Road Travel?

[bherr]

I just bought a new CK20S HST and want to load the tires (R4's) with Rim Guard. Dealer is 9 road miles away, 3 miles of secondary road (mostly downhill) then 6 miles of essentially flat, wide shouldered main road. Price to load the tires is $90/tire plus $75 if he has to come to me.

Is it unreasonable to drive the tractor there and back? Tractor has very few hours on it - 2 - would driving at a steady 2000 to 2200 RPM's be detrimental during break-in? I thought I'd leave the loader home and enjoy the ride. Well, you know.

 

[murphy1244]

I say giddy up yeeeeeeehaw lets goooooooooooooooooooo

 

[aczlan]

I would get one of those magnetic strobe lights and put it on top of the ROPS, then go for it. We road our Kubota B7500 and L3830 frequently but ALWAYS with a strobe in addition to the OEM flashers (and people still try to run us over).

Aaron Z

 

[kiotiken]

I've had a theory that the hst creep issue on Kioti CK and Bobcat CT2XX tractors is caused by the engine bogging down. For me, the issue started after a road trip. The tractor was new and I let it bog down a little coming up a few hills in high. It progressively got worse after that, but I think it all started with a road trip. Just don't let it bog down on hills and keep it over 2000 rpm.

 

[bherr]

Murph - are spurs a good idea?

Aaron - strobe light is a brilliant suggestion. I'll find one.

Ken - There are 3 short but steep hills on the trip that I wondered about. Will stop and change range for the climbs

Thanks to all for the replies.

Bill

 

[MotorSeven]

2200 rpm on your HST is a little too low for road travel. Your tractor is rated for 2800 rpms to get max speed of 9.3 mph. Anything under 2800 and you will bog down a lot faster. Remember, HST's love rpm's, so don't be shy, you won't hurt a thing.

 

[tpulley]

When I bought my dk45 I drove it home from the dealer. I would ride it back there too if it needed to go back in to the shop for any reason.

 

[meburdick]

Know, too, that running in low range on the HST isn't always "enough". You're likely to still get a little slow-down on the hills. If you do, fight the "intuitive" urge to push the pedal down further and actually let up a little.

I've read quite a bit about keeping the HST pump pushing the fluids hard at lower travel speeds and it being generally better for your HST.

 

[bherr]

Just got back from dropping the tractor off - 2200 is way to low. That lasted 1/2 mile. I varied the engine speed from 2500 to 2800 simply because it's so new. All in all no problems. Speed was close to PTO indicator give or take for the trip. Just for grins I think I'll take a gps with me when I pick it up to see how fast it actually goes.

One odd thing - had the machine in cruise control on the flat and the engine speed would arbitrarily drop 1 or 2 hundred rpm's then return to the preset speed. Is this common?

 

[MotorSeven]

One odd thing - had the machine in cruise control on the flat and the engine speed would arbitrarily drop 1 or 2 hundred rpm's then return to the preset speed. Is this common?

Are you positive the road was dead nuts level? Since a slight incline will cause that..........

 

[foote2floor]

I am not sure how your cruise control works but my cruise is just a simple electromagnet that holds the hyrdostat in a stationary position. Any extra load, like going up hill, will cause more strain on the motor and slow the RPMs down slightly.

 

[bherr]

The rpm drop got to be a real problem on the return trip. 2 hours to go 9 miles. 6 miles of the trip run by a river and the only significant climb is to cross a railroad overpass. Very gradual 1/8 mile. After the first ~2 miles rpm's dropped, I eased the hydro pedal and they recovered. There's no doubt this was on the flat. Zero incline
.
But now it got interesting. At first I thought the hydro was doing something strange so I pulled into a lot and checked everything - oil levels good, confirmed not in 4wd, parking brake ok. Everything was ok. Coolant temp on the gauge never left the mid-point. Restarted the journey and it got progessively worse to the point where I had to stop and let the engine recover, but as the trip continued the engine would 'hunt' - rpm's would recover to 2800 then drop to as low as 800 then back to 2800 - during these rest phases.

I kept moving since I wasn't going to leave the tractor by the road overnight and it got to the point where the engine would stall during the rest phase. It restarted immediately but this was really frustrating since by now I was making 100ft legs on the last couple of miles. Well, really short runs.

