school of shifting :-)

[eKretz]

I think whether you can "dig" with a loader is a matter of two things. One, the kind of depth of cut you're trying to take at once. And two, the weight of the machine. My 14,000 pound backhoe, for instance, doesn't have any trouble at all taking a cut with the loader bucket. My 2,000 pound JD on the other hand doesn't have the ability to do much more than shave a little with the loader bucket. Digging with a loader on a smaller machine is a matter of technique. To do it, you may need to take long, shallow cuts, letting the bucket fill as it moves forward with the shallow scraping cut. Somewhat like the best technique for trenching with a backhoe or excavator.

 

[rScotty]

That is not 4WD, that is MFWD.

Says who? The manufacturer thinks it's 4WD. I actually copied and pasted from the manual. Their brochure refers to "4WD traction and rear differential lock", "Standard four-wheel drive" on page 5 (see link below):

https://cnhi-p-001-delivery.sitecorecontenthub.cloud/api/public/content/64cb47095ede4f8cb6469e69398687eb?v=d175d103

Who you going to believe? Who knows more about tractors?

Would it be the office advertising group at that NH link? A group who might not have ever actually seen or driven a tractor? Or all the guys here on TBN who have been posting in this thread about how all the variations on 4WD acually work?

Just to confuse the issue: Even when the tractors have MFWD and 4wd engaged, most compact tractors (including NH) are only driving two wheels unless we also engage the differential lock down by our heel...and then only three of the 4... Yet how often do we see something described as "3WD"?
Enjoy,
rScotty

 

[ning]

Who you going to believe? Who knows more about tractors?

Would it be the office advertising group at that NH link? A group who might not have ever actually seen or driven a tractor? Or all the guys here on TBN who have been posting in this thread about how all the variations on 4WD acually work?

Just to confuse the issue: Even when the tractors have MFWD and 4wd engaged, most compact tractors (including NH) are only driving two wheels unless we also engage the differential lock down by our heel...and then only three of the 4... Yet how often do we see something described as "3WD"?
Enjoy,
rScotty

How often do we call a pickup truck a "4WD" when it doesn't have locking front or rear differentials?
For that matter, how often do we call a FWD or RWD car "2WD" when it doesn't have a locking differential?
As long as there's no slipping, they're all driving, lockers or no. It's not like an open diff only sends torque to one wheel; if that was the case, there'd be no point in having a halfshaft going to the other wheel and no point to the differential.

 

[eKretz]

We're getting into nit-picking territory here, IMO.

 

[mo1]

If we all could drop the "D" in MFWD and replace it with an "A" ,,some of the misinterpretation could be resolved.

Mechanical Front Wheel Assist is the correct term.
We could drop the "M" because it came about when Deere switched from hydraulically powered to mechanically powered front wheels and Deere quit making the hydraulic powered one a long time ago.

The University of Nebraska's test lab does exactly that- "FWA" is the term they use for any non-4WD tractor with a driven front axle. I prefer that term too but few would know what I was talking about if I used it.

 

[rScotty]

The University of Nebraska's test lab does exactly that- "FWA" is the term they use for any non-4WD tractor with a driven front axle. I prefer that term too but few would know what I was talking about if I used it.

Well over at Univ. of Nebraska they're academic types, so probably feel that getting the wording to be very specific is important.
On TBN I hope we are more concerned with helping the newbies understand what the advertiserments actually mean in terms of how it works and what they can expect to get from paying extra for part time Front Wheel Assist.

BTW, FWA/4WD or whatever you want to call it on your compact tractor it works real good when you need extra traction...it's just not for using all the time. And it IS worth the $$.

rScotty

 

[ironman1952]

Is there a narrow bucket with teeth that could be attached to a tractor with a QA
My tractor weighs about 9000
my soil conditions are terrible, very rocky from small to very large.

 

[mo1]

Well over at Univ. of Nebraska they're academic types, so probably feel that getting the wording to be very specific is important.
On TBN I hope we are more concerned with helping the newbies understand what the advertiserments actually mean in terms of how it works and what they can expect to get from paying extra for part time Front Wheel Assist.

BTW, FWA/4WD or whatever you want to call it on your compact tractor it works real good when you need extra traction...it's just not for using all the time. And it IS worth the $$.

rScotty

The University of Nebraska tractor test lab isn't an academic lab, they are a product testing lab established by the state legislature to ensure that tractors sold in the state meet the manufacturer's stated claims. You can't sell a tractor over 100 PTO HP there without it undergoing the full formal testing at that lab or another similar accredited tractor testing lab. Being specific with the technical terms is expected in engineering technical writing done by professionals. Using incorrect terminology doesn't help newcomers, it confuses them, particularly when the term being used has a specific definition that is different than how it is being explained to the newcomers. Better to teach the correct terminology from the get-go even if there is a little bit of learning involved.

Basically all new compact tractors today are only available with MFWD and the vast majority of used compacts have MFWD as well, so there is really no choice for most people to make if they are buying a compact tractor. The only real discussions about MFWD for compacts are when to engage and disengage it, how to maintain it, and the importance of not overloading the front axle and breaking it.

 

[rScotty]

The University of Nebraska tractor test lab isn't an academic lab, they are a product testing lab established by the state legislature to ensure that tractors sold in the state meet the manufacturer's stated claims. You can't sell a tractor over 100 PTO HP there without it undergoing the full formal testing at that lab or another similar accredited tractor testing lab. Being specific with the technical terms is expected in engineering technical writing done by professionals. Using incorrect terminology doesn't help newcomers, it confuses them, particularly when the term being used has a specific definition that is different than how it is being explained to the newcomers. Better to teach the correct terminology from the get-go even if there is a little bit of learning involved.

Basically all new compact tractors today are only available with MFWD and the vast majority of used compacts have MFWD as well, so there is really no choice for most people to make if they are buying a compact tractor. The only real discussions about MFWD for compacts are when to engage and disengage it, how to maintain it, and the importance of not overloading the front axle and breaking it.

BLETCH!

 

[ning]

Is there a narrow bucket with teeth that could be attached to a tractor with a QA
My tractor weighs about 9000
my soil conditions are terrible, very rocky from small to very large.

Not to be flip, but I think you're looking for either a backhoe, or a dedicated excavator.
Digging with the front loader in those conditions is going to torque your loader when you hit an unmoveable object (very large boulder in the hoped for digging depth) with your non-infinite-force tractor.