14 miles drive

intel · Jul 27, 2009

Brother-in-law had the trailer and i really needed my tractor (2003 DK 45 with front end loader), which was at his place 14 miles from me.
So i drove the tractor the 14 miles all on paved roads secondary, highest gear wide open, took about an hour maybe a little more. No problems ran good the engine was running even a little cooler then usually does working with front end loader.
Got home hooked up to the brush hog noticed the rear end was hot could only hold my hand on few 2 seconds. This is worrying me. It was 80 and sunny out.
I drove it around in low gear a little in the yard to help let it cool.
Any thoughts guys?
I know i will not run it that way any more that long 3 to 4 miles at most on hard road.
Besides the paved roads being hard on the tires I did not think it would be a problem.
P.S. It was in 2 wheel drive all the way front was luke warm if that.

Highgear · Jul 27, 2009

Was it in 2-wheel drive or 4-wheel drive . I've always been told never drive in 4-WD . on pavement . Thats a huge NO-NO !

jimmyj · Jul 27, 2009

Your oil temp guage was OK I assume. I would have figured the temp guage would be a guide.

I had to drive with a heavy wagon behind the tractor on the road the other day for about 3 miles (not paved). Kept it in FWD because the trailer was over 8000 lbs and I worried about braking safely if I was in 2wd. Drove in mid range, can't remember the RPM's but probably about 2400 or so. Everything seemed fine.

It will be very interesting to see what the experts say.

intel · Jul 27, 2009

It was in 2 wd all the way.

Gittyup · Jul 27, 2009

Wouldn't the tranny in any vehicle be hot to the touch after 14 miles? Is it working OK? What's the fluid look like now? If it's not dark, then it probably is OK.

MichiganIron · Jul 27, 2009

You may want to check a few things:

Make sure your brakes release properly. Excessive heat can be an indication of the brakes sticking.

Check the fluid level in the transmission. Make sure it's full to the proper level.

Check the Diff. Lock and make sure it is releasing.

Hope this helps,

intel · Jul 28, 2009

Thanks guys, I will check the brakes and differential lock.
The fluid is clear and is right between the low and full mark. It is due for the engine oil and filter change i may go ahead and change the tranny fluid too. I bought the tractor with 357 hours and i have put 102 hours since then.
Everything is working fine.
I have heard it is common for the fluid to be 100 degrees above ambient temp. (outside temp). So if it was 80 outside it could be 180 in the fluid?
Is this true?
I am probably concerned over nothing.
yes any car transmission after running 14 miles will be to hot to touch, good point.

atgreene · Jul 28, 2009

I drive my Kubota 20-30 miles some days on pavement. As long as it's out of 4wd. (and even that isn't the worste thing you could possibly do) it should suffer no ill effects.

I know when I'm bushhoggin I'll drive a lot more miles on grass, the only difference is that grass doesn't wear tires as fast as pavement.

As for heat, is it gear trans or hydro trans? If it's a hydro drive it will run hotter, but as long as everything looks fine and the brakes aren't sticking you should be all set.