Mowing BX24 mowing RPM?

[MOPAULY]

What rpm do you mow at? I'm at 15 hours so I haven't taken the machine over 26-2700 rpm yet. Dealer says not to worry about it, but I'd prefer not to. That is unless the engines are already broken in and they don't count the time against it.

Any better performance at higher rpm?

 

[GUMBO]

MOPAULY, I have 48 hours on my BX24 , and after reading this site for years(could afford looking at the site long before I could afford the tractor), was to vary your rpms. I ran at higher rpms(2800-2900) but not at full throttle. I guess it depends on how much faith you have in that tach. also.
Gumbo

 

[Volfandt]

The BX23 owners manual indicates to not run at full throttle for the 1st 50 hrs, I'd say the BX24 is the same.

I followed this recommendation but there were others that broke theirs in how they planned to work it. I've got 200 trouble free hrs on it now and hope to have 1000's more.

After break in I run mine at a hair under full throttle when I mow (no tach on the BX23). This way I get the most blade tip speed out of the machine as it can give and high blade tip speed = best cut.

I run at about 4/5ths throttle when working the FEL and/or BH as this gives me a pretty good balance of speed and power. When I was getting used to the BH I used about 1/2 throttle.

I pretty much followed the manual.

Volfandt

 

[fishpick]

FWIW - I did about the same as Volfandt the first 50... which was very recent.

 

[rdsaustintx]

All WOT all the time.

My mower cuts better and rattles less.

Russell in Texas

 

[c-and-a]

For full mid-PTO speed, you need 3000 RPMs, based on specs. Based on discussion with my dealer who recommended to not run above 3000 for the first 50hrs, I mow between 2800-2900 - no issues with cut or bagger...

Closing in on 20hrs

 

[AceDeuce]

My manual states not to operate "at full speed" for the first 50 hours. It didn't clarify whether that means engine RPM or ground speed. It also didn't elaborate further on what speed(s) you should operate at.

I might be nit-picking but Kubota operator's manuals could use a little work IMHO.

In contrast, the lead mechanic at my dealer indicated to always run at WOT while mowing. I pointed out the above statement in the manual and he said yes he was aware of the instructions in the manual but his advice was coming straight from Kubota service and new product training he had received.

I'm honestly not sure that it makes a hill of beans worth of difference. My tractor now has about 235 hours on it and I've seen no appreciable oil consumption or other indication of improper engine break-in.

 

[fishpick]

AceDeuce - I concur... I'm more likely to listen to the dealer than a translated manual. For instance - when the tractor arrived - it had the FEL, BH and MMM installed - manual clear states this is something not to do - dealer does it all the time and has never had issues...
Wanna dig in the first 50 hrs with the BH - well - you need decent RPM's - dealer said "no problem" manual says - not to... again I'm with the dealer.
Just like years back when you bought a new car and it had a long break in period - today's engines apparently need less time to break in... I'm thinking the dealer know and has been taught - and the tractor is designed to accomodate that type of use... my 2 cents on my use.
I mow at or right around 3000rpm's.

 

[AMR]

my best cut/ground speed/bagger operation for my BX23 is just a hair under WOT

for BH/Loader work I try to run as low RPM as will get the job done as I do most of this while my 15 month old is sleeping, I don't know who is grouchier when he gets woken up by my tractor, him or his mother

 

[DaveInColorado]

I mow near WOT and use somewhere near 1 gallon/hour (mowing). For FEL and anything non-mowing, I run the engine as slow as what makes sense for the situation. Sometimes that is just above idle. FEL uses about 1/2 gallon/hour. These are very rough fuel usage estimates!

440 hours, BX1500. I put 250 hours on it the first year, 100 last year, and maybe 50 hours this summer. I must be getting old!

David Haile
Fort Collins, CO

 

[DaveVales]

I received a Korean-made ultrasound for my job and the translated manual stated:
"It is useless to operate the instrument complexly."

Seems to apply to tractors too

I ran my BX24 <2900 rpm for the first 50 but only did FEL, BH, and 3pt work with it during that time. After the 50 service I cranked it up and mowed the grass at 3000-3200 with BH removed. A friend bought his BX24 at the same time as me. First thing he did was mow a pasture at 3200 rpm with the BH attached, and then he read the manual-ooops??? He has only 10 hours on his, I have 59. We'll see how things play out between the machines over time.

 

[chrisjbell]

Break in period aside, you want to mow with your mower blades moving as fast as possible. For 3PH mowers, run it at the recommended speed to get 540 RPM at the rear PTO (engine RPM varies by tractor). Otherwise, WOT or just a hair below. Faster blade speed is good - better cut.

All the Kubota manuals pretty much stink. One of my favorite stories is about a mistake in the translation for the word "screw" .

 

[ozzie tractor]

tell you friend to not worry about his motor, from what i have seen it will not hurt it, in fact over the years i have seen more problems with engines not being worked hard enough. all kubota's get dyno tested before they leave the engine factory, so i see no point in babying an engine that has already been subject to full rpm and full load on a dynometer. the only thing i do stress is to not change the engine oil until the 50hrs is up, it is running in oil, if you change to a high grade synthetic the motor will not bed the rings in, causing oil consumption issues. in saying that we dont get much in the way of a winter here in australia, so you may run into problems with the original oil in extreme cold. as for what rpm to run the tractor at while mowing, thats simple, absolutely flat out, it will not hurt anything and the mower cuts much better.

 

[MindenKubota]

First... i keep my blades very sharp!! For casual mowing... 2400-2600 RPM, if i hit the tall stuff... 2700-2800, and if i decide to destroy a rainforest... 3200 Wide Open Throttle!!!!

It only make sense to me that the lower the RPM, the longer the engine will last. (although you NEVER want to lug the engine under a load with low RPM's)

 

[Singlecoil]

(although you NEVER want to lug the engine under a load with low RPM's)

Uh, oh. I did that a couple of times with the post hole digger when it hit a rock. How bad is it?

 

[ozzie tractor]

First... i keep my blades very sharp!! For casual mowing... 2400-2600 RPM, if i hit the tall stuff... 2700-2800, and if i decide to destroy a rainforest... 3200 Wide Open Throttle!!!!

It only make sense to me that the lower the RPM, the longer the engine will last. (although you NEVER want to lug the engine under a load with low RPM's)

thats very true, but in the majority of cases the tractor is well and truly worn out before the engine is. that is unless it has had a premature failure, unfortunantly this is usually 95%of the time, with very few engine rebuilds due to normal wear and tear, it seems the big 3 killers are dirt getting into the inlet tract, overheating for 1 reason or another or lack of oil or oil change, (ever knocked a hole in an oil filter). sad but true.

as for the lugging Singlecoil, i think MindenKubota is refering to sustained load at low rpm, a brief shock load may stall the tractor out and doesnt sound good, but over such a short time i doubt it would do any harm, as long as its not 10 times a day every day, then you'd be in trouble.

 

[fishpick]

...are dirt getting into the inlet tract...

The what? Is that a fancy way of saying "past the air filter"?

 

[ozzie tractor]

The what? Is that a fancy way of saying "past the air filter"?

thats because saying past the air filter doesnt quiet cover it, loose or inlet pipes with holes in them are alarmingly common, also the little air filter condition thing can be smashed off or fallen out, dirt can enter there as well.