Finally made it home and with my neighbor's help we deduced what we think was the problem. Ruled out hydro becasue of the hunt while standing in neutral with clutch in. Had to be either fuel or air. Fuel seemed unlikely since the engine would restart right away after stalling - no hesitation or cranking. That left air so we pulled the air cleaner for inspection which was apparently perfect, no birds, rocks, sand, dust.

Then we noticed that the actual air intake is a small diameter hole - maybe an inch - that had a rubber cone with a narrow slit for air to pass through. A shipping cone?

Yesterday was one of the hottest so far this year, mid 90's, and I think the rubber heated to the point that the engine could suck it closed, then when the rev's dropped it expanded to let more air in. I'm guessing it's an item the dealer forgot in prep.

 

[aczlan]

Then we noticed that the actual air intake is a small diameter hole - maybe an inch - that had a rubber cone with a narrow slit for air to pass through. A shipping cone?
Yesterday was one of the hottest so far this year, mid 90's, and I think the rubber heated to the point that the engine could suck it closed, then when the rev's dropped it expanded to let more air in. I'm guessing it's an item the dealer forgot in prep.

Does the air filter look like this:

If so, the pointy thing on the bottom left (in the picture) is not the air inlet, rather it is a dust catcher and that should let you dump whatever dust it has collected without needing to open the filter

Aaron Z

 

[bherr]

Yeah, after I posted I looked at the manual and then the tractor and it was a 'duh' moment. Kioti calls it an "evacuator". It's on the opposite end of the canister from the intake.
Can you tell it was in the 90's and I was frustrated when I guessed at my problem?

 

[MotorSeven]

Dust? I think that's a drain for water. Some of us have been known to try and drown our tractors, so having a water dump on the canister keeps the engine from breathing water, since that is the lowest point on the filter canister.

Bherr it sounds to me like it could be a fuel delivery issue. Take the filter off clean it or replace it. Then dump a quart or two of Power Service in the tank. But since it's brand new, I think I would just have my dealer take a look at it.

 

[radrock]

You do remember you just filled the tires. Anything with added weight is going to run slower than before and I think you indicated it was mostly downhill to get the tires filled so that means it was uphill going home and with more weight!!

 

[bherr]

Dealer is scheduled to look at the punch list next week. Trivial stuff except for the rpm's deal. He suspects fuel issue also. Fuel filter looks "twisted" but I'm not sure if that's normal or not. I suspect not.

Added weight certainly affects tractor's performance but this was ridiculous. Tractor's move slow and so you get to see and smell everything, but you're not supposed to stop so you can proceed. Especially near road kill in the brush when it's over 90

What and where is Power Service? Similar to Sta-Bil for gasoline?

 

[meburdick]

You do remember you just filled the tires. Anything with added weight is going to run slower than before and I think you indicated it was mostly downhill to get the tires filled so that means it was uphill going home and with more weight!!

Completely valid point, but how would that explain the "hunting" the motor was doing while it was sitting still?

 

[MotorSeven]

What and where is Power Service? Similar to Sta-Bil for gasoline?

Yep, very similar except for diesel:
DIESEL KLEEN® +Cetane Boost®: Max HP Formula ? use during non-winter months for the ultimate in performance.

I have a 300 gallon storage tank and once a year when it gets filled up I add a gallon of Power Service and a proper dose of biocide to kill the bacteria that likes to grow in the water that ends up in the diesel from the large tank sweating. Most service stations stay on top of all this, but you never really know what "extra's" you might get free of charge

 

[radrock]

Completely valid point, but how would that explain the "hunting" the motor was doing while it was sitting still?

Awww, I didn't read that very well did I? That shouldn't have anything to do with that. Does that fuel filter have a site glass? I'm assuming it does or he would not be able to see the twist. If he had lots of condensation and has some water in the fuel it would do that. Also if it was plugged but I wouldn't think that would be so. He could have just gotten some bad diesel too. It happens. We had a problem at work for quite some time and come to find out it was an algea problem. Don't ask me how but that stuff will grow in diesel. They used something to kill it out and filtered the fuel as it came into the storage tanks and as it went into the fuel truck. It took a little while but we finally got rid of the problem. I'd have to change a fuel filter in the bulldozer every 100 hours. Now I can go 250 or more but we change it when we change the oil now days.