When I brush hog I want my mower running at 540 rpm. all the time. If I hit a heavy spot, I want to slow the ground speed down but leave the PTO at 540. I have to clutch and shift to a lower gear. Is it the same with the IHMT?
If I understand correctly, you can remove the IHMT without splitting the tractor. How about the engine repair or clutch, or is the clutch electric and part of the IHMT? How about the reverser? My present gear tractor, to do transmission/clutch/reverser repair you have to remove the FEL frame and all the tin to split it. $2000 before you get to the problem, and it never goes back together right! been there, had it done What a selling point if you can do that repair without removing the FEL frame and the tin.
The YT3's are fine tractors. The clutch is not the same as an ordinary clutch and is controlled by solenoids on the side of the transmission. So to answer your question, you can maintain 540 in much the same manner as you would with your gear driven tractor. That said, engines only provide so much power and if the engine load becomes too heavy, the rpm's will slow just as any other piece of equipment. You will not need to slow to a different range when mowing as long as you start in the right range. 1st range is for ground engaging and heavy work. 2nd range is for normal work and most work will be performed in this range. 3rd range is for light work and travel. An example of light work is using a finish mower on property that regularly gets cut, therefore the engine load would be minimal.
Advantages of the YT3 are that you can go from forward to reverse without the use of the clutch, much like that of a forklift. You can also adjust the aggressiveness of direction changes and takeoff with the motion control dial. When mowing with a finish mower the operator may want to set the dial to turtle to prevent wheel spin on their lawn. When doing loader work the operator would set the dial to rabbit to get in and out of the pile quickly.
Another advantage is the power to the ground. The YT3 has nearly identical power to the wheels as the YM3 when equipped with the same engine. Add to that, it has the ease of operation of a hydrostatic tractor, minus the power loss.
The cruise control is nice as well. It is electronically controlled and not a throttle lock like most of the other tractors in this category. It can be set at a particular speed, I will use 3 mph as an example. Once set, if you start to go down hill, the tractor will use the transmission to keep you at 3 mph as long as the transmission can keep that speed. When going uphill the transmission and engine will work to keep that 3 mph so long as the engine and transmission can provide that power. The set/- and res/+ buttons will increase or decrease the set speed by 1/10 mph. Very similar to how the cruise control works on a car.
The auto throttle can be used to increase the speed to the maximum set engine speed without increasing ground speed. This can be used to increase hydraulic flow when loading hay on a truck for faster lifting or to increase PTO rpm for a small thick area.
A/B mode can be used to set independent ground and engine speeds. This will do the trick when mowing. You can also set the PTO speed to set the engine speed for precise control.
Probably more of an answer than you wanted, but the tractor is phenomenal and it is hard not to brag.
