Tiller killing tractor

[TooRow]

Hi TBN!

My tractor has stalled a few times recently after my tiller has found a huge chunk of concrete that was buried just enough that I could not see it and again on a stump that was supossed to be ground (that is another story) but was also covered just enough that I could not see it.

My tiller is a RhinoAg REB72R. It is equipped with a slip clutch. Shouldn't the clutch slip before the tractor stalls?

It seems if the tractor is stalling, the clutch is not slipping, and if it does not slip I could damage my tiller or my PTO drive. Is my logic correct?

PTO=45.6

Tiller min/max = 35/55

 

[jaxs]

6' is alot of tiller for 50 hp so I'm not surprised engine stall's before clutch slips. I would adjust clutch to slip at a lighter load.

 

[DLTTrekkers]

6' is alot of tiller for 50 hp so I'm not surprised engine stall's before clutch slips. I would adjust clutch to slip at a lighter load.

Did you disassemble and clean the slipclutch before workinv with it ?
It can be rusted and not able to slip when needed .

 

[bdog]

Yes it should slip before it kills your tractor. Be careful though if it slips too much it will burn up the clutch.

They are adjustable. You want the sweet spot where it doesn’t slip under normal conditions but does when it is overloaded.

 

[TooRow]

Did you disassemble and clean the slipclutch before workinv with it ?
It can be rusted and not able to slip when needed .

No but I did watch a video on doing it. Only ever had sheer pins in the past on cutters. It was "new" when I bought it but I have no idea how long it was at the dealership, I will try that.

 

[TooRow]

6' is alot of tiller for 50 hp so I'm not surprised engine stall's before clutch slips. I would adjust clutch to slip at a lighter load.

OK, this is my first PTO driven tiller, I was going purely off spec sheets to choose. Also I have heard .5 hp per inch, is this not a good rule of thumb?

I guess my question to you is: where did i make a mistake when I chose this tiller for my tractor? I would hate to make this mistake again.

And I will absolutely heed your advice, I will adjust the clutch when I take it apart.

 

[jeff9366]

Concrete, intact stumps and boulders are going to stop any roto-tiller. Landscapers who till for diverse customers weekly encounter such obstacles all the time. Buried barbed wire is the worst.

Hopefully you have removed the obstacles. A roto-tiller is not a stump grinder. Be prudent.

How to adjust Slip Clutch.
VIDEO: adjust implement slip clutch - YouTube




Unrelated to your slip clutch, if you will be doing 100 hours of roto-tilling per year, by a HydrauLink. HydrauLink will cushion tractor-to-tiller vibration and transient loads. I use HydrauLink with my Box Blade.
VIDEO: HydrauLink Category 1 Cylinder - For 45 HP Tractors or Less, Model# HL-11 - YouTube

 

[jeff9366]

6' is alot of tiller for 50 hp so I'm not surprised engine stall's before clutch slips.

A six foot forward rotation roto-tille is a light load for a 50-horsepower tractor. Forward rotating tines push the tractor forward. Eighteen horsepower subcompact tractors adequately power 4' roto-tillers.

Counter-rotating tillers, a small fraction of the tiller market, require somewhat more horsepower.

Moist soil is important.

 

[jeff9366]

I guess my question to you is: where did i make a mistake when I chose this tiller for my tractor?

And I will absolutely heed your advice, I will adjust the clutch when I take it apart.

You do not have a tiller issue, you have a slip clutch adjustment issue. I would start by simply loosening the nuts which adjust slip clutch friction a half turn each.

In my experience adjusting a slip clutch is an intuitive process. Few would 'test' successive slip clutch adjustments by running the tiller over concrete or into stumps. A few stalls of the tractor is NOTHING.

If that does not permit slip clutch to slip, try burning off rust per videos. I would not take the slip clutch apart. Let the dealer take it apart, if two or three adjustments does not seem effective. Adjusting slip clutches is an intuitive process for dealers too ~~~~ but experience is some help.

 

[daugen]

I bet slip clutches are some of the most neglected parts of the machinery we use...
I never test mine, keep them clean, often you can't see in there very well.
Completely agree with Jeff, who gives very good advice here, that stalling tractor is nothing.
Better to stall the tractor than break the equipment, something I practice using my PHD at just above engine idle.

Slip clutches are considered the preferred alternative to shear pins. Shear pins are cheap and you can carry spares easily
so I do wonder if the convenience here is worth it long term. Depends upon how often it happens I'm sure.

When I have bought two new Land Pride mowers, one finish, one rough, I asked the selling dealer to reservice the slip clutch.
I'm not sure they did much of anything. In reality, how do you test them without potentially damaging a part?

I don't think that tiller is too big for your tractor. Just go slow; no more than one mph. Unless you are production farmer and you would then have
loosened up the soil with a disc of some sort ahead of time, to me tilling has always been life in the slow lane. I think the fastest I ever went was 1.4 mph.

Takes a while to dial in the right rpm for the job, to find the right torque spot, just enough to get the job done, but not so much power applied
that major failure is more likely than minor failure. I've always felt tiller time was quality seat time and really didn't want to rush to get it done.
Your results shall surely vary.