Why mow in first gear? (tach says 540rpm 1st)

[slowzuki]

Its related to the ground speed pto operation, which I presume you either don't have or is not engaged. Pretty rare on tractors now. Use whatever gear you'd like, don't use ground speed pto function for mowing, its for things like powered trailers and certain spreaders calibrated in lb per acre etc.

 

[Reg]

Ask the question again in the Zetor, Century, Branson forum.

You will get replies from other OWNERS - with all due respect most of the replies here have been mere guesses by folk who have never seen a Kukje tractor, still less sat in the seat or driven one (-:

I will look at mine the next time I see it, but that could be a week or more away.
I may reply again in ZCB in a week or so, if you start the thread.

 

[MMagis]

Though I understand that what’s he’s seeing is tractor specific, the question was “do I have to mow in first gear?”. I’d like to think all of us are “qualified” to give him an answer.

 

[KenEmAll]

I believe SNAKER had it right..."I'm wondering if your tach mark is referencing 1st gear PTO rather than the ground drive 1st gear." As I do have 2 PTO settings as others have stated.

Since I'm green to it, I wasn't sure I'd be hurting anything by trying a higher gear. It certainly seems like it has the juice to handle mowing in higher gear.

I'm excited now! The thought of continually mowing 10 acres in 1st gear was making me ill.

Thank you all for your input!

 

[EE_Bota]

I believe SNAKER had it right..."I'm wondering if your tach mark is referencing 1st gear PTO rather than the ground drive 1st gear." As I do have 2 PTO settings as others have stated.

Since I'm green to it, I wasn't sure I'd be hurting anything by trying a higher gear. It certainly seems like it has the juice to handle mowing in higher gear.

I'm excited now! The thought of continually mowing 10 acres in 1st gear was making me ill.

Thank you all for your input!

Since you are green to it, it is never a bad idea to spend some time in the safety section of the site. Try to look at lots of safety topics rather than getting too bogged down on the sensational ones.

 

[Ken]

I guess I'm not sure what you're saying. Did I imply otherwise?

Nope just agreeing with you.
I set the throttle to rpm speed needed then use the transmission to travel at what ever rate of movement needed.
There was a time when no tach on tractors and still was able to farm using the sickle mower just by sound of the cutting.
Also when the power was driven by belt speed to a threasher. or a hammer mill just by the sound of the engine and how the driven machine was working. No tach,No computers, or No book of formula's and of course No air/conditioning.
Yesterday a neighbor took his tractor to be repaired because the a/c went out it was more important than getting the hay cut.
ken

 

[MMagis]

Nope just agreeing with you.

Okay, I was worried I said something I didn't mean too. I do that some times.

Yesterday a neighbor took his tractor to be repaired because the a/c went out it was more important than getting the hay cut.

I guess I wish I could be that picky. I've been running without a tach for as long I can remember. It seems time to get things done is in short supply for me, so unless the tractor can't move, it usually doesn't get fixed.

 

[leonz]

I have usually thought the tach. rpm was from engine speed 540 rpm set for pto. and the ground speed driven by gear ratio of transmission. But then still new to tractor operations around 60 years.
ken

On my fathers Ford Jubilee he had a a combination gauge which had the tachometer and P.T.O., speed on the same dial and it worked fine for mowing, manure spreading, beet digging, feed grinding, silage making, hay baler and elevator operation etc., which is what the tractor was designed for anyway.

:thumbsup:

 

[Soundguy]

I agree with MMagis..

I'd rather call the replies to date, educated opinions, on the subject, vs guesses.

the opinions expressed here likely culminate from thousands of collective seat time hours behind many various tractor steering wheels.

to distill all that knowledge and 2nd hand discard it as a guess is a disservice to the responders IMHO.

while specific tractor functions are just that.. specific. there are many simularities and general conditions that are being taken into account here.

look at a riding lawnmower with a 'mowing' throttle setting for engine rpm, and then a gear-range selector... doesn't take a masters degree in 'murray' lawnmowers to decide if or if you can't mow in some other gear.

the root issue here, is if the op is using a machine with a 540 rpm pto, on a 540 rpm implement, if he is setting the engine to the proper speed so the ratio at the pto, with all gearing involved, is correct... from there, the question of ground speed should be dictated by environment and operator tolerance. Unless this isi a ground speed pto, ( and if it was, engine rpm would be irrelevant ), then ground speed should have no bearing on pto speed. ie.. what gear the op chooses to mow in should not effect pto speed, as long as he has selected propper pto / engine speed, and is mowing at a rate that he can maintain those rpms, and travel in a safe manner.

that's NOT a guess. That's informed input.

soundguy

Ask the question again in the Zetor, Century, Branson forum.

You will get replies from other OWNERS - with all due respect most of the replies here have been mere guesses by folk who have never seen a Kukje tractor, still less sat in the seat or driven one (-:

I will look at mine the next time I see it, but that could be a week or more away.
I may reply again in ZCB in a week or so, if you start the thread.

 

[slowzuki]

I've operated about 15 different makes of tractor, maybe 30 different models, and have closely looked over another couple of hundred models beyond that. They all work roughly the same from 1940's tractors to brand new. The only one I've ever had a bit of trouble figuring out has been a Belarus with no labels on it. Had levers to disengage the hydraulics while cranking so it would start better in cold weather. 3 point hitch is pretty strange too. Pto speed markings are pretty straight forward, knowing the foreign language manual writers, we likely have a more accurate answer than the manual.

Ask the question again in the Zetor, Century, Branson forum.

You will get replies from other OWNERS - with all due respect most of the replies here have been mere guesses by folk who have never seen a Kukje tractor, still less sat in the seat or driven one (-:

I will look at mine the next time I see it, but that could be a week or more away.
I may reply again in ZCB in a week or so, if you start the thread.