4wd or 2wd?

[rbargeron]

......In our country we may use the term (marasmatic) differently......

Hi Jacob - No offense taken in any way. I was unfamiliar with the word - according to Google, one definition is "insufficient uptake of nutrients". I'm overweight so I joked it doesn't apply to me. I also looked up the ZL 1 315 tractor model - very nice tractor you have there. Take care, Dick B

 

[MHarryE]

If using 4wd all the time is a mistake Kubota really screwed u when they designed my GR2120 lawn tractor with full time 4wd. Same with BMW and my 328xi also with full time although the BMW has a front to rear torque splitter. But if you take the example of our 4 MFWD ag tractors, once in the field and tillage implement lowered, switching to 4wd is a readily apparent ease on the rear power train. The rear wheels no longer have to push the fronts three ugh the dirt in addition to pulling an implement. The fronts are sharing the load, wheel slippage noticeable increases, and I often see up to a 20% increase in ground speed due to the reduced slippage (wasted energy and field damage) when in rear drive only. I have the benefit of GPS in addition to the tractor readout. The tractor readout is a function of wheel rotation while the GPS is reading my actual speed so I can monitor the effect of engaging the fronts. I have had one front wheel failure - outer bearing on my CUT L5740. Gears were hardly broken in but the outer wheel bearing failed. Dealer said result of excessive load and carry of gravel in the bucket plus using a bale dear to move bales in the field. He says high percentage loader work chews up the outer bearings, verified by searching here and finding how many have had the same problem. Gears all looked not yet broke in when I tore the wheel apart.

 

[wrooster]

Same with BMW and my 328xi also with full time although the BMW has a front to rear torque splitter.

Yes, that is a small, minor, trivial, relatively unimportant difference compared to the locked front and rear drivetrains on your tractor...

In the BMW (and all other on-road AWD) system, the front and rear drivetrains are connected via an electronically-controlled viscous coupling differential, which allows for front to rear slip under normal driving conditions. Hence, there is no driveline binding issue as a result of front to rear speed variance.

wrooster

 

[MHarryE]

Yes, that is a small, minor, trivial, relatively unimportant difference compared to the locked front and rear drivetrains on your tractor... In the BMW (and all other on-road AWD) system, the front and rear drivetrains are connected via an electronically-controlled viscous coupling differential, which allows for front to rear slip under normal driving conditions. Hence, there is no driveline binding issue as a result of front to rear speed variance. wrooster

I was just trying to make a point that MFWD tractors are not delicate designs that will quickly fail if you use them. Heaven knows I've forgotten to switch out of 4wd on my tractors when I've pulled onto the road. Two of ours are auto - once your travel speed reaches a certain point they automatically switch out believing you forgot, but all 4 of our larger tractors also switch back into 4wd when you step on both brake pedals at the same time.