Afraid to ask?

[MarkV]

I have a Gear vs HST question but NOT which is better, I run and hide from those discussions. So please leave those opinions at the door or move on to one of the more heated discussions. My HST tractor now has 1200 hrs and I put another 800 on the HST tractor before it. My new tractor has 30hrs and is a shuttle shift with clutchless 12 forward/8 reverse gears. I’m the old dog trying to learn new tricks.

As I go through the learning curve it would interest me to know how others operate their shuttle shift tractors most efficiently. After a few hours of trying to find the reverse HST pedal, shuttling from forward to reverse has become pretty much routine. Selecting a gear to match a desired speed is becoming more normal but will take a few more hours.

A few specific questions for experienced gear users. The manual is a bit foggy on the use of the accelerator pedal during non PTO use. With my HST tractor the RPM’s are always running from ½ to full throttle. Do you leave your hand throttle at low idle and control engine RPM’s solely with the foot throttle on your gear tractor? When I do this I find myself working at low idle often which leads to slower hydraulic response. Should I be setting the hand throttle at a higher setting and using a lower gear? How much clutch slipping is too much? I have only experimented, without an implement, running the tractor at PTO speeds where you set RPM’s with the hand throttle. The manual says to lower the RPM’s when shuttling or changing gears but that does not seem practical when running a PTO implement that requires you to change directions or speed often such as in a mowing situation. So, do you use the clutch for more speed control, gear and direction changes when at a set RPM? In general, any information on how you find your shuttled gear tractor most effective would be helpful to this new gear guy.

Thanks to all for holding back your opinions of what color or transmission type a tractor should be. Those decisions have been made and this is an Owning / Operating question only.

MarkV

 

[mikim]

Mine is a TC45 .... I nearly never use the foot throttle. The bouncing I do across fields makes that difficult. When mowing I set the rpms and shuttle fwd - rev, using clutch, without ever touching the throttle. About the only time I use the foot throttle is when doing dirt work with the fel.

 

[Soundguy]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( How much clutch slipping is too much? )</font>

I slip the clutch to start from a stopped position... That's the only time I slip the clutch.

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( The manual says to lower the RPM’s when shuttling or changing gears but that does not seem practical when running a PTO implement that requires you to change directions or speed often such as in a mowing situation.)</font>

I don't find that I change directions ( other than steering) when mowing much at all. When I mow my 10 ac pasture, I can think of only 1 time I use reverse.. and that is to back down a blind run near the back of my fence, that has a row of trees down it. the rest of the 9.9 acers is 'forward'.

If I was doing loader work.. I'd set my hand throttle a bit above low idle.. then use my foot throttle.

If I am roading my tractor I set the hand throttle at idle and use the foot throttle, and lock the breaks together... as i come to a stop I let off the throttle.. get the most out of engine breaking, then clutch and do the rest with brakes.

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( So, do you use the clutch for more speed control, gear and direction changes when at a set RPM )</font>

IMHO.. the clutch should not be used as a speed control. though I'm sure your mechanic would love you to. That leads to very premature clutch wear. Clutch is used to start motion from a stopped position.. or disengage the engine from drivetrain when shifting / coming to a stop.


There are a few minor issue you will have to look at with clutch type.. I.e. single or dual clutch, or independent pto... etc, when dealing with how / when you clutch. I.e. using the second stage of the clutch to feather the pto into operation,..

My 1955 ford 660 has a 'stacked' 5 spd tranny and dual stage clutch.. it is aranged to be used very much like a shuttle.. though not a true one. The gear shift moves forward to back.. and 3rd and reverse are on the smae plane... A foot throttle on that tractor would make my loader / box work easier.. but as it is.. it is way easier than the 4 spd trannies when I'm boxing.. etc...

Soundguy

 

[MarkV]

Mike, Soundguy, I was hoping both of you would jump in on this. My mowing isn’t as open field as some so it does require slowing down and backing into areas. I should have mentioned that the PTO is independent and does not require the use of the clutch for starting or stopping.

Soundguy, slipping the clutch for speed control may have been a poor use of words on my part. The areas I was thinking of are the pond edges and some ditches that require you to carefully creep slowly to the edge before you go swimming with the tractor. Guess that is more a stop and start type of use for the clutch rather than speed control.

Thanks for the reply.

MarkV

 

[Eric_Phillips]

I am no long time expert like some on this forum but I can tell you what has worked with me on my shuttle drive. I mostly do non-pto work. In this mode I always use the foot throttle and leave the hand throttle on low. If I need the FEL to move faster I just push on the foot throttle a little. Personally I like the tractor to feel like it is slowing down when I take my foot off the throttle. The only pto work I have done is with a sprayer. There I set the the rpm with the hand throttle and took off. After that experience I am glad I decided not to mow with this tractor.

Eric

 

[davido]

When I need consistent PTO as with mowing I always set hand throttle. Clutch in and brakes to slow, clutch in and change gears when I need to creep slow around pond banks etc.

 

[IH3444]

I'm curious as to why after owning two HST tractors, what made you decide to go gear.....?

 

[dummy]

As others have said already. Foot throttle will easily become a habit. Not sure of your pedal layout, but for me, I have the gas and brake on one foot and it just feels more comfortable. May have been a time or two when applying the brakes, forgetting to ****** the hand throttle, things might have turned out better /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif.

 

[skipmarcy]

On my Mahindra, I do alot of FEL & boxblade work and I set my rpm's right about 1400 - that gives me the quicker hydraulics but still low enough rpm's to be able to shuttle shift fairly quick without grinding gears(most the time!!) Then I use the foot throttle to overide the set speed to move the materials. Of course doing loader work, the clutch gets used a tremendous amount and I do feather it some to engage a pile but I try to release & engage as quickly as possible - it just takes practice, and my clutch has held up fine doing it this way. For rotary cutting, which I also do quite a bit of, I'll run my hand throttle up anywhere from 2,000 - 2,700 depending on what I'm cutting. Almost always when I cut, I use reverse alot - more than alot of guys I guess. The only thing is at these rpm's you have to pretty much stop the motion of the tractor and take an extra second or two to shift to let the syncro work in the shuttle. I also let the clutch out fairly quickly too, so as not to slide it in with slippage but not quick enough to jerk - once again it takes practice. Some people just have problems operating a clutched vehicle - I've now run my last car & 2 trucks all over 200,000 miles each and they all 3 had/have the original clutches in them and operating like new ones. Engage the clutch quickly but smoothly, don't use it for a footrest, and put the trans. in neutral if you're going to be stopped more than 30 seconds and get off the clutch.

 

[jimmysisson]

Also there's no harm in pushing in the clutch pedal to shift on the go between gears if you're throttled up for a mower. It takes the strain off the synchros in the gearbox. When the engine is at low rpms and under little load you can shift probably without the clutch. In my experience. I would agree you should not use the clutch to change your travel speed (around the pond, etc.) but shift to the appropriate gear.