Do you mow at 540

[have_blue]

Moral of the story? If it works, everything is OK. If it DOESN'T, try something different. No matter how much "by the book" you play it, the only thing that REALLY matters is the end result.

Mow at whatever RPM your heart desires everyone!

I violently agree!

 

[NHTC30]

I have been reading this board for a while, but have only posted once. I was raised on a farm where the largest tractor we ever had was a WD Allis Chalmers (about 45 hp). My Dad made 26 crops with that tractor, we farmed about 80 acres of cotton and soybeans (back then, you could make a living on that). We had a pull type bush hog that we used to mow around our old barn and sheds, cut down the cotton stalks after harvest, and mow about 8 to 10 acres of "layout ground". Sometimes we ran the tractor at wide open throttle (cutting stalks especially, you wanted to get that job done in a hurry, usually it was done in late Nov. or Dec.), but when mowing around the sheds and barn, and in the layout ground where you often hit holes, we throttled back a bit, and ran in a lower gear. The only thing we ever did to the bush hog was replace a shear pin occasionally, and fix a flat once in a while. When we sold it, the gear box, seals, etc. were all in good shape. Running at less than 540 rpm never hurt them in the 20 or so years we had the thing. We did overhaul the tractor once, but I doubt the little time that it spent running the bush hog had as much to do with that as the many hours pulling the disk, tumbling harrow, cultivators etc. did. By the way, there was no tach on the tractor, so we didn't know what rpm the bush hog was turning anyway. If the ground speed was comfortable, the tractor wasn't lugging and the cut was okay, that was all that mattered.

I now own a NH TC 30 that I use to spread dirt, chat, gravel, etc. I do some work for a contractor around new houses he builds, and put an ad in the paper to get a little extra work. I teach World History at the local high school, and do these jobs right now to pay for the tractor. Hopefully, later on when I retire, the tractor will be paid for and I'll use it to supplement my retirement. I have only done one mowing job with it, which amounted to cutting the waist high grass around a new house where I was doing the dirt work. I didn't run the bush hog at 540 as I didn't know what the carpenters had thrown out there, and I didn't want to throw anything through a window, so I kept the rpms at a speed where I didn't bog the tractor down and still got a good cut. I believe 540 is the speed for optimum cutting in tall thick grass, but you can run at a slower speed in sparse, not so tall grass, get a good cut, and not damage your tractor or bush hog.

 

[TrippleT]

Again, when I posted I was trying to be helpful. If anyone wants to run their equipment at 540 that is fine with me. Or if you want to run it without oil, that to is your prerogative. What I am saying is that I have reason to distrust the 540 light on MY tractor that comes on when I supposedly reach that speed. If an engine is over revved it will blow! With that said most people on here, I think, should be able to tell by the sound of an engine whether it is running to fast. I would hate to see anyone ruin an expensive piece of equipment by merely trusting a, made in cheap land, light or gauge. I looked through my manuals and the mower manual said to hook it to the 540 PTO ONLY. Did not say it was an absolute. The manual for the tractor said that the 540 light would come on when 540 was reached plus or minus 10 RPM so even that is not an absolute. By the way, I DO believe in the manuals for almost all cases. If a head bolt needs to be tightened at a certain tightness then I do so. But I have seen bolts break at what was specified. Good mowing to all and do what your conscience tells you is right on these things.

 

[NHTC30]

Actually, I believe that the 540 pto rpm thing is so you can match tractors and equipment. There is some equipment that is designed to run at much higher speeds than 540 that is not compatable to a tractor with a 540 pto, and by the same token there are some tractors with pto's that run at a much higher speed than 540, and one should not buy equipment rated at 540 to use with them. Most of the 3pt stuff that is rated much higher than 540 that I have seen is grey market stuff. If I'm not mistaken, some of the mid-mount mowers and stuff require more than 540 as well. I would think that 540 is the maximum speed that equipment labeled 540 rpm should be run, but that the equipment is designed to run at speeds a little higher or lower than that without doing any harm.

 

[MrJimi]

This is a great thread and I want to thank all of you that have responded, I have learned allot about RC and RPM's and I am sure others have also.
Jim

 

[scott_vt]

Wheeww,
Boy have we beat that topic to death !!!

Welp, if I was to run full throttle, 540 RPM on my old Farmall with a 6ft sicklemower, I wouldnt have any sicklebar left by the time I finished off my 10 acres

 

[Soundguy]

No tach on that tractor to check out the pto speed sensor? If you want to verify the tach.. get an engine tester that hooks up to a diesel injector line to see if engine speed on tach is correct..

Soundguy

Again, when I posted I was trying to be helpful. If anyone wants to run their equipment at 540 that is fine with me. Or if you want to run it without oil, that to is your prerogative. What I am saying is that I have reason to distrust the 540 light on MY tractor that comes on when I supposedly reach that speed. If an engine is over revved it will blow! With that said most people on here, I think, should be able to tell by the sound of an engine whether it is running to fast. I would hate to see anyone ruin an expensive piece of equipment by merely trusting a, made in cheap land, light or gauge. I looked through my manuals and the mower manual said to hook it to the 540 PTO ONLY. Did not say it was an absolute. The manual for the tractor said that the 540 light would come on when 540 was reached plus or minus 10 RPM so even that is not an absolute. By the way, I DO believe in the manuals for almost all cases. If a head bolt needs to be tightened at a certain tightness then I do so. But I have seen bolts break at what was specified. Good mowing to all and do what your conscience tells you is right on these things.

 

[Hooked_on_HP]

And here I thought I was asking a simple question. Thank's for all the replys.
Bill