Traction 4WD function New Holland Boomer 35

[longharbor]

I'm growing flowers commercially on a moderate site, steep in places and have just bought a new New Holland Boomer 35 (38hp) 4WD manual tractor operating a sprayer unit and a small (120mm/4ft) rotary slasher mower. When mowing forwards uphill the 4WD functions effectively, even up a relatively steep slope. When attempting to mow backwards, even up a moderate slope that my similar hp Kubota used to handle easily, traction fails. The back wheels spin in place and the front wheels remain stationary. This makes the new tractor unsuitable for purpose. With the old Kubota in the same situation at least one front wheel would spin even briefly indicating the front axles were powered. Does lack of movement in the front wheels when the back wheels are spinning in place indicate there is no 4WD power to the front axles when reversing and has anybody got comments on how their Boomer 35 performs in this situation?

Also, the operator's manual and my tractor's PTO switch indicate both Independent (shaft rotates independent of clutch pedal) and Manual (shaft disengages when clutch is pressed) functions are available. However only the Independent function works on my machine. This makes it very difficult to quickly disengage the PTO shaft to the mower if you encounter rough ground or tough vegetation. Have other operators come across this single PTO function?

 

[wmasmith]

Are you sure it works in forward gears? But yes generally speaking the front should spin at least one wheel when traction is low. Have you got a diff lock on the tractor as well? I have the LS 4140 which is similar to the Boomer 40. My 4x lever is next to the diff lock lever on the left side near the seat. Mine is hydro so I think the layout is different. What does the manual say about the operation of the 4x?

 

[longharbor]

Are you sure it works in forward gears? But yes generally speaking the front should spin at least one wheel when traction is low. Have you got a diff lock on the tractor as well? I have the LS 4140 which is similar to the Boomer 40. My 4x lever is next to the diff lock lever on the left side near the seat. Mine is hydro so I think the layout is different. What does the manual say about the operation of the 4x?

Thanks for your helpful post WMA and apologies for my slow reply. After more use I concluded that 4WD wasn't working at all, in forward or reverse as would be expected. I just found it confusing and hard to comprehend that a reputable brand tractor could be delivered with out a functional 4WD, but that was the situation. Very dangerous on steep terrain. The dealer has since taken it back and fixed it.

 

[wmasmith]

No worries I'm glad they took care of you.