Broke my front end

[RavensRoost]

Yea,,,,, I miss him too,,,,,,

Larry

but gas,,,,kills the crap,,,outa them bees!

 

[TSMART]

This discussion makes me want to ask: when I am using FEL to move crushed lime, should I NOT be in 4WD? the koyker 160 on my 224 picks up things fine, but now I am worried about damaging the front axle ....

Only thing on the back of the tractor would be a rake. so not much weight. I have read posts about staying out of 4WD when on the road; but when I am not on the road, I have the tractor in 4WD all the time. Even for pulling the 6' mower. Is that wrong?
Am I loading up the front axle too much?

 

[greg_g]

The Jinma 200 series seems to be the only Chinese tractor that has gathered enough customer complaints to warrant warning against aggressive loader work in 4wd. I don't own one anymore, but would personally have no problem doing nearly everything (off pavement) in 4wd - except aggressive loader work. Both my current tractors stay in 4wd nearly full time, only shifting into 2wd on the rare occasion I have to go up on the highway.

//greg//

 

[Ranch_Hand_Supp]

This discussion makes me want to ask:

1#; when I am using FEL to move crushed lime, should I NOT be in 4WD? the koyker 160 on my 224 picks up things fine, but now I am worried about damaging the front axle ....

2#; Only thing on the back of the tractor would be a rake. so not much weight.

3#; I have read posts about staying out of 4WD when on the road;

4#; but when I am not on the road, I have the tractor in 4WD all the time. Even for pulling the 6' mower. Is that wrong?

5#; Am I loading up the front axle too much?

Here's my opinion, applies to all 4x4 tractors doing front loader work.

1#; unless you are operating the tractor in slick conditions you should have plenty of forward traction in two wheel drive (with aig tires) to fill the bucket with proper rear counter weight. R4's & Turfs dont bite the ground like aig tires.

2#; Correct. I sell 99% of all my new tractors with the rear tires loaded that get a loader. Depending on bucket material weight more rear counter weight needs to be added. You must keep the rear tires biteing the ground. Proper tire pressure allowing full bar/tread lug ground contact of 2 1/2 - 3 bars is what I like to see use.


3#; Right / correct.

4#; I can say it's wrong but, I would not have it in 4x4 if I did not need 4x4.

5#; Don't know ??



With 4x4 engaged the front wheels try to out run the rear wheels. Which means the front wheels are / have to slip/spin. That is why you see or will see the front tires wearing more than the rear when 4x4 engagement is used a lot. The harder / aggressive the tire contact surface is speeds of the tire wear.

When you raise a loader bucket full of material off the ground that has any weight to it the rear tires loose full ground contact/traction (rear of tractor gets light). You then try to back up and the rear tires just spin (want move). Then you reach down and put it in 4x4 ( thats why I have 4x4 right?) now I am asking the SMALL front differantial assembly to move the whole load ...... tractor & material. Then one wonders why something broke in the front drive assembly. Rear counter weight is KEY !!. This is just one example.



Here is a copy and paste from here; TractorSmart home page


This serves to illustrate why it is important to be judicial in the use of 4wd, avoiding usage on hard surfaces as much as possible.

A related subject is the use of front loaders on front wheel assist tractors. Ideally you want to maintain a load bearing ratio between the front and rear axles of 40%front/60%rear. Asking the front axle to carry more than this share is setting yourself up for expensive repairs down the road. It is important to use appropriate counter-balance on the rear of the tractor to offset the loads that are carried in the loader bucket. Take note that front axle components are generally smaller and of lighter construction than the rear axle. These front axle components were not designed to support 60%, 70% or in some extreme cases up to 90% of the total "load".
If your rear axle is scooting along, just barely contacting the ground now and then, this means the front axle is supporting near 100% of the total weight of the tractor, loader and bucket payload! This is an almost iron-clad guarantee of front axle failure!



Ronald
Ranch Hand Supply

 

[TSMART]

Thanks for the explanation. Makes sense. I probably have been lucky doing all loading in 4wd. I was under the impression that I could plow into a pile of gravel with more usable force if in 4wd...I will be paying attention to that now.

 

[SPIKER]

TSSmart:

I broke/tore off my front wheel, (fell onto the housing) as the wheel & drive shaft rolled off / out of the front end drive / steering knuckle assy. This was from leaving it in 4x4 and moving sand/dirt/clay. granted I had dipped the bucket a little too aggressively and it pulled deeper than I wanted. I missed the clutch as well which twisted the axle in half as much as added extra load when lifting the bucket up/into the sand. If you search my old posts here I'm sure you might find some pics. I can add one

there are more pics there is you back up to view them... BTW: Tommy @ affordable was great to get me the parts I needed, I think grand total was pretty cheap for the damage I did... worst was I lost several weeks of tractor useage when I really needed it. shipping I got damaged seal from the housing crushing it and tommy got me a replacement seal & I added som e bearings to the 2nd order that I felt should be changed which added time to the repair..

Mark