Snow John Deere 3120 sliding on snow

[matthew3120]

Has anybody had any problems with 3120 to 3720 stopping to fast on snow.I was driving my tractor yesterday and took it up town to plow out some people and I was going down the main st. and want to slow down for a car that was turning and let off E-Hydro pedal and the tractor went into a power slide side ways just missing a park car by about a 1".I had my motion match on 9 so it would not slide yeah right.It slides no matter what I do. I have to have the 4WD on all the time in the snow or I go for wild ride.I even tried to take my foot off the pedal off real slow still slides.I would never think of putting it 1.

Matthew3120

 

[rockyridgefarm]

And your tires are?

Industrials

 

[Dutch445]

Matt,
what do you have on for ballast?
tires loaded? weights? ballast box?
what implements?

also, how fast are you going? I would
imagine you are in C range, going down
the road.
It may just be too much weight, going in
motion, and when you go to stop, it's like
putting on the brakes,, slide away.
do they have ABS for tractors?

obviously in 4wd, you have all 4 wheels
working to slow you down, but in 2wd,
it sounds like you just skid very easy...
maybe you need more weight,,
or chains?

/forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif

 

[jeepinator]

I don't know what you are complaining about. Sounds like fun! /forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif
It would have been nice to even get snow this winter.
...not that it snows here very often.

I know my rig on gravel rodas is pretty squirrely tapped out in C range. I can't imagine snow/ice.
Have you tried doing some cookies? /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[jcmseven]

Matt,

This is a problem with the mid range JD's in particular. I started a discussion about this a year or so ago. Even my 4520, although it will push or pull a house, will slide on snow. There are two main problems with these machines: they are very heavy and they have r4 tires mostly. I plow now with my new little Gator and it I think does a lot better for obvious reasons. I really do not think weighting it down will help a lot, because that will create more inertia when you slide. To me, and I am not from the snow belt, but see a fair amount of snow here, chains are the best. You would be amazed at the difference they would make when plowing and on slick surfaces. Rears only, though.

John M

 

[dubba]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( This is a problem with the mid range JD's in particular )</font>

I find that my JD 325 lawn mower does the same thing in the same situation. I travel ~1/4 mile to do 2 driveways with the FM snowblower. At the bottom of the hill, driveway, etc letting off the hydro pedal all at once will result in a skid. This is with a 200# operator, 75# wheel weights & 160#'s of suitcase weights. all on 2 lawn mower tires with chains. Pretty comical IMHO

 

[matthew3120]

I have 225 Lbs on Each side for wheel weights.I had to put on the weights on rear wheels so it would not slide as bad.I have R4 industrial tires.And yes you can do some donuts real good with that tractor.I sometimes have a frontier 1060H rear blade on or sometimes I put on 950Lbs Ballest box with a winch and tool box on board.It weights 5082 lbs. with the rear blade and with the ballest box it weights 5830 lbs.I took it to a truck scale to weight it. Can use chains on the highway I would wear them out in a week.

Thanks
Matthew3120

 

[turbo36]

Matthew, are these weights with the FEL on? Are the tires loaded?

 

[megotatractor]

does this have anything to do with the hydrostat? sounds scary. all the hydrostat garden tractors I've had including my 2210 I would have had to not only lift my foot quickly off the hydrostat pedal but also stomp on the reverse pedal (or brake)to create a skid.

 

[jcmseven]

Matt,

Chains, chains, chains. I realize they may wear fast, but if you choose the correct metal and pattern you will get good use. Some of our fellow posters claim they do OK with R4 tires in snow, but I do not see how. Yes, both my mid frame and my large frame would do OK, but I would not risk it. They weigh plenty, but with two flat interrupted tread patterns on the ground at once, they just will not grip that well on snow or ice. Chains fix this by giving an edge. They make a huge difference. I do not believe the hydro affects things that much, because just think of how a PowerReverser and clutch and brake would do? (Yikes). The other thing you may wish to try first is to deflate your tires to their minimum pressure. Even with fluid, there is an amount of air at the top to complete the fill. You could drain that to the pressure needed to get a better footprint, and then reinflate later. That would help some too. My 4520 was delivered with loaded fronts and rears and they had been pumped to brick hardness after the fluid. This lack of sidewall flex really hurts traction. My tractor is heavy enough to pull large attachments easily, but it clearly did better once I removed a bit of the air in the rear tires to widen the true footprint. The same would hold true for wintery weather.

John M