Use of Power Reverser

   / Use of Power Reverser #1  

robison

Silver Member
Joined
Apr 27, 2005
Messages
120
Location
Western Massachusetts
Tractor
John Deere 4510 / John Deere GT235 / DR mower
Greetings,

This is my first post here. I grew up on a farm in Georgia and I now live in Massachusetts. I've had a GT235 mower for some time. I just inherited a new 4510 with 460 FEL. It's a year old but my father became sick right after getting it, and never actually used it, and now I've got it. It has the 12x12 Power Reverser, which I have never used on a tractor before. I understand that the unit can be switched from forward to reverse without clutching, by simply pulling the lever. The owners manual sort of steps over this with 1 sentence.

I was using the loader the other day and I was using the clutch when reversing but then later I was looking in the manual and I saw I did not need to use the clutch.

Anyway, can I reverse at any engine speed without damage?

And can I go into neutral also, then back to forward or reverse without clutching, or can I only make quick switches from F-R?

Any other tips to using this system?
 
   / Use of Power Reverser #2  
I grew up on a farm and then spent a career away from the farm and am now back. I bought a 4310 with Power Reverser and it was the first tractor I had ever driven that wasn't a "stick shift".

Yes, you can shift between forward and reverse without clutching. I move it to neutral, but that may not be required.

Have to say that I wasn't sure about the power reverser, but after using it, I am very happy that I added it to the purchase.

I do tend to baby my tractor a bit so I don't try to stress the shifting from forward to reverse.

My brother has a shuttle shift tractor and when I have used his and then go back to my tractor, I end up shifting into low gear when I want reverse /forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif

I think it is just a mater of getting used to what you have. Good luck.
 
   / Use of Power Reverser #3  
<font color="blue"> My brother has a shuttle shift tractor and when I have used his and then go back to my tractor, I end up shifting into low gear when I want reverse </font>

Not sure what is meant by that.

The power reverser or shuttle transmission as other tractor manufactuers call it can be shifted to reverse without clutching (and vice versa). I recommend though that you come to as close of a stop as you can before doing so. There are times with loader use that I will anticipate the delay in the shuttles shift and time it with the bucket engaging the soil and coming to a stop with what would be almost an instantaneous reverse. It works very well. The power reverser is very much worth the added expense.
 
   / Use of Power Reverser #4  
The answers to your first questions is yes. The only thing I wouldn't recommend is reversing direction in a high gear. If you do, get ready for a wild ride when it starts to go in the other direction /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif . hehe I never reverese direction in a gear higher than 3 in the B range. Anymore than that and it just jerks too much when it catches and starts to reverse. Doing this in lower gears is much more smooth.

There's no need to go to neutral first. I use neutral when I want to jump off the tractor to do something. I throw it in neutral, pull the parking brake and then get off (won't kill the engine this way). But yeah you can flip it back and forth between forward and reverse all day long, no problem. When using the loader, I just make sure I've got a little extra room to move if I don't use the clutch. Otherwise if I have plenty of room (I won't hit anything if I go a little too far in), I flip the lever back and forth instead of using the clutch.

My only tip would be - be careful when using this feature near something you don't want to hit! A tree for example. It takes a few feet for it to reverse direction after you throw the lever. So I always give myself some room when reversing. If I'm pushing the finsh mower up to a tree, I throw the lever back to forward when I'm about 3 feet from the tree. By the time it reverses, I'm just about at the tree. The faster you're going though, the longer it takes to reverse. I think this is a built in safety feature so you don't get bucked off the tractor by it immediately switching direction /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif
 
   / Use of Power Reverser #5  
I too have a Power Reverser John Deere. You will notice a switch on the right fender that controls the speed at which the tractor changes direction. The switch has a picture of 2 tractors, both have a line line under them. The one with the longer line allows the tractor to change directions slower. The shorter line shifts quicker.
 
   / Use of Power Reverser #6  
Must be an option on some non4x20 series tractors because I sure don't see anything like that on ours. Only thing on the right fender on ours is the blanks where the eHydro options would be.
 
   / Use of Power Reverser #7  
The 'sensitivity' setting switch is for the "ePowerReverser" that used to come on the 4210-4410. Your 4510 has a straight mechanical/hydraulic power reverser set up - no electronics involved.

There actually does not appear to be much difference between using the clutch or the reverser lever to move "into" or "out of" gear. Both simply manipulate hydraulic fluid flow in the same valve body (somewhere under your left foot) - which then actuates the hydraulic clutch pack. The only big difference is the reverser lever obviously chooses *which* pack (forward or reverse) gets engaged, the clutch pedal simply engages/disengages the pack of choice.

One thing you'll notice - it appears to be nearly impossible to truely feather out the 'clutch' pedal, at least under very light loads. You're not directly letting out the clutch in a mechanical sense - your pedal connects to linkage that just uncovers the port in the valve body - when the fluid flows the clutch engages right now. In higher gears or under heavier load, the traditional clutch 'feathering' action seems a little more progressive. That said - it is typically easier to 'inch' up (say when backing up to an implment or mounting the loader or bucket) using the clutch than the reverser lever.

I use the reverse lever without much pausing between forward/reverse when in low range, but it just seems better for all involved (tractor and me) to let it come nearly to a stop when flipping the reverser in B or C ranges.
 
   / Use of Power Reverser #8  
<<My brother has a shuttle shift tractor and when I have used his and then go back to my tractor, I end up shifting into low gear when I want reverse

Not sure what is meant by that. >>

On his tractor you shift into reverse by moving the gear shift to the lower left. That is where my low gear is. Just a matter of moving between tractors that work differently. I was poking fun at myself.
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   / Use of Power Reverser #9  
Has anyone else found the difference between "short rollout" and "long rollout" to be rather minimal? Maybe it is more apparent in higher gears and greater speeds, but in 2nd or 3rd - B range, the difference isn't much. Maybe I'll buckle the seatbelt and try it out in 4th. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif
 
 
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