Today's disaster - rethinking HST

[whistlepig]

Going down slopes it is better to let the engine do the braking to the rear tires. Going from engine braking to foot pedal braking is an unpleasant transition. It is the start of a slide.

 

[gregfender]

it seemed both wheels were spinning freely. Again, this was just a lawn tractor, but it got me thinking.

...keep in mind I am pretty sure both wheels were spinning freely...it was hard to see as I began my less-than-graceful, flying, *****-first dismount.:ashamed:

 

[zman007007]

did you see any skid marks on the grass,ie. to see if you were sliding?

 

[John_in_TN]

Going down slopes it is better to let the engine do the braking to the rear tires. Going from engine braking to foot pedal braking is an unpleasant transition. It is the start of a slide.

With a gear drive YES, but NOT with the HST machines I have used. Releasing the GO peddle virtally stops rear wheel rotation and appling the brakes locks them solid.

 

[whistlepig]

Code 54 beat me to it but: it sounds more like you just lost traction and slide. If the problem was a hydrostat release, the brakes should have still worked.

Loosing traction with one rear wheel (one wheel spins backward while the other rolls forward), is very scary and can happen with any type transmission, and the brakes won't help UNLESS you ALSO have a differential lock engaged. The brake pedal on my JD X740 engages both the brakes and the diffential lock.

A differential lock engaged while going down a steep hill would really be a bad idea.

 

[gregfender]

Going down slopes it is better to let the engine do the braking to the rear tires. Going from engine braking to foot pedal braking is an unpleasant transition. It is the start of a slide.

It seemed there was no engine breaking at all, that's when i hit the foot pedal....

also, there were no skid marks except when the rear began to skid.

 

[John_in_TN]

A differential lock engaged while going down a steep hill would really be a bad idea.

Why is it a bad idea?

 

[whistlepig]

It seemed there was no engine breaking at all, that's when i hit the foot pedal....

also, there were no skid marks except when the rear began to skid.

That is the major difference between a lawn tractor HST and a tractor HST.

 

[SandburRanch]

Today was a gorgeous day for working in the yard...65 degrees and sunny. So the wife, myself, MIL and a couple of nephews trim some old brush, haul everything to the burn pile and then call it a day...almost.

I decide to take the old Craftsman lawntractor up and down the hill on my yard a few times to knock down some winter growth. Fairly steep yard, between 30-35 degrees, perhaps slightly more at the edge. I have the HST lever all the way down but as soon as I hit the steep part of the slope it takes off...clutch/brake does nothing. Long story short, machine starts to skid, pitches me off, fortunately doesn't roll on me, engine shuts down as soon as I make my less than graceful dismount, and I am left on the ground, skinned, bruised and royally pi$$ed off.

This brings me to my concern and I hope some of you folks with more experience and knowledge can help me out. I am in the market to purchase a new tractor for the place. While I won't be using it to mow the yard, the rest of my property has a few hills and such like the yard. I had been leaning really hard toward HST but after today I am not so sure. Granted, I know that a HST lawn tractor is set up different than a a HST CUT, but if a complete release can happen on the lawn trac., could it ever happen on a CUT? I would hate to find myself barrelling down on of the hills on the property with less than complete control.

I appreciate any feedback!

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Sure glad you were just skinned, bruised and royally pi$$ed. As you probably know that could have been real serious.

Were you thrown because of the rear end coming around?

 

[whistlepig]

Why is it a bad idea?

Tractors will not steer with both back wheels locked.