Thoughts on full time 4WD?

[Diggin It]

I've heard it's bad, maybe very bad to be in 4WD all the time. But that also seems to mean even when driving straight and level. I rarely do that. My property is almost all sloped to some extent. My movements are almost always positioning to do some digging, carrying dirt in the FEL, pulling a trailer or similar up or downhill, or mowing hills. All is at slow speeds. I find I have to be in Low and 4WD to do much of that at all.

Where am I in the risk of damage from using full time 4WD? If I mow the more level areas, I can go to 2WD with no problem. And I rarely if ever go on the road where I would be in High range and 2WD..

 

[RalphVa]

If you have slopes at all, always stay in 4wd. Without 4wd, you don't have 4 wheel brakes. The tractor can skip down a slope with no control. Been there; done that when I forgot to put it back into 4wd after going down our paved driveway.

Ralph

 

[ruffdog]

Happy reading..................................

https://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/owning-operating/398368-when-use-four-wheel-drive.html

 

[atsah]

These SCUT's need to be in 4WD a lot of the time when doing work with them, I use it a lot, only time it's not a good idea is when on pavement and there is no "give" to the ground.. If they didn't have 4WD they wouldn't be worth much that's for sure..

 

[MossRoad]

Happy reading..................................

https://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/owning-operating/398368-when-use-four-wheel-drive.html

No, it's devolved into a peeing match about semantics, with the occasional personal jab.

 

[ruffdog]

No, it's devolved into a peeing match about semantics, with the occasional personal jab.

That is why I put the link in. Maybe we could read and learn from our mistakes instead of repeating them.:drink:

 

[MossRoad]

That is why I put the link in. Maybe we could read and learn from our mistakes instead of repeating them.:drink:

HAHAHHAHAa! Thanks. :laughing:

 

[oosik]

Hmmm---- my land is kind of - - well, I can go there or heavens no, I can only get there by walking. I pulled out an old apple tree yesterday. Pretty hefty pull but not to the point where I needed 4WD.

I've owned a 4WD vehicle, pickup or Jeep type, all my life. It is pretty easy to cause damage to a 4WD system if used improperly. Damage to a 4WD system usually means big dollars.

My Kubota M6040 is heavy - 10,100 pounds - and gets good traction even in 2WD. It has to be a pretty serious situation for me to use 4WD.

 

[ruffdog]

There was a time that most trucks were 4x2 and 4x4 tractors were very rare. It required a different driving style and technique and chaining-up when needed. We still got the work done.......:thumbsup:

 

[CMV]

What a lot of people miss with a generic question like that is "it depends" really comes into play. If your perspective is from a much heavier, larger tire machine compared to an MT125, their need for 4WD is way more infrequent than yours. So to them, being in 4WD all the time is pointless.

Heck, on my XJ2025 I pretty much stayed in 4wd except on pavement. It was light enough that just letting a corner of the bush hog dig a little on uneven ground would anchor the thing! So staying in 4wd even for basic stuff like bush hogging relatively flat ground was more convenient. On a lawn you want to do as little damage as possible or on a paved road, 2WD. Otherwise if you're more comfortable leaving it in 4WD, do that. With anything in the bucket heavier than dry mulch always a good idea since on the smaller machines you can be a lot lighter in the back end than you think.

 

[Rock Crawler]

I move from the garage across the asphalt to the work area. Once I leave the asphalt it goes to 4x4 and it stays there until the end of the day for the ride back to the garage on the asphalt. 98.9% of the machines logged time is in 4x4. The other 1.1% of logged time is on asphalt or concrete moving to/from the job site. If the front axle eats itself, I don't care. I'll rip it apart and rebuild it and go right back to 4x4.

I'm doing work, not saving parts.

 

[LouNY]

I use 4wd frequently, I try not to on pavement. Most of the tractors that I drive the 4wd is a switch engaging or disengaging a multi-disk wet clutch.
I will almost routinely use 4wd unless the field is in good shape and the 4wd fights me in the turns.
On the smaller units I would definitely have it in 4wd when using or carrying something in the loader.
Or if the surface I was on was the least bit soft or slick.

