Traction 4 WD Issue

[pjbci]

Sounds like a defective part and defective dealer!

 

[Coyote machine]

Someone's blowing smoke. The guy driving the recovery truck is not exactly the head mechanic, and if he is run away!
Good luck. Should have loader tires in rear and FEL loader doesn't have to be off to mow, unless on Mt. Everest.

 

[AchingBack]

Someone's blowing smoke. The guy driving the recovery truck is not exactly the head mechanic, and if he is run away!
Good luck. Should have loader tires in rear and FEL loader doesn't have to be off to mow, unless on Mt. Everest.

Right on. A front end loader, parallel to the ground, may save you from rolling over; in a sudden uncontrolled situation, dropping your loader to the ground may save your life. You certainly should not have to remove your loader in order to mow. However, once you are familiar with your property, and don't see the need for the loader; you can take it off. The bucket on these tractors don't weigh enough to contribute to front end over load.

 

[ultrarunner]

More than once the loader saved me by being able to stabilize things...

Stopped me from sliding on wet grass into a creek...

I would think an empty loader should be well within design parameters.

 

[LAWALLSTRACTOR]

The main idea to loading the rear tires is when you are using your loader with a loaded bucket, you are taking the weight off of the rear end where the main drive gears are, and are putting most of the stress on the front end where the smaller gears are. The front end is meant to be 4wd assist, not the main gears driving the tractor. All of the tractor manufactures recommend weighting the rear when doing loader work. I have very rarely sold any tractors with loaded rear tires, and have seen only one front gear problem, and never seen a snapped drive shaft. If I have a customer using the tractor commercially and giving it a lot of use I recommend weighting the rear.

 

[SPYDERLK]

Just spoke with the srevice Mgr. and he tells me that probably should have weight added to rear tires to equalize load on tractor so as not to stress front axle when in 4WD. He says especially going downhill puts a lot of undue stress on frt drive. In the same breath he says he has never seen this issue before. Am I the only guy that mows slopes for petes sake.

Again should have bought Orange I guess.

Ive twisted off the front drive shaft on my 7520, but I have used it hard. In looking at the broken shaft it was apparent that their manufacturing process induces stress riser defects that recur every few inches. Mine failed at one of them at about 1Khrs -- it showed that a crack had progressed thru about 1/3 the shaft prior to its failure at moderate load. The new shaft, bought thru Lawalls, showed the same characteristic defect pattern. I worked on that shaft quite a while to alleviate the defects before I installed it. Time will tell if durability was increased. I cant imagine a failure with the light work yours has seen.
larry

 

[kneedeep]

My tractor will 'push' in 4WD if I try to cut the wheel hard to make a tight turn. I try to only use the 4WD when under a load to keep traction but sometimes when doing loader work it becomes necessary to keep the front wheels engaged. I really try to reduce the turning while in 4WD. It seems to put a lot of stress on the front drive.
Cutting the wheels sharp under speed may have caused the shaft failure but regardless of how it happened, it should be covered if under warranty.

Just my :2cents:

 

[Mowin Fool]

It was a good thing that I had the loader on because when I got stuck in a "small" ditch that was wet the only way I got out was to use the loader to push me up and back. This was rather embarrasing as at that time my neighbor drove by and offered to pull me out with his Kubota. Not good!

 

[JerryK]

In certain sod conditions, I would think that you would not want to use 4WD if you were doing a lot of sharp turning. Especially at speed. The big lugs could dig in and put a lot of strain on the front drive, could even be as bad as runing 4WD on pavement if the tire lugs were digging in just right.

 

[Mowin Fool]

Update from the service tech on 4WD broken drive shaft issue. They are now saying that the mower deck was interferring with the drive shaft protector cover which in turn pressed against the drive shaft and caused friction and of course heat which weakend and caused the drive shaft to fail. Why the mower deck was hitting it is not known yet.