuda Triangle. Creates a feeling of being lost, hopeless, dazed and despair. Many times I've said hello to Amelia Earhart or at least I think I have..

 

[Black Max]

Here is the pics of my lights mounted up, I like how the LED light bar tucks into the ROPS. The top light bar on the back is the emergency strobe lights, yellow tape is just marking which lights are Amber as I have to re wire them for my controller. Bottom bar i am using for a work light, I will wire them to come on with my manual reverse light switch.

 

[oldpilgrim]

are you planning on lighting the local college football stadium?

 

[piercedtiger]

We need to see that sucker at night now!! :thumbsup:

One of the things that concerns me with your locker actuator setup is if the gears aren't lined up perfectly when you hit the button. My Massey's foot pedal goes down about an inch if things aren't lined up properly, and then once I turn the tires a little it drops the last inch and engages. How will the actuator handle that? Will it force it and break something, or put pressure on until things line up without damaging it?

Even the electronic diff lock in my truck is spring loaded for that reason. The electric motor puts pressure on a coil spring to push or pull on the actual locker to engage or disengage. I would think you might need a similar buffer.

 

[Black Max]

Here is all I have to go on out of the Mahindra 25 HST service manual... You can see the rod I replaced, the spring I need to compress, which is why I believed I needed to hold the pedal down to keep the diff lock engaged. The spring will separate the dogs item 1 in both photos when pedal is not activated. The linear actuator will try to run until the limit switch is reached, but seems to have a stall if overloaded. The dogs may not be lined up when I use the foot pedal, same for the actuator, and the tractor may have to move to engage fully in either case. The actuator itself I believe is the weak link here, not the internals. Keep in mind I have control with a switch, instead of my foot, difference being I will not have to hold the pedal or switch once fully engaged. The setting of the limit switches is critical, more to the life of the actuator itself as long as the travel of the actuator allows the dogs to fully engage, there should be no issue. I am also unable to accidentally hit the pedal with my foot now, it also gives slightly more foot room which is valuable on a Max25. I am not using a hydraulic ram here with thousands of pounds of force, only enough force to replace what I would have used with my foot...

 

[piercedtiger]

Ok good. With the spring being internal I agree with your assessment. With the linear actuator pushing on the spring I would think you'd be ok as well.

 

[Black Max]

are you planning on lighting the local college football stadium?

225 watts probably wouldn't light up the bathroom in the stadium... Lol.

 

[piercedtiger]

225 watts probably wouldn't light up the bathroom in the stadium... Lol.

You might be surprised. :laughing: My 120w LED 24" light bar is blinding, and will light up half my 1 acre back yard.

 

[arrow]

Here is what I decided to do with my light bar mounts, the lights themselves are pretty weighty so I needed something strong, but with a little stealth built in. I un- boxed my Princess Auto(equivalent to Harbour Freight) shrinker stretcher I bought about a year ago, assembled it, and made the curved piece. Took me about 3 hours on that piece, never having done it before, and I feel stupid cause I kept running over to the tractor and used a ladder to constantly check the progress/fit. Almost aerobic and the next morning it dawned on me to just unbolt the top of the ROPS and take it to the bench.... dummy. I will post a bench shot of the lights after the paint dries.

View attachment 404250View attachment 404251

View attachment 404253

Or perhaps you could have traced the radius on a piece of cardboard while still mounted on the tractor?

 

[Black Max]

Well... Sometimes things don't work out. 1st time I received something made in China that was BIGGER than I expected, my office chair was huge !! Always have a backup plan I say, I now have a new "thinking" chair for my shop. The Xpress seat that comes with the MB60 backhoe is so tiny it creates problems trying to replace it. Most seats are just to big it seems. So I had to come up with a plan B, and it may have worked out better. I now gained adjustable armrests, lumbar, reclining and fold forward on the new seat, nice. It was boring to look at compared to the office chair, so I took advantage of having one of the best custom auto upholstery guys on the planet in my family. He took time for me as he normally works on high $$$ streetrods and we redid my seat, added seat heaters top and bottom as well. If you ever get a chance to see what's involved in making a custom interior grab it... It's an art form!! I have black carbon fibre, grey to match the dash, silver to go with the shape of the hood decal and wheels etc, and nine pleats top and bottom to represent my birth month(September). When you go custom you can pretty much have anything you want. We did it in a day, pretty decent result for a tractor seat...... Thanks Dad!!

