New Owner, Dumb Question

[DanielVT]

Simple question - why would I ever want to take my tractor out of 4WD? It's never going to go anywhere paved.

 

[Runner]

Mine tears up the yard more when mowing 4WD. That being said, my yard is hilly enough that I need 4WD all the time to get around. If I could, I would mow in 2WD.

Also, my steering is a little heavier in 4WD.

Finally, being in 4WD wears the tires faster due to the slippage required when turning.

 

[Mousefield]

I have used 4WD only a few times on my tractor since I got it about 2 years ago. There is more wear and tear on the drive train and you would use a bit more fuel. Also if I turn when it is in 4WD it tends to chew up the ground a bit more. It's like having your car or truck in 4WD drive all the time, why would you?

 

[Grandad4]

If you use your bush hog to mow pasture, etc., on basically flat ground, you may find the tractor is more nimble with the FEL removed and operating in 2wd. You can set the cruise control and use the left/right brakes to assist with sharp turns.

Otherwise, not much reason for using 2wd when off-road. Probably does save a bit of wear 'n tear on the drivetrain, but it would probably take you 20 years of operation before anyone would be able to measure it.

You probably want to keep off your lawn as much as possible with an L4400 regardless of 2wd or 4wd.

 

[Iplayfarmer]

Simple question - why would I ever want to take my tractor out of 4WD? It's never going to go anywhere paved.

Wear and tear.

It's the same questions as "Why would I ever shut my tractor off?". If it's running, it's wearing.

Just for reference, try this experiment: Back your tractor in a sharp turn in 4wd, and try taking it out of 4wd. You'll likely find that the lever is much harder to shift than if you've just driven straight a short distance. To me this illustrates that you can still build up quite a bit of tesion in your driveline even on soft ground.

 

[TripleR]

You aren't going to notice a whole lot of difference one way or the other beyond what has been mentioned. I prefer to run mine in 2WD when 4WD is not needed, but can't say as I have a really good reason for it.

 

[woodchuckie]

I have to travel to different areas with mine so I take it out of 4wd to travel and I also like to forget it's not in 4wd and find out while working with it how much better 4wd is.

 

[Usta]

Everything said so far is correct. No need to get excess wear on driveline and tires if you do not need it. Some need it and some do not.

With the steep hills and slopes on my property, I am always in low range and 4WD. Even when mowing the lawn I need 4WD. I tried mowing the lawn in 2WD and went for some wild rides down the slopes on the lawn. 4WD traction is needed just as much going down hill as it is needed for climbing hills.

In the 300 hours on my tractor, maybe an hour was in 2WD when driving on the town highway.

 

[firefighter jim]

If your tasks at hand don't require 4 wheel drive, there is no reason to use it.

 

[Usta]

I have to travel to different areas with mine so I take it out of 4wd to travel and I also like to forget it's not in 4wd and find out while working with it how much better 4wd is.

Somewhat similar is on the very rare occation I or the wife (I always blame the wife ) put the tractor in high range and then later go to move dirt with FEL and wonder what broke because It lost all the digging power. I once worked for about a half hour before I realized it was in high range.