Two speed PTO

[Malvern Michael]

I recently bought a new Branson 47 f series cab tractor and it has a two speed pto but it doesn稚 say in my owners book how to operate it, the 540 is easy but how do I use the 780? Do I still set engine speed as for 540 or lower as I thought it was a fuel saving idea and what implements can go on the 780?
Thanks Michael

 

[oosik]

Michael - I have no idea. I would call the service dept at the dealership where you purchased the tractor. Usually, if you have a two speed system it's - 540 & 1000. I know many rotary cutters have units that are 1000 rpm rated - same with chippers.

 

[Grumpycat]

I too am learning. Have seen tractors with a dual 750-ish and 540 RPM PTO. Have seen others with dual "540E/540" PTO where 540E was described as the economy PTO when full HP is not needed. Was told a governor kicks in to hold engine RPM down to maintain the 540 RPM. Am guessing the 750 tractor was doing the same thing but not paying patent rights to whoever thought to connect a governor to the PTO speed switch.

 

[ericm979]

The governor is not connected to the PTO. It's connected to the "throttle" lever (and pedal if you have one). Setting the engine speed to the correct speed for running the PTO is manual.

The 780 RPM gear is intended to be used with 540 rpm implements but with the engine at a lower RPM. That way you can have the engine going slower which gives slightly better fuel economy and a little less noise. You'll have to math to figure out the right engine RPM. For my 3725 regular PTO RPM is 2500 which makes the engine RPM for 780 gear be 2500 * (540/780) or 1730 rpm. Since that's below the tach's green range for best operation with the emissions system I don't use the 780 gear.

 

[Grumpycat]

The governor is not connected to the PTO. It's connected to the "throttle" lever (and pedal if you have one). Setting the engine speed to the correct speed for running the PTO is manual.

More correctly I should have said the governor (or limiter) was connected to the PTO speed select switch on "540E" models. That when 540E is selected a lower maximum engine speed is enforced. That on 750-whatever models it is up to the operator to ensure PTO doesn't exceed the design limits of the implement.

 

[deserteagle71]

There is no governor or limiter on my Kubota M7060. As soon as the PTO is engaged, the dash display changes from engine hours to PTO rpm, but it is up to me as the operator to make sure I'm running a 540 rpm implement at 540 rpm. Since I almost always use e-PTO, to get the PTO rpm at 540 rpm my engine rpm has to be just over 1800 rpm. On a New Holland T4.75 running at e-PTO, 540 rpm is achieved at only 1560 engine rpm. So it would be very easy to run the implement at speeds it was not designed for.

No governor or limiter on my old John Deere 2020, with only one speed on the PTO, either! And since the tach on it doesn't seem to be accurate, I just rev the engine until the implement "feels" like it is turning at the correct speed. Been doing it that way for many years.

 

[kthompson]

If they don't have it indicated on your engine tach they really ought to have it in the manual. Don't think you will be able to calculate the engine rpm as you will not have the gearing info for the pto. Some tractors pto speed really increase a lot with the last say 300 of the engine rpms to reach there full speed.

I know some tractors have a speed selector lever on them as does my JD with 540e which I used a lot for spraying. One safety issue will point out on setting for the full pto speed with lower engine speeds, be sure to have them off before you pull out on a road. The travel speed is greatly limited. Experience there. lol

 

[oosik]

Most interesting and educational. My 2009 Kubota M6040 has neither governor/limiter nor e-PTO. When I engage the PTO - the dash also displays PTO rpm's along with engine rpm's. It takes a tad less than 2100 engine rpm's to achieve 540 PTO rpm's. It's quite obvious that if ePTO will get the job done - it's going to save on fuel.

However - the only implement I have "on the PTO" is my Wallenstein BX62S. From years of experience - I wouldn't be using e-PTO to run the chipper anyhow. A 6 1/2" pine will, at times, take a lot of power to complete the first three feet or so of the pine. I feed all the pines into the chipper - butt end first and whole.

 

[LouNY]

On my 8050 the economy pto or 780 rpm selection allows me to get 540 at 1700 rpm.
My tachometer does not have a marking for the proper engine rpm.
I use the economy mode quite often, my sickle bar mower, the tedder, and even on a 8 ft brush hog when I'm doing light triming and such.
Also when I'm running my generator. The Branson doesn't have any connection from the pto speed selection with the engine governor,
so if desired you can overspeed a 540 implement using it.
Some tractors especially the common rail with lots of computer control do tie the pto speed selection into the electronic governor to prevent overspeeding an implement.
Some of the Bransons actually have a 3 speed for the pto where the same shaft can be geared for 540, 780 or 1000 rpm at fullspeed, and as I recall many of the gray market had 4 speeds of course it also seems like they rotated in the opposite direction that ours do.

 

[ericm979]

Don't think you will be able to calculate the engine rpm as you will not have the gearing info for the pto.

All you need is the engine RPM for 540 rpm in the 540 PTO gear, and the target PTO rpm of the other PTO gear, as I showed in my last post. Since everything is using gears (even on an HST tractor) the relationships are all linear.