Do you run your tiller at pto speed?

[zman007007]

I have the old Kubota B7100HST tractor with the throttle wide open in 540 rpms, if everything goes fine I turn around, do it in the other direction, then it"s hammer time and I go to the higher rpm, and do it all over. I adjust my speed by the hst pedal. zman

 

[jk96]

I'm curious why so many owners have implements that are rated for 540 rpms and run their tractors well under that when operating. Not only tillers, but brush hogs, mowers, etc. Some of the logic seems to be to keep the tractor from working as hard but I would think running under the recommended rpm would be counter productive. A tractor I would assume is built to run all day every day at 540 rpm. Running it at a slower idle would seem to be harder on the engine to me when you don't have the rpms up to the correct speed. More risk of lugging the engine and making the engine work more with lower rpm's

 

[SPYDERLK]

I run mine as fast as I have power for. About 750 RPM at a guess. It breaks up the soil better when run faster.
larry

 

[jenkinsph]

I'm curious why so many owners have implements that are rated for 540 rpms and run their tractors well under that when operating. Not only tillers, but brush hogs, mowers, etc. Some of the logic seems to be to keep the tractor from working as hard but I would think running under the recommended rpm would be counter productive. A tractor I would assume is built to run all day every day at 540 rpm. Running it at a slower idle would seem to be harder on the engine to me when you don't have the rpms up to the correct speed. More risk of lugging the engine and making the engine work more with lower rpm's

If I am running a mower then I run at full pto rpm for the highest tip speed. For some other jobs it isn't necessary to run full speed. The 540 rpm is more of an upper limit rating, it isn't needed for everything. There is a big difference between idle speed and 1800 rpm. I agree that excessive low speed idling is problematic.

 

[taborekle]

I run mine at 540 RPM. With a HST tractor, the speed of the tiller is independent of the speed over ground. I just make sure that I'm in low range. Some ground I will run over a little faster then other, like if it hasn't been plowed or seems very hard, I'll go slower. All at 540 RPMs though.

 

[Alan L.]

My tiller manual says to run it at 540 PTO RPMs and so that is what I do. Thats about 2600 RPM on the engine. I also run the brush hog, post hole digger, and spreader at 540. When I am using the loader I usually run about 1800 rpms on the engine.

It probably doesn't matter if you don't lug the engine, but it seems they are engineered to run at full pto speed.

 

[taborekle]

I believe if you lug an engine under load it's hard on the bearings.

 

[Don87]

I believe if you lug an engine under load it's hard on the bearings.

To elaborate on this comment.............Yes, run the tiller at PTO speed............which is 540 RPM on the USA distributed tractors and implements. You can run lower, but 'lugging' of the engine can be expected.......as well as premature engine damage/failure. (nature of a diesel.............do or die).

I specified USA made/compliant..........Because there are a lot of 'grey market' machines and attachments out there, and I can't comment on those.

 

[jenkinsph]

My tiller manual says to run it at 540 PTO RPMs and so that is what I do. Thats about 2600 RPM on the engine. I also run the brush hog, post hole digger, and spreader at 540. When I am using the loader I usually run about 1800 rpms on the engine.

It probably doesn't matter if you don't lug the engine, but it seems they are engineered to run at full pto speed.

I would think running the post hole digger at 540rpm would be exciting at times.

I don't lug my engines, because I know better and pay attention to this. You can run below 540 with a tiller but expect to reduce the ground speed accordingly too. If you run a 40 hp tiller with a 60 hp tractor at the proper ground speed that doesn't equate to lugging the engine. A little judgement and experience is required.

 

[brandoro]

I run almost all of my PTO equipment at or near rated speed as I believe that's what they are designed for. The odd time I'll run slower if I am trying to finesse something. I run the BH at lower RPM (PTO pump) because I like it to move a bit slower, makes it more controllable for me.