Tractor Sizing Transmisssion Kubota BX1860

[deputydog21]

I bought my Kubota BX1860 last November and readied it for the winter snow. Equiped it with chains and hydraulic front blade and was good to go, however, never got any snow............anyway, come summer put the belly mower on it and am pleased with it's mowing capabilities. Living in central Virginia I was a victim of that damned derecho that came though in late June and I have been using the 1860 to pull trees around to cut up. Mostly bull pines that are 30 feet in length. I attach a 4500# log chain to the cleavis, put it in 4WD and pull away. Makes me happy to be able to do that kind of stuff. Anyway, an exacavator came out to finish up some of the tree work and I was telling him about my Kubota and how happy I was with it's power to pull tree trunks around. He made the comment to be careful with it, that I could damage the transmission. How do I know if I'm going to damage the transmission?

[94BULLITT]

If you have the deck off be sure you do not tear off the cooling fan. You will overheat the hydro and ruin it. I would think the relief valve would kick in before any trans damage would occur. You should be pulling in low range. I don't know how big the trees where but a tree does not pull as hard as most people think.

[art]

I was glad that Kubota did what they did with the hydraulic system although for many they do not like it that they have to have the RPM's up to work the hydraulic attachments. This has made it so there is good pressure to the hydro's and the hydraulic system so that they do not starve of hydraulic fluid when under load. It is not to often that we do see failure from this but we have depending on operators. The only other thing to worry about is the fan that cools the transmission.

[case245]

you could add an after market tranny cooler one that fit infront of the rad that will help big time thats why i run stick tractors no autos here

[radioman]

I dont think the excavator guy realized its a HST transmission, not a geared one. Your tractor is lightweight enough so it will spin the tires first before hurting anything. If for any reason you got so much pressure on the rear tires, your HST reliefs will kick in stopping you dead in tracks and squeal. AS long you are not making a running start to pull those trees down, you should be fine.

[deputydog21]

Hey, to all who replied to my post...........thank you very much! I enjoyed the varied responses that came from experienced and concerned people.