JD 4310 and High Altitude (6000 ft)

[rssteube]

I'm both a Newbie to this Forum and CUTs in general, and I'm looking at buying a JD 4310 for my projects. But within a few years though I’ll be moving from the flatlands of the Midwest to the high regions of Montana; that’ll be between 4500 – 6000 ft above sea level. I’d assume some minor engine performance loss in that thinner air, but I don’t really know. Are there any high altitude veterans out there who could share their experiences and advice..?
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[dltimmons]

I live at 7,400 ft. in elevation and haven't yet seen any problems with my 4310. Have about 104 hrs. on the tractor so far, since I bought it in July.'
I run a 513 rottary cutter on about 3 acres of heavy meadow grass with no problems. Also run a 47 back hoe and use the tractor to move a 26' enclosed trailer that weighs about 4,200 lbs. up and down an 8 percent dirt drive all the time.
Last week it pulled the trailer from the front of my house, out on to the street and up the other side through 16" of snow, had to lock the rear diff., and it took a couple tries to get up the last steepest area, but never ran out of power.
Has always started, took a couple of tries when it was -2 one morning, but I don't have a block heater on it either.
Mine is the Power Reverser tranny and with 12 gears to choose from, I have only run out of power on the road in the highest gear, trying to drive up a 7% grade at high speed, had to shift down one gear, but kept going well after that.
I also have an old 16 hp. MF 1010 with a hydro tranny. I do notice a lack of power at this altitude with the little tractor, but not with the new JD 4310.
I have never run the tractor at less than 6,000 ft., so don't have a real comparison for the performance difference at lower elevations.
I would not worry about lack of performance with a change in altitude. If the 4310 is big enough to do your chores at 1,000 ft. it will still do them at 7,000.
Good luck,

DT

 

[nomad]

If it was in old days when air pollution was much less at low altitudes, then I'd say performance of your tractor would go lower at higher altitudes. But now, with dirty air, I don't think you will have worse performance at higher altitudes than low altitudes. Anyway - total amount of air intake isn't important for an engine - what's important is oxygen amount and your engine will get same, even more oxygen at higher altitude than lower altitudes where oxygen percentage is low. Fresh air is on the top of mountains nowadays - so, let it do some sport. Once it's used to low pressure environment there it will be running like a sprinter athlete.

Ps: now, a side debate may start here; low pressure (air) environment or high pressure (air) environment will increase the tractor performance? (not talking about oxygen percentage.)

 

[JDgreen227]

Welcome to TBN, you came to the right place for advice. I'm hoping someone can answer my questions as they pertain to your question. There is another discussion ongoing about diesel engine hp vs. gas engine hp in this forum, which leads to these queries:

Which engine, gas or diesel, would lose the most power output at high altitude? Or would the power loss be equal?
And, would a turbocharged engine of either type be more efficient at high altitude than a normally fuel injected engine?

These may be inane questions, but after seeing both discussions about power output I got curious.

 

[disk_drive_eng]

I don't think you have to worry too much. I believe diesels are somewhat less affected by altitude, here is my understanding, probably a bit simplistic:

Gasoline engines run at a fixed ratio of fuel (mass) to oxygen (mass) and have a throttle system that allows more air in and also injects an amount of fuel proportionate to the air. So at higher alitudes, less oxygen is available so less fuel is too and less power is produced for a given throttle setting.

Diesels don't have such a throttle arrangement. Instead, only the amount of fuel injected is varied by the "throttle", not the amount of air, which is unrestricted. So, there is usually more oxygen available than is used in the cumbustion of the fuel and the diesel runs "lean". At higher altitude there is less oxygen but not all is needed anyway to burn the fuel and there will not be as big an effect. The engine is probably designed such that at full power at sea level, the incoming oxygen is about the right amount for the fuel. So at high altitude the oxygen will limit the top power level.

Turbocharged engines use a turbine to compress the air before it enters the engine in either gas or diesel. The turbo pressure is controlled so that the engine gets the same oxygen regardless of altitude, up to a point of course. The altitude affects how much compression the turbo can do, so at some elevation the turbo pressure starts to decrease. But still a turbo engine will perform much better at any altitude.

 

[JerryG]

Holy Cow, I'm getting my boots.

 

[RockyMnt1]

I have a B2410 and live at 8500 msl. I have not encountered a situation where there was a lack of power yet. I am talking steep slopes/large trees/moving lots of dirt/wood!!! I think that you will be fine in the "lowlands".

 

[CTyler]

You'll have less HP at the higher altitude however it may not be noticable.

What does Deere have to say about it?

 

[JC4HD]

I really can't answer your question but was wondering where in Montana you are relocating to? I have a son living in Whitefish, MT that would certainly like to meet a fellow TBN member.

 

[ScottAR]

Glad I wore mine....