Is it bad for the engine to lug too much???

[kebo]

Last Friday I was bushhogging 2 1/2 acres for a neighbor of my parents and usually I cut his place twice a year, once in the late Spring, and again in early Fall. This summer we have had a good bit of rain and the bahiagrass & weeds were pretty tall and thick in places. I was running it in 2nd gear at 2500 rpm's and one place was thick enough that it literally lugged the engine down to about 1600 rpms for a few seconds on several passes but it never stalled it out. Looking back, I probably should have made narrower passes in the thicker spots or maybe dropped it down to 1st gear. Anyway, is it bad for the engine to let it bog down like that?? I will certainly avoid doing that again in the future though.

 

[cowski]

i would not worry about the tractor lugging ,unless it runs hot.

 

[DT86]

i would not worry about the tractor lugging ,unless it runs hot.

Yeah what he said!

If I read correctly it was only for short periods of time that you were lugging down. Don't worry about it. One of the beauties of a diesel is its ability to lug down and power on through.

Like was previously mentioned lugging one for an extended period will make the engine run hot or hotter than normal.

 

[shortthrow50]

i think this site stresses too much about lugging their engines. Im not deisel engine expert but my career path has been in mass excavation for the most part and The job wouldnt be gettin done with a decent amount of profits if our dozers, excavators and trucks didnt have their motors lugging. Maybe theres a difference with the smaller deisels but even before my family closed down the landfill 25 years ago, the old d8's we had were under powered, smoked like freight trains and were lugged all day. Yet they had 1000's of hours on them. I say run the thing like you stole it.

 

[Gale Hawkins]

When it is just a swag in a field I have made a round through it cross ways. A couple gashes help with geared tractors. Typically I find it is not so much cutting the heavy stuff as getting it to flow out exit opening which is what bogs things down.

Pulling hard is OK. Truly lugging is not OK. If you are doing a job all day where the RPM's are 900 lower than expected a weak link in the tractor will become known.

 

[jenkinsph]

kebo,
that Bahia grass is tough stuff to cut anytime imo. I wouldn't be too concerned about the engine being hurt by your use. I would agree with you that next time just cut a narrow swath instead.

 

[E/S]

I'm my option you are loading the engine, not lugging it. Keep the RPM's above 1200.

E/S

 

[CalG]

Last Friday I was bushhogging 2 1/2 acres for a neighbor of my parents and usually I cut his place twice a year, once in the late Spring, and again in early Fall. This summer we have had a good bit of rain and the bahiagrass & weeds were pretty tall and thick in places. I was running it in 2nd gear at 2500 rpm's and one place was thick enough that it literally lugged the engine down to about 1600 rpms for a few seconds on several passes but it never stalled it out. Looking back, I probably should have made narrower passes in the thicker spots or maybe dropped it down to 1st gear. Anyway, is it bad for the engine to let it bog down like that?? I will certainly avoid doing that again in the future though.

Rule of thumb. Choose a ground speed that allows the engine to pick up revs when you give it throttle.

Other than that, the engine is just "working".

 

[Soundguy]

lugging is when you can add fuel and not gain rpm..

 

[kebo]

lugging is when you can add fuel and not gain rpm..

I had it set to about 2500rpm and when it got into the heavy stuff is when it dropped down to about 1500-1600 rpm's. Essentially it was at full throttle, so I couldn't add anymore to see if it would pick up the rpm's.