 

[ZAR2USA]

I decided LED and HID lighting would replace my stockers. Picture shows new light cluster, rear HID flood lights, and I installed LED reverse lights where the stock tail lights used to be. My new LED tail lamps have running/ brake lights in red so I fabricated two brackets with micro switches and used one with my treadle for automatic reverse lights, when I push reverse, reverse lights come on. For brake lights I used the linkage and other micro to have my brake lights always "on" when tractor is stopped, but when I go forward or reverse the brake lights dim to running lights. This was a really neat addition and example of how I took it to the Max, so to speak. <img src="http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/files/mahindra-owning-operating/402115-takin-max-image-jpg"/>

I like how you incorporated the function of the brake lights with the linkage, and the reverse lights. Thx for sharing that.

 

[Black Max]

I like how you incorporated the function of the brake lights with the linkage, and the reverse lights. Thx for sharing that.

No problem, I should explain that my brake lights come on whenever I take my foot off the treadle. It returns by use of a spring so technically it looks like my foot is "on" the brake as I begin to slow and the brake lights will stay on even when fully stopped. My actual brakes are not wired as by the time I take my foot off the treadle and actuate the brake my brake lights have already come on anyways. The HST is like an auto transmission so even when I actuate reverse it looks like I have my foot on the brake when i "shift" into reverse. My brake lights are timed so the reverse lights come on before the brake lights go out, an up-coming video will show/ explain it better. Reverse lights also automatically change my monitor to rear view, all this came from adding brake lights and and camera system, I figured it would enhance safety and allow me to use fully what I added to the tractor.

 

[ZAR2USA]

No problem, I should explain that my brake lights come on whenever I take my foot off the treadle. It returns by use of a spring so technically it looks like my foot is "on" the brake as I begin to slow and the brake lights will stay on even when fully stopped. My actual brakes are not wired as by the time I take my foot off the treadle and actuate the brake my brake lights have already come on anyways. The HST is like an auto transmission so even when I actuate reverse it looks like I have my foot on the brake when i "shift" into reverse. My brake lights are timed so the reverse lights come on before the brake lights go out, an up-coming video will show/ explain it better. Reverse lights also automatically change my monitor to rear view, all this came from adding brake lights and and camera system, I figured it would enhance safety and allow me to use fully what I added to the tractor.

Understands perfectly. No video needed. I have HST and like how you incorporated it as I never use my brakes.

 

[oldpilgrim]

Does your television get in the way of refueling?

 

[Gmorin2217]

Wow that seat is beautiful! A work of art. I've been curious as to how you handled all your extra wiring. It seems to be something you have some expertise in, maybe a how to?

 

[mike69440]

I don't mean to hi-jack the thread, but it is a short question and seems like a good place to ask,

How do you go about removing the plastick around the instrument panel and fuse box on the Max Series. I have a Max 28.

Thanks

Mike

 

[drajj5]

I don't mean to hi-jack the thread, but it is a short question and seems like a good place to ask,

How do you go about removing the plastick around the instrument panel and fuse box on the Max Series. I have a Max 28.

Thanks

Mike

Mike

The Fuse box does not require the removal of any plastic- it is located on the right side just forward of your firewall. If you want to remove the plastic kick plate area and the instrument panel it will require a Phillips screwdriver and a 10mm socket. Remove the (2) screws that hold the two halves of the kick plate centered below the steering wheel. then remove the (2) plastic button retainer's located just forward of where your feet typically sit when driving. There is a metal band that encapsulates the fire wall - remove the two bolts and lift off. This will expose the remaining bolts that attach the rest of the dash and kick plate. Remove that and with some fiddleing with the rubber gas overflow. the plastic can be wiggled out and free from tractor. Dash has plastic wiring connectors that can be unplugged easily..
Hope this helps