When to use four wheel drive?

[wolc123]

I have a 2005 JD 4120 with about 1000 hours on it. I use 4wd whenever I am operating on soft ground or doing front loader work. That ends up being most of the time. About the only time I have it in 2wd is when I am bush hogging fields in the summer when it is good and dry. I bought the tractor new and the only thing I have done to it as far as maintenance is change the engine oil and filter every 100 hours. I also changed the antifreeze last year. All the other fluids and filters are original, and it has never leaked a drop. I always make sure to take it out of 4wd when I have it on the road, which don't happen too much.

Back when I bought it, I checked out NH and Kubota. I am glad I went green, and glad I got it when you could still get an American diesel engine pre tier-4.

 

[oosik]

Before you are up to the frame in mud. And to back out of the situation - not continue on forward ...............

 

[fruitcakesa]

Before you are up to the frame in mud. And to back out of the situation - not continue on forward ...............

:thumbsup: That is a hard earned lesson.

 

[Oaktree]

Back when I bought it, I checked out NH and Kubota. I am glad I went green, and glad I got it when you could still get an American diesel engine pre tier-4.

Doesn't that have a Yanmar engine in it?

 

[oosik]

I've seen this more times than I even care to think about. The young, macho, indestructible stud locks his 4WD in and just KNOWS he will "make it on thru". I ALWAYS make THEM come back to my 4WD rig - string out the cable and hook it onto their buried rig. It tends to help in their learning process .................

The "real show" is when this "STUD" brings along his girlfriend. He is bound and determined to show how tough his rig really is. Imagine this picture - a 4WD vehicle - up to its frame, stuck in a muddy slough - all four tires spinning wildly - mud being thrown twenty feet high and everywhere. Because it's a nice day and he is out to impress everybody - he has the soft top folded down - a volcano of mud is now raining down on the vehicle - including the girlfriend. The girlfriend is SCREAMING MAD - she is shouting profanities that even I have never heard. In her anger - she jump out of the vehicle to abandon this scene. She sinks half way to her cute little butt in this muddy slough.

I've seen this scene several times. I laugh so very hard - I will begin to feel faint.

 

[LD48750]

I seem to remember being told 4 wheel drive is to get you out of what 2 wheel drive got you into.

 

[WranglerX]

As soon and I loose traction and forward motion in 2WD...

Dale

 

[Jstpssng]

If you wait until after you're stuck to shift into 4WD, it's often too late. The trick is to learn the limitations of driver and vehicle and don't exceed them... and always have a backup plan. I used to travel with a 5 foot hilift, 2 ton Wyeth-Scott comealong, 100 feet of chain and a chainsaw. Then I bought my first ATV... Often the road/trail is just slimy, or you need to get past that one hole in an otherwise decent road.
If I don't use 4WD on my tractor I might as well park in in the yard and plant daisies in it, then go buy an old 2WD farm tractor for the few times I need it in my garden. Between pulling trees, plowing snow, or moving gravel/wood, about the only time I shift into 2 WD is when on the road from my house to/from wherever I'm using it.

 

[RalphVa]

Last Fall I bought a JD 3038e I really like, but how/when do you use 4x4? Sounds like a stupid question, but I forget and leave it in 4wd a lot. I was bushhogging just now in 2wd, but hilly parts and it started to rain I had to put it in 4x4. I guess my point is does it hurt to leave it in 4x4 or better not to. Thanks!

ALWAYS be in 4wd unless on pavement. Otherwise, you only have 2 wheel brakes and not even that if going downhill without much weight on the rear. The rear wheels will just skid. If skid, they can easily skid the tractor sideways, and you can end up rolling it downhill sideways, with hopefully you buckled into the seat and not flung underneath the tractor.

 

[oosik]

I'm SELDOM in 4WD. I would guess it depends upon where you are and the terrain. My 80 acres is pretty flat with a few valleys here & there. There are places I will not go - even in 4WD. I can get to some of the difficult places with my ATV but it's a REAL heart pounder. There are cliffs on my property that would take a skilled climber to navigate. The cliffs are completely vertical and I stay away from them with all forms of vehicles. A pictures of parts of my property. See that red dots in the little "valleys" in the cliffs on the far side. Not even on the ATV. I tried it once and "WE" almost rolled down into the lake. The cliffs on both sides of the lake - stay the heck away from the tops of them. The dirt will slide off the bedrock and you will be in the lake in a heartbeat. The lake is 80 feet deep.

You can say - "Well, it's obvious you shouldn't have vehicles up on those cliff tops". Not to some. I've had IDIOTS drive their pickups right up to the cliff edge on this side of the lake. Makes me so dam mad. If that vehicle fell into the lake there would be oil contamination forever. Bodies float and could be fished out.

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