As far as my pickups many times I've pulled out on to pavement in 4 wd till I was going good to change back to 2wd.
My favorite transfer cases on the pickups was the old full time where I had the choice of Hi Lock 4,Hi 4, Neutral, Lo 4, Lo Lock 4.

My RAM has an auto 4wd but it is the worst thing about the truck.

 

[MossRoad]

There was a time that most trucks were 4x2 and 4x4 tractors were very rare. It required a different driving style and technique and chaining-up when needed. We still got the work done.......:thumbsup:

Yeah, but we also ate food from lead cans and drank from a shared tin cup hanging next to the hand sink on the factory floor.

 

[LouNY]

Yeah, but we also ate food from lead cans and drank from a shared tin cup hanging next to the hand sink on the factory floor.

With difficulty at times, nothing so much fun as having to run chains in mud and repairing them 10 times a day :thumbsdown:

This is in reference to the post you are quoting

 

[ruffdog]

With difficulty at times, nothing so much fun as having to run chains in mud and repairing them 10 times a day

If the job demands being "in mud", having chains does help. If your running a skidder and it is soft, you run chains. As for repairing them 10 times a day, you should buy better chains and fit them better.

 

[LouNY]

If the job demands being "in mud", having chains does help. If your running a skidder and it is soft, you run chains. As for repairing them 10 times a day, you should buy better chains and fit them better.

I have been fortunate that I haven't had to do that in excess of 40 years ago, with 100+ hp in 2wd farm tractor in muddy fields trying to harvest corn with heavy double ring chains digging and chewing grabbing ahold of rocks they would break and it didn't matter how they where fitted. When forage for dairy cows had to be harvested or you wouldn't have an income you did what needed to be done, when it was needed. And forty years ago you didn't see the big welded ring chains on skidders, when those boys worked rocky ledgey woods they had to repair chains frequently also.

We are fortunate that now days it's 200 hp plus with 4wd and diff locks, but when a steep field gets greasy it can still be a handful. I chopped enough this morning for green chop feed and one load to freshen up an ag bag and the fields that we have left are slick enough I had to dead head all the way around and back and only chop on the down grade. We don't like rutting up or compacting our field as we try to do mostly no-till as it saves soil erosion, soil nutrients, fuel, time and labor costs.

The big boys are out chopping today all they can, and they are having to chop into dump carts, then run the dump cart over to there trucks, sothey have that 600 HP chopper, a 300+ HP 8 wheeled tractor hauling around a dump cart to fill the trucks, instead of the truck running along side the chopper so they are down to 1/2 the efficiency they normally have.

And as far as buying better chains, I am fortunate enough to be able to buy the good European style studded chains for my tractors for snow and ice. But, I know that when they get some age on them they will require repairs and that is always at the worst of times, now you are more then welcome to buy me a few spare sets so I don't have to repair mine, 18.4-30's, 16.9-28s, 18.4-38's 20.4-38's and 42's anytime.

 

[ruffdog]

Here we go again...................................:dance1:

 

[Diggin It]

Maybe I should have specified under 40 HP, but I thought putting it in the LS section and referring to my own needs would suffice rather than an open discussion for all types of machines, sizes and uses.

 

[atsah]

All SCUT's need 4WD more than heavier tractors do.. Our R4 tires are wide, if they were narrow you wouldn't need 4WD as often but you would dig stuff up..

 

[GirlWhoWantsTractor]

Maybe I should have specified under 40 HP, but I thought putting it in the LS section and referring to my own needs would suffice rather than an open discussion for all types of machines, sizes and uses.

My property is mostly hilly/steep. If I start downhill and forget 4WD, I could have an "uncontrolled descent." Even if 4WD causes excessive wear (and I've seen little or no evidence of that in a modern tractor) it's better than death, or even a rollover, which I don't care to experience. So mine is in 4WD 100% of the time, as I never go on pavement.

4WD also gives you a lot more traction and therefore power. You start spinning a wheel and you've got ruts to fix. Those big farming tractors may not need it, but our SCUTS definitely do IMO.