Hi range or low?

[PaulB]

When doing any given task, how is it best to determine whether you should be in high range or low (B1700 HST)? There are certain things, like loader work, that I always do in low, but other less taxing work, I don't know. Is it as simple as "if the machine will do the job in high, use high" or will that attitude end up hurting the motor and/or drivetrain? Specifically I am concerned about using my manure spreader. The pastures are a 1/4 mile from the barn, and it takes a lot longer to drive there and back than it does to actually spread the manure if i go in low range. In high, the tractor certainly sounds different,(not worse, just different)and I do not know if this because of normal HST sounds, or if I am overdoing it in high. Am I OK to pull the spreader (1200-1500 pounds loaded I would guess) in high? What about once I turn on the pto? - I assume that all pto work should be done in low so as to leave some horsepower to move the tractor, but again I am just guessing. One thing I have noticed is that in high I smell my exhaust more than in low - is this telling me I am lugging the motor?
Thanks guys - any advice appreciated, comments from JimB in Michigan that if I had a TC18 I could do everything in high with power to spare, expected.

 

[Bird]

PaulB, that B1700 doesn't have a tachometer does it? I know that was one of my complaints with the B7100 I had. It's perhaps easier if you have a tachometer to tell whether you're lugging the engine, but I think you should be able to tell just by the sound. As long as you're not lugging the engine (pulling the RPMs down), I see no reason not to use high range. And that even includes when using the PTO; you don't always have to use low range. I always used high range with the 4' brush hog on my flat, level pasture with no problem. And I tried using high range with the tiller, but the problem there was that the tiller rotation would propel me forward in high range, so I tilled in low range. So, I don't know for sure about yours, but I'd say pull the spreader in high range, try it in high range when you engage the PTO, but if it sounds like it has a problem maintaining its RPMs, then drop back to low.

Besides, I thought you put that Amsoil in it so it'd do everything in high range at half throttle./w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

Bird

 

[PaulB]

Sure does have a tach, and no the rpm's never drop, so I guess hi is OK. Must be that with that Amsoil I'm putting out, say, 85 - 90 horses at the pto I would guess. Heck, if they ran Amsoil from the factory they wouldn't even need a low range!

 

[Bird]

Well, if not 85-90 horsepower, at least one mule power anyway./w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif

Bird

 

[MChalkley]

PaulB, I agree with Bird (well, about most things, anyway): The rule of thumb I use if I'm doing something requiring a lot of pulling power is that if the rpm's drop more than a 100 or so below the peak torque rating rpm, I need to back off on the pedal a little. And if I'm going anywhere near the maximum speed of the next range down (the L-series has 3), I drop to that range, if that makes sense.

BTW, you should find that the synthetic gives you at least 100% more usable torque. /w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif Maybe you and Bird could have a pulling contest. Or are your tractors at all similar? I mean, were they similar before you put synthetic in yours?

 

[PaulB]

Mark and Bird - thanks for the replies. I think I have been under utilizing hi range, as I figured that anything which needed me to back off the hydro pedal in hi meant I should be in low. One interesting observation I had in the winter was that if I plowed in low, often the temp guage would NEVER reach its normal point, but would if I went into hi for a while. So, can I use the following as my rule of thumb - if I never have the rpm's drop in hi, I am OK in that range?
Bird - I remember well the ribbing I took about "another manure spreader", so I think I have your mule comment figured out - a mule is also called an ass. Both are members of the horse family. Therefore, the "one mule power" to which you refer might also be referred to as a horses ass, which is often an accurate adjective for ...Me! Am I starting to get a hang of this southern humor? /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

 

[Bird]

Hey PaulB, I like your explanation about the mule power much better than what I had in mind. At the time I posted that, I was just remembering something my dad said many years ago when we got our first tractor. It was an 11hp, 2 cylinder, gasoline, John Deere in need of an engine overhaul, and when I asked dad about the power, he said, "It's supposed to be 11hp, but I think it's down to about one mule power now." Of course, up until then, he had done his farming with mules./w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif

Bird

 

[MChalkley]

PaulB, I think that's a very safe rule of thumb - if the rpms aren't dropping at all, you're definitely not straining it.

 

[PaulB]

Thanks Mark - a simple rule like that I can remember. BTW - haven't had to use low since adding the Amsoil - coincidence....or not??? /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

 

[MChalkley]

PaulB, I refuse to be baited. (I'm turning over a new forest.) /w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif

As I'm sure you know, the L-series tractors have 3 ranges. I never felt I could use high range for much because of the noise. It just sounded like you were killing it. The synthetic quieted that down considerably. A couple days ago, I was dragging trees downed by the big ice storm of winter-before-last, and I found that I could drag a surprising amount of trees and limbs in high with no trouble at all. Of course, I used medium until I got them out of the woods onto the road, but then, with a quarter of a mile or so to drag them, I dropped it into high and opened her up. It worked a lot better than I expected it to.

 

[Dick]

Your RPMs can stay at the same level and you could be over-straining your engine as it begins to lug. You should backoff on your speed (not RPM) to avoid straining the engine.

 

[W5FL]

Dick,

My tractor is a gear tractor, but if the Engine is running at PTO speed, I will run in the highest gear that doesn't try to joust you off of the tractor for mowing or pulling a spreader. Run slow with the bucket full. If the engine speed falls a little, I give it a little more throttle. Sure don't understand what is wrong with that. Now if it won't run PTO speed at full throttle, then I agree it is in too high a gear. Never considered that you could strain an engine or gear train. That's what they were made to do. /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif Never had a hydro and I am sure they are different.

 

[Anonymous Poster]

You might wish to look at a Texas A&M publication online about Tractor Energy Conservation. Even though it was written addressing a geared tractor instead of a HST, I am sure some of the principles are the same. http://agpublications.tamu.edu/pubs/eengine/l5085.pdf

 

[W5FL]

Interesting article. Thanks for the reference. John Deere tried to capitalize on that by offering a Economy PTO on their 10 series tractors. The dealers said they never sold any of them and I did not find one anywhere I looked. Kubota does not offer it, but you may figure out that if you can put a 1000 rpm PTO gear in and operate the engine speed correctly to get 640 rpm, then you have the same thing. I really think that was what John Deere designed, but marketing figured out that no one would buy it for 1000/640 so they changed the name.

Most PTO speeds are 80-90% of max hp speed, so they get some (but not all) the benefit of reduced speed to conserve fuel. Many of the newer Kubota engines seem to product remarkable fuel economy at PTO speeds. /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif