Well look what the cat dragged in... M7040!

[TripleR]

Truer words were never spoken. The tractor is very intimidating! Learning to control it will take seat time. Luckily I've got a project for it this coming week that should provide a multitude of hours in the saddle. We've got 7 LARGE brush piles that were supposed to be positioned outside the boundries of the vineyard. And they were, until I changed the layout. Now I need to move 3 of the 7. I'll be giving Rioux Farm a call in the morning for a set of QA pallet forks to assist in the project.

I drove the tractor for a couple of hours this weekend. I having a lot of issues with getting it to go slow. Have not learned the correct "feathering" for the clutch yet - so I'm way more jerky than I'd like to be. It seems I have two speeds when I take off - 0 and 5 mph - nothing in between. I though maybe the throttle was set to high, but I had already lowered it as much as it would go. Then I noticed the tractor's idle is set at 975 rpm. Does that seem a bit high - or is that about right?

Our M8540 is set at 800 RPM's, but I bump it up to 1200 or so to work, but we have a 12/12, so our low gear may be lower than on the M7040. There have been times when I wish I had gotten the "creep" option as I too have yet to get "feathering" the clutch down; don't really think you can with a hydraulic clutch pack like you can on others though I may be wrong. Precise maneuvering with an M Series is an art I have yet to master and it is not for lack of trying or just me or you as my sons say the same thing and they are better drivers than I.

Once set up though, you will adapt as I have and yes the only way to do this is with seat time. I have spent a lot of time on our or so it seems and am still not as good as I would like; probably never will be.

 

[SanDucerro]

Our M8540 is set at 800 RPM's, but I bump it up to 1200 or so to work, but we have a 12/12, so our low gear may be lower than on the M7040. There have been times when I wish I had gotten the "creep" option as I too have yet to get "feathering" the clutch down; don't really think you can with a hydraulic clutch pack like you can on others though I may be wrong. Precise maneuvering with an M Series is an art I have yet to master and it is not for lack of trying or just me or you as my sons say the same thing and they are better drivers than I.

Once set up though, you will adapt as I have and yes the only way to do this is with seat time. I have spent a lot of time on our or so it seems and am still not as good as I would like; probably never will be.

Well, that's a relief (in a strange sort of way). I did call the dealer this morning and he pretty much said the same as you - there ain't no creep and the "jump" or "hop" I'm getting is normal. He's going to go out an play with the gears on one of the tractors on the lot to see if he can come up with a gear combo that works better - but if not then I'll just need to work at becoming proficent with the setup as is.

Having as much trouble as I had this weekend kinda bruised my ego. I've been driving for so long, on so many different types of vehicles, that I felt I should be able to do better than I was. Reminds me of a story...

I drove fork lifts when I was in high school and became pretty proficient at it. This was when I was 15 and already had a motorcycle license. At any rate, when I finally went to take my drivers test for my "car" license I had a state tropper in the car who - while looking down at his paperwork said, "Put it in reverse and back up as quickly as you can." I was doing about 30 in reverse when he looked up... He about freaked out and I thought for sure he was going to flunk me. But he didn't - we were straight as an arrow and I was totally in control. I have a feeling he had never gone backward that fast - and certainly not during a drivers test with a 16 year old! :laughing:

 

[foreman Etexas]

You got the hyd.shuttle? Only thing I know about them is keep your foot off the clutch silly...

 

[TripleR]

I don't know the ratios on the 7040, but on mine in 1st gear low range I can go pretty slow and often use it when bush hogging up close to stuff at 2250 RPM's, but I have to keep my foot ready to hit the brakes in case I misjudge. It does take some getting use to when getting off our L5740 on which I can take my pallet forks and flip rocks if I need to.

I think with time, you will get use too operating it, as I have mentioned on other threads, we went from a synchro-shuttle Case to the M8540 and there definitely was a learning curve, but the hydro-shuttle is great once you get use to it. It did take me quite some time to stop using the foot clutch when changing directions though.

 

[DT86]

You got the hyd.shuttle? Only thing I know about them is keep your foot off the clutch silly...

I don't even use mine to change gears, just the shuttle.

 

[Idahoguy]

I've got a M7040 with the hydro transmission. I can't stop it in gear with the brakes without using the clutch.....any gear. I'm used to my backhoe which when you use the brakes it stops....in any gear. Also a hydro trans. On the 7040 I thought I would be able to use the brakes to stop it while it was in gear. I almost drove through a couple of things when I first got it.

 

[DT86]

I've got a M7040 with the hydro transmission. I can't stop it in gear with the brakes without using the clutch.....any gear. I'm used to my backhoe which when you use the brakes it stops....in any gear. Also a hydro trans. On the 7040 I thought I would be able to use the brakes to stop it while it was in gear. I almost drove through a couple of things when I first got it.

What you have are two different things.

The tractor has a hydraulic shuttle and the backhoe has a hydro trans that acts similarly to an auto trans in a car. (Brake will stop completely) But you already figured that part out.

On the tractor just put the shuttle in neutral then brake to stop.

 

[ovrszd]

I don't even use mine to change gears, just the shuttle.

The gear changes are a lot easier if you flip the shuttle to neutral as DT86 said.

 

[SanDucerro]

Going in to the dealer tomorrow to pick up a set of QA Pallet Forks. While I'm there we're gonna play with the tractors on the lot to see if we can duplicate the issue I'm having. Kinda look at this a dealer provided training...:laughing:

 

[xring100]

My m8540 is not exactly smooth either i have found that when i need precise movement like hooking up fel attachments if you ride the brake on clutch release a little bit and feather the clutch its very smooth. Wet clutch and wet brakes have no problem with a little bit of slippage. As long as you dont ride it very long. Automatic transmissions slip a lot more than you would suspect while shifting

Dave