Hydrostat problem maybe ?

[amarsh64]

Hi all . Well I got the 3033 out to clear back the snow banks on the driveway today . Warmed it up for 10 minutes and then played in the snow for about 5 minutes . I had the tractor on a slight angle and it started to bog down when I backed up . Looked at the fuel gauge and it was fairly low. Down to the backyard and filled it up. Dug a bit more snow and all of a sudden I have almost no power .
The tractor starts no problem and the throttle works no problem as far as the tractor rpms going up with no lag at all . The problem is when I touch the forward and reverse hydro pedals . I can get the tractor to just barley move by just touching the pedals. Any more and it will stall out . I will call my dealer tomorrow but I was wondering if any of you have seen this before . Maybe a frozen hose ? I don't see any signs of leaking anywhere .The tractor has been plugged in for all the cold weather.
Thanks .

 

[k0ua]

Water in the fuel maybe? Parking brake on? (hydro whine will increase dramatically with this scenario)

But it sounds like either gelled or frozen fuel. In any case fuel delivery problem of some kind, not a hydro problem.

 

[cford36]

Water in the fuel maybe? Parking brake on? (hydro whine will increase dramatically with this scenario)

But it sounds like either gelled or frozen fuel. In any case fuel delivery problem of some kind, not a hydro problem.

Maybe change out the fuel filter and warm up the tractor inside if you can. Fuel issue was my first thought also. That's going to be the easy thing to check before getting into the transmission.

 

[amarsh64]

I just came back in from checking the levels on the tractor and everything was ok . I started it back up and its working fine . I ran it moving the rest of the snow banks for about a half hour and not a sign of an issue. Not really sure what happened but maybe it had something to do with the fuel getting so low (air or frozen ). My last quarter tank seems go way to quick as I have seen some members talking about with their tanks . Why would the throttle work fine before with no bogging but not the hydro pedals . You would think that a fuel starved situation would hamper either operation . Guess I will have to keep an eye on it and keep the tank topped up .

 

[Underdog57]

I agree with the other posters, sounds like the fuel is gelling. I Would put some diesel fuel additive in every time you add fuel, especially when temps get down towards 0* F.

 

[k0ua]

I just came back in from checking the levels on the tractor and everything was ok . I started it back up and its working fine . I ran it moving the rest of the snow banks for about a half hour and not a sign of an issue. Not really sure what happened but maybe it had something to do with the fuel getting so low (air or frozen ). My last quarter tank seems go way to quick as I have seen some members talking about with their tanks . Why would the throttle work fine before with no bogging but not the hydro pedals . You would think that a fuel starved situation would hamper either operation . Guess I will have to keep an eye on it and keep the tank topped up .

A diesel engine may seem to run fine with no load on it, but when you press the hydro pedal you are placing a load on the engine, the governor will call for more fuel flow. If you have a restriction because of partially gelled fuel or a bit of water in the lines causing low fuel delivery, then the "bogging down" becomes apparent.

What are you running for a fuel treatment? and How cold was it?

 

[amarsh64]

Its about minus 5 Celcius but being a newbie I forgot about putting additive in my fuel for colder weather . I won't make that mistake twice . :ashamed:

 

[MikeInEburg]

I had a similar issue, and it ended up being the sear safety switch that was frozen up. My tractor allows VERY slight forward/backward motion before the safety system is recognised. More than a very slight touch while the seat switch thought that the seat was vacant resulted in safety system trying to shut tractor down. Just one more possibility.

 

[amarsh64]

Yes I have read some posts about the seat switch being an issue . I did check it and there was a bit of frozen condensation around it but nothing alarming .