Low vs high gear?

[atcNick]

So far I've only used my tractor in low gear for brush hogging. I have a ck30 shuttle. What application would high be used for?

 

[motownbrowne]

Driving into town for the parade.

Hauling a trailer of firewood from the back 40.

Going to the end of the driveway for the mail.

Without knowing how fast each gear is, I can't say for sure, but it's possible you'd use high range for bush hogging thinner stands of material.

 

[RalphVa]

High gear on my JD 2025R is only good for highway travel. Doesn't have much pulling power in high.

Ralph

 

[CobyRupert]

For faster speed, lower torque applications.

 

[Qapla]

With our NH TC40D we use low gear when we strike a load with the FEL. Once the bucket is full and we are backed out, turned around and headed for where the load (usually dirt) is needed, we use high gear because we get there quicker.

High gear also helps when we are back-blade smoothing for the finish grade. I use low when first spreading the dirt and the initial smoothing, but the faster speed makes getting a smooth,finish grade easier and quicker.

 

[mddorange]

The ONLY time I have used high range is for highway travel.

 

[k0ua]

So far I've only used my tractor in low gear for brush hogging. I have a ck30 shuttle. What application would high be used for?

Hmmm.. you mention low and high gear. By my estimation you have 8 forward and 8 reverse gears. Which ones of those 8 speeds are you calling low and which ones are you calling high?. You have 8 choices of torque versus speed ranges to select from. But basically, you select the gear that gives you the torque you need to accomplish your goal without bogging down the tractors engine at the ground speed you desire to do the work. You often have to shift gears to accomplish a given task.

As an example if you are doing loader work, and you are pushing into a pile of material, you may want a lower gear to have enough torque to be able to push into the pile at a lower speed without slipping the clutch, and then after you back out and get turned around, you may want a higher gear to transport the material at a faster speed to your destination.

Did this help any?

 

[KennyG]

Each tractor has it's unique gearing. My JD 2320 is used in high range at least 80% of the time. I do almost all my mowing in high and use low only for loader work, etc.

 

[atcNick]

Hmmm.. you mention low and high gear. By my estimation you have 8 forward and 8 reverse gears. Which ones of those 8 speeds are you calling low and which ones are you calling high?.

I have gears 1-4 and a lo and high selector. I've only used my tractor one so far and that was to brush hog, I did it with lo selected and gears 2,3, and 4 depending on how thick the grass was. The guy I bought it from said he never used high.

Thanks for the replies guys. I think that answers it for me. I'll play with it next time I'm out on the land.

 

[k0ua]

I have gears 1-4 and a lo and high selector. I've only used my tractor one so far and that was to brush hog, I did it with lo selected and gears 2,3, and 4 depending on how thick the grass was. The guy I bought it from said he never used high.

Thanks for the replies guys. I think that answers it for me. I'll play with it next time I'm out on the land.

Yep, just test it out to achieve your goal. If 4 LO is too slow to get done what you need done, then try 1 HI and if is still not fast enough 2 HI and on UP. You will find that the last 2 gears 3 HI and 4 HI (which are gears 7 and 8) will be pretty worthless for anything except road transport and on pretty flat ground at that. If you have hilly roads you may not be able to pull hills if you are loaded in the last couple of gears. But if roads are flat and you want maximum speed and the tractor is not loaded too heavily you will probably be able to use the top gear for getting from point A to point B as rapidly as possible.