Had my first regen today

[MHarryE]

Part of it could be an old gear transmission vs. power shift. He has to go the speed of the heaviest part of the windrow where I can shift up and Dow - actually auto downshift when the tractor pulls down to the engine speed I have it set for and upshift when the power meter drops below 80%. I have MFWD vs his 2WD - a major advantage in soft fields, especially as the chopper boxes fill. The 1486 could be down on power due to age and hours but it did have a rebuild so I believe it has less than 2,000 hours since overhaul. Lack of gearing, lack of 4wd, and lack of instrumentation (I can see what power level I am at and don't have to guess) all improve efficiency.

 

[JasG]

Part of it could be an old gear transmission vs. power shift. He has to go the speed of the heaviest part of the windrow where I can shift up and Dow - actually auto downshift when the tractor pulls down to the engine speed I have it set for and upshift when the power meter drops below 80%. I have MFWD vs his 2WD - a major advantage in soft fields, especially as the chopper boxes fill. The 1486 could be down on power due to age and hours but it did have a rebuild so I believe it has less than 2,000 hours since overhaul. Lack of gearing, lack of 4wd, and lack of instrumentation (I can see what power level I am at and don't have to guess) all improve efficiency.

There are a lot of variables when chopping. One farmer I worked for had two similar Deere tractors, one with power shift one without. These were the same model and similar year and hours. The one without the power shift was about 10-15 HP more at the drawbar because of the transmission mainly. Yet it also weighed at least a 1000lbs more and could only shift between high and low basically where the other could shift anytime. I found the power shift tractor at least 20% faster because I could shift up a gear or two on headlands or down hills where the other you could not very easy. I could also on an uphill start out in a higher gear and if needed down shift as the load filled. I could also shuttle to a wagon change faster. The condition of the knives and setting of the shear bar make a huge difference in power used to cut. These tractors were used on the same chopper, it just depended on which one was free.

The one without the power shift could pull a plow a little faster, but that was the only advantage it had. The power shift tractor could make up some difference in muddy or uneven ground again by shifting on the fly.

In another post you said he's blowing black smoke, which some it probably will. If it's blowing a lot though I would think he might have a air cleaner issue.

 

[MHarryE]

My first regen today at 31 hours was a non event. Didn't know anything was happening except for the yellow regen light being lit and the DPF indicator blinking 100% and 0%. This happened at a time when due to field conditions I was running extremely low load - it took 15 minutes. The book doesn't give an indication how long a regen will take. I chopped 12 loads vs. my brother in laws 7. Power shift and 4wd sure make up for lower power. I may yet learn I depend on Kubota's auto shift too much because I run much closer to peak power than I would without it knowing the tractor will shift down when it thinks it needs to.

 

[ovrszd]

My first regen today at 31 hours was a non event. Didn't know anything was happening except for the yellow regen light being lit and the DPF indicator blinking 100% and 0%. This happened at a time when due to field conditions I was running extremely low load - it took 15 minutes. The book doesn't give an indication how long a regen will take. I chopped 12 loads vs. my brother in laws 7. Power shift and 4wd sure make up for lower power. I may yet learn I depend on Kubota's auto shift too much because I run much closer to peak power than I would without it knowing the tractor will shift down when it thinks it needs to.

Evidently the tractor's computer didn't think you were at extremely low load and was able to Regen without any power adjustments. I'm assuming you were at PTO speed?? Curious to see what it does when it goes into Regen mode while doing piddly idling work. Keep us posted.

 

[wmonroe]

Good to hear the tractor is working out well.

 

[MHarryE]

All the regen is supposed to do is to add fuel into the system to bring the DPF up to the required temp to burn out the soot. If you are working harder it will need less added fuel to bring it up to regen temperature. My operating at light load would therefore have cost me extra fuel and according to the book required a longer regen time. I was concerned about the engine speed limitation during regen (the computer will not let the engine run at low speed during regen) but I found it would let me reduce to low idle for re-engaging the PTO

So far I am pleased with fuel consumption, very pleased with lack of soot (I don't miss the diesel smoke odor at all), and surprised at the power. I still worry about having a regen at the end of the day and having to sit for 15 minutes while the regen is completed. The operator manual doesn't address that.

With the cleaner exhaust I wish I could afford to trade my L5740 for a L6060 based on the performance of this tractor. My L5740 sits in our heated garage during the winter and gets used nearly every day. It sometimes sets off the smoke detector in the garage on start-up due to the dirty exhaust and the garage is too smelly to work in until the air exchanger cleans the air.

 

[kcender]

All the regen is supposed to do is to add fuel into the system to bring the DPF up to the required temp to burn out the soot. If you are working harder it will need less added fuel to bring it up to regen temperature. My operating at light load would therefore have cost me extra fuel and according to the book required a longer regen time. I was concerned about the engine speed limitation during regen (the computer will not let the engine run at low speed during regen) but I found it would let me reduce to low idle for re-engaging the PTO

So far I am pleased with fuel consumption, very pleased with lack of soot (I don't miss the diesel smoke odor at all), and surprised at the power. I still worry about having a regen at the end of the day and having to sit for 15 minutes while the regen is completed. The operator manual doesn't address that.

With the cleaner exhaust I wish I could afford to trade my L5740 for a L6060 based on the performance of this tractor. My L5740 sits in our heated garage during the winter and gets used nearly every day. It sometimes sets off the smoke detector in the garage on start-up due to the dirty exhaust and the garage is too smelly to work in until the air exchanger cleans the air.

Sounds like you prefer the new DPF engines which is good to hear from an actual owner of one.

 

[ovrszd]

So far I am pleased with fuel consumption, very pleased with lack of soot (I don't miss the diesel smoke odor at all), and surprised at the power. I still worry about having a regen at the end of the day and having to sit for 15 minutes while the regen is completed. The operator manual doesn't address that.

I am surprised about the soot with Tier IV. You assume they are cleaner because that's the goal but how much cleaner is what surprised me. Our Grader is two years old and the inside of the exhaust pipe is totally clean. You can wipe your finger in it and not get dirty.

I haven't experienced a Regen at the end of use yet. I'm curious if the machine will allow itself to be shut down or not.

 

[nspec]

A company doing business with ours has a fleet of 3 year old Mack tri-axles. Don't know which engines they have, but they all have def tanks. The inside of their exhaust stacks are pefectly clean as well. I've never seen anything like it. Looks like the day it was made - just bare, clean metal. And if you all remember just a few years back, a Mack was the truck that ALWAYS smoked under load.

 

[wmonroe]

It is impressive how clean the exhaust is. My dad has an 08 3/4 ton truck with a diesel and the emissions equipment, he has about 65,000 miles and the inside of the tailpipe is clean. I have an 07 3/4 ton diesel without the emissions equip and there is thick soot in my tailpipe.