mfwd vs 4wd

[Anonymous Poster]

What's the difference between MFWD and 4WD?

 

[JackIL]

MFWD stands for Mechanical Front Wheel Drive. That name was first used by John Deere for full sized Row Crop ag tractors (front wheels smaller than the rear wheels) with front axles that were shaft driven from the main transmission. That term was used to distinguish the drive from the forerunner Hydraulic front wheel drive that Deere offered briefly in the early 80's. For full size ag tractors, 4WD normally indicates a vehicle steered with articulation in the center and having all tires of the same diameter and all powered.

John Deere uses the MFWD nomenclature on compact tractors as well as ag tractors.

For compact tractors with all wheels powered, the terms 4WD or All Wheel Drive are commonly used. Most have the front wheels shaft driven and thus could be said to have Mechanical Front Wheel Drive. Exceptions would be Ventrac and Steiner which use hydraulic motors to power front and rear axles and Power Trac which uses hydraulic motors on all 4 wheels.

Jack

 

[Mrwurm]

Excellent description. /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

 

[JimMc]

Thanks, Jack. That description clears up a couple of distinctions I was wondering about, too.

 

[art]

Jack, John Deere was the last tractor manufacturer to use a gear drive front end as they tried to push the inefficient hydraulic drive. Try Oliver, IH, Allis,and Ford. Mechanical front wheel drive can be seen in there literature nearly 20 years prior to Deere's introduction of a gear drive.

 

[JackIL]

Art,

You are certainly right about other manufacturers offering front drive before John Deere. However, none of them specifically called it "Mechanical Front Wheel Drive" or MFWD. Deere used the term "Mechanical" to distinguish it from their unsuccessful "Hydraulic" drive, and the name has stuck ever since.

Jack

 

[art]

Jack you might be right, I've been going over my old stuff here, back to early 80's found nothing they just refer to it as mchanical assist.

 

[SrChf]

ok, so just to be clear (newbie here) I am looking at getting a used JD2305. some sellers list their unit as 4WD and other MFWD. Is there a difference, or is it tomato, tomahto. if there is a difference, what price and performance differences should I expect between the two. Thank you!

 

[dex3361]

ok, so just to be clear (newbie here) I am looking at getting a used JD2305. some sellers list their unit as 4WD and other MFWD. Is there a difference, or is it tomato, tomahto. if there is a difference, what price and performance differences should I expect between the two. Thank you!

Welcome to TBN
MFWD is Mechanical Front Wheel Drive and this is what most call the 4WD. So they are both the same on this tractor.
If you are talking to a lager 100HP+ guy he will tell you that when the front and rear wheels are nearly the same size then its 4WD and if the front wheels are much smaller (like what you see on CUT (Compact Utility Tractor) or SCUT (Subcompact Utility Tractor) then its MFWD or FWA (Front Wheel Assist).

 

[jenkinsph]

As far as Deere tractors are concerned most of the new stuff is mfwd in the compacts you referenced. FWD can also mean hydraulically assisted front wheel drive such as in my x749 mower. In turns the fwd can speed up the outside front wheel to help reduce scuffing the lawn. Some of the older ag tractors we have (Deere 3130LS) have hydraulic front wheel drive and are fwd but as explained are not mfwd.

For most uses mfwd is the better and more simple way to go.