BX-Wheels will not spin-Normal?

[Mike_Lipke]

I just got a used (67 hours) BX1500 with 48" deck and a new FEL.
Plenty of power for mowing and FEL work, but not a lot of power to the wheels.
First time I wondered was when I was moving the tractor for the first time in the driveway. Tried to go from the driveway to the grass, and had to go over a landscape timber that is about 3" high. I was in high range, mower off and up, FEL up about 18", in 4wd. Drove tractor up to the edge of the driveway (gravel) very slowly til the front wheels were agains the 3" timber and pushed the speed control pedal forward. Nothing doing. Tractor just sat there trying, but no go. Engine did not slow down, wheels would not turn. I put it in low range and it climbed over the edge.

Later, I was pushing against an old rotten 4" stump with the FEL. This time I was in lo range, 4wd, and on damp grass. Full engine rpm, pushing and lifting with the bucket. The stump did break out fine by tilting bucket up, but what puzzles me is that again, the tires would not spin on the grass.

Is this normal? On my old cub cadet with HST, either a wheel would spin, or the engine speed would drop down quite a bit as the load was applied. With the BX, it seems like the engine is not even "aware" of the load. Dealer is not sure if this is normal without comparing it to another BX1500 on gravel.

If they all are like this, that is fine. But it seems like either the pump is weak, hydro oil is too thin, or there is a relief valve set to unload at too low a psi.

Please don't think I just want to spin the tires, but it doesn't seem right.
Thanks in advance for sharing your experience.

 

[JerryG]

This may seem like a dumb question and I in now am trying to insult you. You do know that the more you push down on the pedal the higher the effective gear ratio will be in the transmission? There have been several new owners here that have tried to use the pedal like an accelerator pedal, which you can't.

 

[Mike_Lipke]

No insult taken. I understand what you are saying. But I would think that this tractor would have enough "push" to spin a tire on grass if it were unable to move whatever it was up against, especially with just a little pedal pressure.

 

[JerryG]

I don't know how much power a BX should have in high range. I am sure one of our BX owners or a dealer will post before long.

 

[CTyler]

Hard to say....

My L3130 will stall pushing the peddle to the floor unless it could spin the tires. My Craftsman 18hp riding mower will load the motor slightly and the hydro just makes noise.

 

[guyrj33]

Hi gear doesn't have much torque on these tractors, and when trying to drive forward and lift with the bucket the power is shared between the two.

Guy

 

[Mike_Lipke]

I found that out when trying to go over the 3" curb. But I was in low range when I was using the FEL, and had them just sit there trying to turn on the grass.

 

[jeffmazz]

Mike,
I have a BX22 and have experienced the same thing you did. The tractor doesn't seem to get much torque to the wheels when presented with certain obstacles. I think this is normal for a Hydrostatic drive transmission. It doesn't seem to make sense that the machine won't spin the tires in certain situations but I believe this is engineered into the drive system so the transmission doesnt self destruct. The only time I have spun the tires on my BX is in deep loose gravel (12"+) and mud and that was in 2wd. I dont think I ever saw the tires spin in 4wd except in snow. One other thing, you will be surprised at the traction you will get in shallow gravel with the bar tires (if you have bar tires). They bite pretty good and if you can get the rears to spin the whole machine jumps up and down due to the tires trying to bite. In closing, I think what you experienced is normal and I wouldn't lose any sleep over it.

Jeff

 

[Mike_Lipke]

Well, thanks. The thing is made so well that it is probably normal behavior if yours does the same. I sleep fine, but I thought that it might have enough power delivered to the wheels that it might be able to drag something heavy out of the woods. My mother-in-law, for instance. I have turf tires, btw.

 

[Mayhem]

My BX2200 up against a tree in 4 wheel low will spin the tires on dry grass with just a bit of throttle. In fact I want to say I've even had the rears locked in and still spun them well at least 3 of them, im not sure if both fronts spin in 4 wheel or not.

BTW I have Turfs on her.......

 

[JWE]

Mike, my BX2200 acts the same way. Last weekend I was pulling some shrubs out and I could not get the wheels to spin. I was in low range with slight pressure on the speed control.

John

 

[Mike_Lipke]

There just has to be a way to adjust something so that more power is transmitted to the wheels. Sounds like the engineers have a bypass set up so that the available power (hydraulic pressure) is shunted off. I am going to call Kubota's technical support and see if I can get an answer.

A guy ought to be able to pull out a shrub, or spin the wheels a little trying.

 

[JimMorrissey]

My BX2200 could easily spin the tires with R4s. Not sure why you are experiencing this aside from possible high gear, but you said you were in low.....I'd call Kubota as well.

 

[ByronBob]

I've never had the tractor in 4wd unless I was in low range. And I've spun the tires in the grass but it didn't do it easily.

Being a 1500 I don't know if the torque curve is lower than my 2230 to limit spinning. I would think if you have power in the loader and can crawl in low range that the tractor is fine.

 

[midlf]

Mike - what do you have the engine speed set at? I ask because SO was having similar power problems with the 2230 because she didn't like to have the engine reved up. Engine speed up, no power problems.

I should not have told her how to solve the problem as I can't get her off the BX. Her new nickname is "Kubota Girl".

 

[Mike_Lipke]

Engine speed. Hmmmm. Don't recall. Prolly about 1/2 to 2/3 throttle.
I'll check it this weekend and repost. Also will post what Kubota Tech says if I can reach someone.

 

[MessickFarmEqu]

Kubota generaly does not respond to customer questions like this. Your better off calling a local dealer. There is a relief for the transmission - a good tech maybe able to tell you how to adjust it.

Your question all depends on the conditions. With good traction you can't always spin the wheels, if its loose and sloppy you can. Either way, you should hear the engine start to fight and feel the HST pedal pushing back at you.

 

[RonR]

I am reminded of my youth when BIG engines and WIDE tires were the norm in muscle cars. No, I was poor, so I didn't have one!

But, when you take a lot of power and hook it with good road (dirt) hugging tires, and try to spin out to impress the girls, SOMETHING is going to give and it could be some very expensive drive train components.

I doubt that any Bota person is going to tell you to tweek some pressure relief adjustment to get more power to the wheels, cuz the next call you would make to them would be "Hey, I tweeked the adjustment, just a little, and now my transmission shelled out. Would you fix it under warranty, PLEASE?"

If your unit is indeed set low, they should fix it, but just to get more power, I doubt it. I often want more power, but I know I need to look for bigger Orange, not tweek my BX.

Just my two cents.

Ron

 

[Mike_Lipke]

Please believe that I am not asking for the 1500 to have the same power as the 2200. But as far as I know, the transmissions and pumps are the same, so there should not be any issues with a 15hp engine on a trans made for at least 22hp.
But as another poster mentioned, you would think that a 15hp diesel tractor would be able to pull out a shrub, or spin the wheels (on grass) trying.
There just doesn't seem to be very much "hook-up" between the engine and the tires on this unit. If "they all do that", fine. If they don't, I want to get it right while still on Kubota's dime.

 

[HomeBrew2]

I'm afraid I have to respectfully suggest that you double check that the parking brake isn't set, even a little bit. After 375 hrs on my BX, I drove around for a while this weekend with the brake slightly engaged and, yet again, wondered why it didn't have enough power to pull the hat off my head /forums/images/graemlins/crazy.gif
Cheers!