size weight vs. fwd cuts

[neucam]

I too went to a tractor pull and wondered if I could compete in the lower classes, I think the class was the 2500-3000lb. JD M's competed. They struggled with the load. My CUT is 4wd, similar power as the JD's but diesel. My tractor weight is about that with a loader and tires balasted, the JD's were bare. I believe my engine could pull the load in a low gear event, as I can spin all wheels trying to move too much at times. At a pull if you get load transferr to the rear it almost negates the 4wd effect. But with a loader as on my property it becomes more important with slopes and slippery surfaces. I use 4wd a lot of times.
I think I can do more than a larger 2wd could on my property.

 

[vsteel]

One thing to remember on the tractor pulls is that they really get the draw bar height to a science. If you look at a lot of the good pullers with the old tractors, they don't use the front wheels much at all in the pull. You will see the front wheels just kissing the ground just enough so they can adjust during the pull if needed without hitting the breaks.

The pull is also setup with a lighter weight and goes heavier so they have an easier time getting it moving, on a manicured track and no obstacles.

I personally find that the 4wd is good for the not so ideal situations already mentioned.

 

[N80]

The one thing I can say for certain is that on my tractor (light weight 4wd 45 hp), when pulling, especially something like a plow or a disk, 4wd vs 2wd is night and day. No comparison. Could a better, more experience operator do better with it in 2wd than I do? I'd say yes, without a doubt. But then again, I'm the one that has to drive my tractor and it literally does almost everything better in 4wd usually dramatically so. But even more important, if you put the better driver on the tractor, he's just as likely to get more out of the machine in 4wd too! A better operator is going to be better than an inexperienced one no matter what.

But the real question is always heavy, usually cheaper, often more powerful 2wd vs lighter, less powerful 4wd. In this sort of comparison I think it is best to assume the same operator for each. And it seems to me the answer is not just how much each one will pull vs the other. I think you need to look at what the tractor is intended to do. Its a lot easier to trailer smaller tractors. There's less manienance with a simpler 2wd. The 4wd is likely to handle poor soil conditions better and is almost always going to handle hills better. A lighter machine is less likely to damage lawns and such. A big machine is likely to have more PTO and hydraulic power.

I think all these have to be weighed against intended use.

 

[Gary Fowler]

IMO the 4 wd tractors allow you to maintain a smaller footprint and do the same work. OLDER farm 2WD tractors are mostly much longer wheelbase, wider stance, super heavy by comparison to CUT and many instances in high HP have dual rear wheels to capture that large HP available and transfer it to traction. Having the front wheels pulling negates having to have wider tires or duals for traction and enables us to drive through narrower paths while still being able to pull a substantial load. Also we dont need as much weight to do the same amount of work as a straight 2 WD therefore saving cost on material. The down size as I see it now is that with all the new materials and computer engineered designs, the tractors parts are now just marginally strong enough for the engine HP so they dont self destruct when fully loaded. We dont have the luxury of being able to turn up the injector pump 20-30% to increase the power and not break something like the older tractors with their massive frames, gears and axles.

 

[wolc123]

For loader work and tillage, 4wd makes a huge difference, nearly twice as effective in terms of tractor power and weight. This translates into a fuel savings that makes doing these jobs with 2wd very wastefull considering the price of fuel these days. That being said, even though I own a 4wd, I prefer to use a 2wd for dragging logs. In my opinion, 4wd is absolutely no advantage for this job. One should not drag logs when mud is an issue since the destruction done to the land is excessive. If you dont care what the land looks like after you finish, and have to get a job done on a tight schedule, then I guess I could understand an advantage in muddy conditions. On dry or frozen ground, when you grab a log or group of logs by the 3-pt and lift them a bit, then drag, most of the weight is transferred off the front axle, and even if it had power, it would not do you any good.

 

[Ryan03]

I agree that the 4 wheel drive offers an advantage when using a FEL. However, before I had my Farmtrac 270 while clearing the land my home now sits on, I often would use my father in laws old Ford 600. It had an almost new set of carlisle ags with a complete calcium fill, and just an old 6 ft rear blade on the 3pt. That machine was by no means a power house, but it was an absolute animal in the mud, It would go places that I would never even consider taking my Farmtrac 270 4x4. It probably had double the ground clearence the farmtrac does, which seemed to be its biggest advantage on soft ground.

 

[wkpoor]

When I went looking for a utility tractor 2yrs ago I told myself over 50HP 4WD not needed and under 50HP I will want it. I ended up buying a 60 PTO HP Deere 5400 2WD. 99% of the time I don't miss the AWD at all and get more use out of the power and stoutness of the larger frame. There have been a few case when on a muddy hill with my grapple and a log that I could have used it but those times have been few enough to not have justified the extra coin to get 4WD. I still lust for 4WD in the same size tractor but in reality I get along fine with what I have.

 

[schmism]

a lot of the farm boys round my parts run the following.

corn,beans,winter wheet
hay
cows

the standard mid size AG tractor round hear is a 80-100hp 4wd, loader.

no way a 100hp 2wd is going to deliver that 1200lb bail to the middle of the knee deep pit surrounding the feeding ring in march.

so that same tractor pulls bailers, batwings, 15' wheel rakes, large grain bins, planters, discs, moves/stacks round bales, manure work...

when shooting for multi purpose tractor, all the guys round hear run 4wd

 

[N80]

A farmer friend of mine has cows and does his own hay. Good sized operation. He has probably 10 - 12 tractors, all old, all 2wd. He has no problem with pulling things, from the 14' mowers, to the hay mower, to the bailer to a string of hay wagons, etc etc. He does no disking or plowing although he does pull a large no-till drill.

In any case, about a year ago he mentioned that his next tractor will be 4wd. The reason is carrying bails on our slippery hills. He's had more than one change your underwear moment on wet grassy hills with either a bail on the loader of hay wagons in train behind him.

The thing is, even though his newest tractor is a 1980 model, I bet it will be many years before he buys another tractor and I doubt he'll ever buy one new.

 

[RollingsFarms]

my story about getting MFWD is probably different then most. i had farmed with 2wd's all my life and was set on getting another 2wd, only alot bigger then what i previously owned and get a front end loader. never had a tractor with a fel, but figured hey what the heck, there have been a few times i could have used one so i'll get it this time around. i figured i would be buying in the next year......that is until my tractor needed it's first major repair since i'd owned it. got the quote of hat it was going to cost, and it was within a few hundred $$$ of what it was worth. i had a decision to make, get this tractor fixed and put off buying a new one for awhile, or go see what my local JD dealer had going on before i made my decision of what to do. i stopped by oneday and told him what i wanted(2wd, 55-65hp, fel). it was then i learned he had a heck of a deal going on all MFWD 5003 tractors. 0% for 48 months AND he'd knock off $2,000. i asked what deals the 2wd tractors had, and it was only 0% 36 and no money off. i wanted to keep my payments under $400 so i said the heck with it and got a MFWD 56hp tractor with an MX6(he also knocked $400 off of that price). i didn't get the fel, but got my tractor set up for it for the future. all that came too $370 a month and i couldn't be happier. so for me, i didn't really need MFWD, hadn't planned on even getting it, but the deal was just so much better. glad i have it now. i can't speak on the difference it makes on loader work yet since i dont have one, but as for pulling, well 56hp and 4 wheels pulling is just down right nasty. i can't even imagine how much better it will pull after i get the tires loaded and add on my rear wheel weights when i get the fel.