3616 hst boggs down going up hill...

[moparrob]

Hello- I know its under warranty still, but the dealer won't come an hour drive to me and I dont have a trailer to bring it to him, so I'm open to suggestions before I rent a trailer and bring it to the dealer.

The tractor is 4 months old, equipped with loader and 3720 backhoe, neither of which has been removed since I took delivery. The tractor boggs down and nearly stalls while going up my gravel driveway, which is 800 feet and has a 16% grade.

On level terrain, the tractor works fine in all 3 gear ranges. It never liked going up the driveway in high range, and it would only go up in mid range with an empty loader, but low range it felt like it would climb anything.

Now it bogs down and nearly dies when going up the driveway even in low range. If i dont take my foot off the hst pedal when it boggs down, it will die. Its almost as if the brakes are on but they arent, and once I finally get it up the driveway to level ground, it moves around fine.

Dealer said I should check all the hydraulic connections, but I havent ever touched them. They all look fine, and the backhoe and loader work great.

Is there anything else I could check or is it likely that there is a hydraulic blockage?

Thanks for your suggestions!

 

[mguitas]

Maybe old pilgrim might be able to help with this one. He got a 3016.

 

[Egon]

Take a look at the fuel supply system?

 

[tman1020]

Not super familiar with your machine but do you have hydraulic power running to your backhoe all the time or can you turn it on and off when you're not using it. Seems like there should be a rear remote with a lever you can turn on and off or if it's a PTO pump you could turn the PTO on and off. If that's not it possibly the air filter for the fuel filter.

 

[CobyRupert]

Could be a lot of things, but you do know that a hydro isn't like an automatic car, right? It's sort of opposite.
That is, letting UP on the pedal is like shifting to a lower gear (to climb a hill), whereas pressing down is like shifting to a high gear.
When engine runs out of power, let up on the hydro pedal to travel at a speed that engine has enough torque for.

 

[davepg1]

You might want to check the hydro drive fluid level directly below the hydraulic speed knob. Possibility with the attachments you have the dealer may not have checked the fluid level after the backhoe was installed.

 

[SPYDERLK]

As Egon said: fuel system. Most likely the fuel filter.
larry

 

[oldpilgrim]

Could be a lot of things, but you do know that a hydro isn't like an automatic car, right? It's sort of opposite.
That is, letting UP on the pedal is like shifting to a lower gear (to climb a hill), whereas pressing down is like shifting to a high gear.
When engine runs out of power, let up on the hydro pedal to travel at a speed that engine has enough torque for.

This would be my first guess. An hst takes a little 'muscle memory' sometimes for a new user.

 

[C4Ranch]

Might be 4 months old, but how many hours?

Most new tractors suggest its a good idea to change filters after 50 hrs to remove anything that may be loose in the hydro.

Agree with fuel delivery and also possible hydraulic parasite. Make sure no valves are in detent or open slightly causing a dead heading situation.

Post back and let us know.

 

[moparrob]

Update: my mistake was assuming the engine ran fine, since it ran fine working at my neighbors house and only started acting up going up my driveway. I started it up and it ran fine for a minute, then once i got the loader and backhoe raised up to move the tractor, the engine started surging and bogging before I even stepped on the pedal. The visible fuel filter was clogged pretty bad, so I'll flush the tank and replace the filters. Its only got 15 hours on the meter, so i must have a bacteria from a bad batch of fuel. Thanks for your help, and I'll update once its totally resolved.