Loader FEL and 4WD

[bigbull338]

plus doing alot of loader work with a 2wd drive will knock the bearings out of the front end real quick.

 

[Ford tractor]

2wd can do what a 4wd does --- if you add enough weight. But that's something like 2-3x the loader max capacity. Most of us don't want to fill the tires, add wheel weights and a 3-4000 pound counter weight.

 

[bigbull338]

your right they are both equal in what they can do.just you have less probs out of 4x4 tractors doing loader work because their bearing are better an the axels are bigger an stronger.weve blown a few hubs an bearings over the years with the loaders.

 

[CurlyDave]

Why do people consider 4WD so important if you are going to have a FEL? I understand that with the bucket full you have a lot of weight on the front but a box blade and perhaps wheel weight etc. on the back it should be counterbalanced fairly well. The reason I am asking is that 2WD with FEL's seem to be more readily available and more economical. It also seems to me that there were a lot of tractors with FEL before 4WD became so common that people were presumably happy with. How much of an adder would you expect to pay for 4WD on something like a 755, 855, 955?

The bottom line answer is that you get what you pay for...

 

[Gordon Gould]

The bottom line answer is that you get what you pay for...

Well put

 

[neucam]

Old farm tractors could get by with 2wd and a FEL, but they were a lot heavier than the todays compact tractors. With a newer compact tractor it is a good idea to have 4wd and rear balast and they do a good job. And the 4wd front end is built heavier duty than the 2wd version, so less problems.

 

[Jerry/MT]

Why do people consider 4WD so important if you are going to have a FEL? I understand that with the bucket full you have a lot of weight on the front but a box blade and perhaps wheel weight etc. on the back it should be counterbalanced fairly well. The reason I am asking is that 2WD with FEL's seem to be more readily available and more economical. It also seems to me that there were a lot of tractors with FEL before 4WD became so common that people were presumably happy with. How much of an adder would you expect to pay for 4WD on something like a 755, 855, 955?

Loader work really stresses the front axle and unloads the rear tires. The FWD axle is heavier and stronger and if you've ever pulled part way up to a bale feeder with a large round bale and got stuck and couldn't drop the bale into the feeder because you weren't close enough and you couldn' back up because you were stuck in the mud , you'd know why you want want FWD

 

[bdog]

I have a 95 hp cab 2wd tractor with a FEL. The rear tires are loaded and weigh 1000lb each. I have a gravel area in front of my shops. The drive into my shop is smooth with a slight rise. I can easiy drive in there with my wife's car. The other day I bought a pallet of quickcrete. I picked it up off the trailer with my forks with no problem but to my surprise I could not drive into the shop to put it there. The back tires were spinning. I engaged the diff lock and no help. Finally I had to back up and get a running start to get up into the shop. I have noticed several other times when I could not get traction with a load on the front. My tractor works for me and I get by but the tractor is really huge for what I am doing. I can't imagine how limited the FEL would be on a 2wd compact tractor.

 

[Gary Fowler]

I am going to tell off on myself a bit here. WHen I got my 72HP LS Ag 4wheel drive tractor, I kinda skimmed thru the owners manual and then jumped on it to do some FEL work on our pond digging out some dried up areas. I engaged some lever that looked like an emblem for 4 WD and proceeded to try and load up some wet dirt. Well it was spinning like crazy but I finally got a partial load. When I tried to back up, it wouldnt move at all. I looked and looked and didnt see any other lever or whatever to engage the 4 WD which didnt appear to be working. So I dumped the load, used the bucket to shove myself out of the slick area and went home to get my book. I found the 4WD electrical switch to engage the 4WD and man what a difference. I could scoop up a bucket full of hard dirt from a pile in 4WD that I could barely get any in the bucket in 2 WD. This is a heavy Ag type tractor at close to 7000 lbs.
I dont think you could do the same work with 2 wheel drive even if you ballasted it out. You can only get so much traction from a specific width tire regardless of the amount of weight. Add another set of pulling tires that although smaller than the rear, you get that much more pulling traction that you wont have with 2 WD. Never would I buy a 2 WD tractor regardless of size.

 

[NativeSon]

In my youth I played alot in the mud with Jeeps. When in unfamiliar territory I always ran in 2wd. When I got stuck, got out locked the hubs, shifted into
4wd and kept going.

Also I don't think the 2wd spindles will handle the abuse an FEL will dish out with full buckets and really big round bales.

Charlie