Tractor bogging down

[peilobsterman]

I was wondering if anyone has some suggestions. I have a Case IH 485 4WD. On the Highway tractor bogs down in high gear. Shifting to a lower gear tractor will recover. I have changed all fuel filters. ?????

[Rustyiron]

Top gear eats HP! Think about a 50 hp car that weighs 5k trying to do it.

[Gary Fowler]

Your tractor should pull in high gear without bogging as long as on level to very slightly slopping highway. It will bog and lug if you try to start it off in high gear. I like to start my HST in high and gradually apply more pedal till it gets rolling a bit. My gear tractor, I start in H 3 then shift to H4 or if on a steep grade maybe even in H2. If it wont pull itself in highest gear then there is something wrong, maybe brakes a dragging a bit or air filter is extremely dirty, fuel problem.

[Gary Fowler]

Make sure you are not in 4 WD when in high gear. It takes a lot of power to pull that also also as the front wheels tend to travel faster than the rear so they could be trying to drag the rear along. Never run 4 Wd on pavement or even on hard dirt surface regardless of gear using.

[john_bud]

It could also be the fluid in the trans and differentials

[peilobsterman]

It could also be the fluid in the trans and differentials

Thanks for reply. I put tractor in heated building last night. Checking things today. I discovered Hydraulic oil very milky(Water). I am now draining and replacing. Should I flush system with Diesel?? Hopefully this will fix problem.

[Gary Fowler]

Try to retract all cylinder so you force as much fluid as possible into the reservoir. You will still have some in the holding tank even with all cylinders retracted because of system configuration with hoses and lines that may not drain. You may require filling with oil and running it for a bit and then drain and refill if oil is still a bit milky. I had t flush my Vietnam rebuild 3 times to get all the milky fluid and grey slime out. Fill it up, run it a bit and then look at the oil. Dont forget to change all your filters out also on the first fill. Probably ok to just unscrew them and drain the oil out and reinstall on the tractor if you have to flush a second time.
I wouldnt mess with diesel as there isnt that big a difference in price between it and Universal hydraulic fluid from TSC or other Farm and Ranch supplies, that run less than $8 per gallon. If your tractors takes more than 5 gallons, I wouldnt put more than 5 into it to run it for a few hours sloshing around by running the tractor over some fairly rough ground or what I did with the yanmar was cycle the FEL up and down to pick the front up as high as it would go then drop it and repeat. This also cycles out the bad oil from the FEL hoses and cylinders.

[aczlan]

If you are going to drain it, I would raise the bucket all the way up and completely curl the bucket, then shut it off, drain the transmission and lower/dump the bucket. That should clear almost everything out of the cylinders.

Aaron Z

[john_bud]

It depends on how wet the fluid is. if it's not bad, i would just change it. but if its worse, i'd put 2 or 3 gas driers in the fluid then work it hard hard hard for 3+hours then quick drain it.

I would also start with everything UP. FEL 3pt etc. Drain it dry, then lower everything. The fluid in the cylinders will then be minimized as both sides will be mostly empty.

I would probably slosh a gallon of diesel in and let drip dry to flush before putting in new hyd fld.

A common cause of water in fluid is from not running it HARD fof an hour after it warmed.