Anyone with knowledge on Differential locks?

[Harry c]

That is exactly what I was going to say. When mine is locked, you can't turn it without stepping on a brake.

If it's locked, stepping on a brake sure ain't gonna make it turn!

 

[orezok]

Whether a vehicle is 1wd, 2wd, 3wd or 4wd has nothing to do with lack of traction. In your scenario, the front wheel that is off the ground and spinning is still being driven. The fact that it is getting no traction does not mean it isn't driven.

It's just a matter of semantics and I'm not looking to be difficult, but if a wheel doesn't have traction, then it isn't driving the tractor. Spinning yes, driving the tractor no. The purpose of both 4wd or a differential lock is to get rotary motion to a wheel that has traction.

 

[cp1969]

If it's locked, stepping on a brake sure ain't gonna make it turn!

You're right. Mine tends to stay locked, even when you let up on the pedal. The best way I've found to unlock it is to hit one of the brake pedals; that seems to pop it loose.

 

[Racer71]

I was doing some bucket work when the tractor came to a stop with the wheels still turning. Both fronts and one rear. Press on the diff lock and all four spun. What else could I ask for?

 

[ByronBob]

Getting back to the subject of the post, I doubt if your diff lock has been engaged for the last 20 hours. Even if you only drove on grass or soft ground you would have a very difficult time trying to make tight turns. You would notice something was wrong because the front wheels would want to skid in a straight line when you turned. It would leave major skid marks on the grass if you could get it to turn sharp at all. It could be done I guess, but one would have to be pretty darn near brain dead or intoxicated not to realize something major was not right.

Holy Cow. Umm...Well I'll take the high road here and say I don't use the differential lock all that often. The last time I can remember was last winter during snow removal. It may not have been on all that time but I did notice the grass being ripped up. When I was taking the mowing deck off I worked the linkage a little to see if something was incorrect and I noticed it wasn't coming back to home base.

Hopefully the boys here don't seem to think it could have caused long term issues. I'll just be more aware next time.

I enjoy everyone's help here. But I try not to insult anyone and would ask the same in return.

Thanks.
Bob

 

[RobJ]

If it's locked, stepping on a brake sure ain't gonna make it turn!

touche!

 

[Toolguy]

Sorry if my comment was taken the wrong way. I did not intend to insult anyone. Just making a point in a tonue-in-cheek way that I just don't see how the diff lock could be stuck on without it being noticed. Maybe it can. I wasn't there. I suppose if the tractor was in 4WD the front wheels might drag the front end around when turning. Even that would be hard not to notice. I somtimes use the diff lock on my B3030 when plowing snow in 4WD. Sometimes there is pressure on the axles and the diff lock does not disengage when I take my foot off the pedal until I stop and back up a little. I know something is wrong right away. Anyway, good luck and I hope your tractor is OK.

 

[vic4news]

I had to use the diff lock on my B3030 this summer to get out of the woods. One of the rear wheels was up against a rock and would just spin. I was in 4 wheel drive and needed to apply the diff lock to back out of the woods. I then drove about 200' to dump the load of wood I had in the bucket. I had to make a couple of turns along the way and everything felt normal. It wasn'tuntil I dropped the load and started back that the tractor would no longer turn. It was the strangest feeling and took me a few seconds to realize what was wrong. The diff was still locked but until the bucket was empty there was enough weight in the front to steer. It took another minute for the diff lock to finally disengage.

Vic

 

[ovrszd]

Sorry if my comment was taken the wrong way. I did not intend to insult anyone. Just making a point in a tonue-in-cheek way that I just don't see how the diff lock could be stuck on without it being noticed. Maybe it can. I wasn't there. I suppose if the tractor was in 4WD the front wheels might drag the front end around when turning. Even that would be hard not to notice. I somtimes use the diff lock on my B3030 when plowing snow in 4WD. Sometimes there is pressure on the axles and the diff lock does not disengage when I take my foot off the pedal until I stop and back up a little. I know something is wrong right away. Anyway, good luck and I hope your tractor is OK.

Yeah, Toolguy isn't the type to be a sarcastic insulting guy. He was just trying to reinforce his point which I agree with.

If your diff lock is stuck on, you will definitely know you have a problem and will probably not continue to use the tractor without investigating. My B2910 with R4s would rip my lawn apart mowing with the diff lock engaged.

I will say that my tractor never sticks on. It's just the opposite. You have to put enough pressure on the pedal to get it engaged that it's uncomfortable to use. Nothing wrong with my linkage. Just the way it's designed. After removing pedal pressure it disengages the instant traction is equalized.

 

[N80]

It's just a matter of semantics and I'm not looking to be difficult, but if a wheel doesn't have traction, then it isn't driving the tractor. Spinning yes, driving the tractor no. The purpose of both 4wd or a differential lock is to get rotary motion to a wheel that has traction.

Sigh.

It isn't a matter of symantics. A driven wheel is a driven wheel. You could be on ice, in the mud, whatever, with all 3 wheels spinning, tractor going nowhere. Does that make it a zero wheel drive?