4 Wheel Drive and Tire Ratios

[npalen]

Makes one think that brakes on the front wheels wouldn't be such a bad thing. Never heard of them on a tractor.

 

[Redneck in training]

Makes one think that brakes on the front wheels wouldn't be such a bad thing. Never heard of them on a tractor.

Some European tractors (those that have fast "highway gear") have front suspension and front brakes or the 4WD automatically engages when brake pedal is pushed.
All Deutz tractors have front suspension.Don't know about speed and front brakes. I think they do the 4WD trick.

 

[tungularafishcamp]

Another handy bit of information would be a tire chart provided by the manufacturer of compatible "mix & match" sizes for those of us who would be interested in running R1's in the rear and R4's in the front or any other combination of R1, R4 & turf tires suitable for our

X2....

 

[LouNY]

Some European tractors (those that have fast "highway gear") have front suspension and front brakes or the 4WD automatically engages when brake pedal is pushed.
All Deutz tractors have front suspension.Don't know about speed and front brakes. I think they do the 4WD trick.

My branson 8050 activates the front when using the brakes, on the farm the IH magnums also do so and they are over 20 years old, also the Puma 125 and NH 6070 automatically engage the front axle when you apply both brakes.

 

[rScotty]

Some European tractors (those that have fast "highway gear") have front suspension and front brakes or the 4WD automatically engages when brake pedal is pushed.
All Deutz tractors have front suspension.Don't know about speed and front brakes. I think they do the 4WD trick.

I'd be interested in seeing how the Europeans design front brakes that work in the mud and water that a tractor's front wheels have to operate in. Rear brakes are often on a countershaft above the rear axle, but that's hard to do in the front.
Here in the US, some of the big equipment used a solenoid to automatically engage 4wd in some combination with the rear brakes and speed. Tricky to get that right and still protect the drive train. I still prefer the manual switch or lever.
rScotty

 

[npalen]

I was thinking that the front brakes would be beneficial on 2WD rather than 4WD tractors. One example would be when roto tilling where the tilling action will sometimes propel the tractor forward if a lot of weight on front of tractor. Rear wheel brakes are ineffective in that situation.
A loaded FEL when going downhill would seemingly benefit greatly with front wheel brakes on a 2WD.