4wd vs 2wd

TonkaToy · Sep 11, 2011

I have my bx25 for 3 summers now, very happy and very impressed with how well it performs. I have been digging 20 in deep by 1500 sq ft area and filling with rock, preparing a base for pavers. Been using in 4wd exclusively and when the FEL is fully loaded and I am turning, the BX bounces a bit or I feel some resistance on the front wheels. I am thinking this is normal with the front diff engaged, right? Aside from driving on paved roads an not wanting to chew the tires, or not wanting to trash a nice lawn, is there anything bad of always operating my BX in 4wd?

Thanks

wrooster · Sep 11, 2011

TonkaToy said:
I have my bx25 for 3 summers now, very happy and very impressed with how well it performs. I have been digging 20 in deep by 1500 sq ft area and filling with rock, preparing a base for pavers. Been using in 4wd exclusively and when the FEL is fully loaded and I am turning, the BX bounces a bit or I feel some resistance on the front wheels. I am thinking this is normal with the front diff engaged, right? Aside from driving on paved roads an not wanting to chew the tires, or not wanting to trash a nice lawn, is there anything bad of always operating my BX in 4wd? Thanks

The chattering you feel in 4WD when turning is the fact that the rear wheels and front wheels are going around at different rates, and the locked center differential does not accommodate this. So one or more wheels has to slip/slide to account for the difference, and this results in the resistance/chattering you feel.

Is anything "bad" about this, as long as the ground is soft enough for the tire to slip, probably no. Otherwise, if it can't slip you are putting a binding load on the drivetrain. As you note on paved surfaces this will lead to markedly increased tire wear and perhaps long term drivetrain damage. But on dirt, loos stone, meadow, or turfgrass i would not worry about it.

Wrooster

whistlepig · Sep 11, 2011

TonkaToy said:
I have my bx25 for 3 summers now, very happy and very impressed with how well it performs. I have been digging 20 in deep by 1500 sq ft area and filling with rock, preparing a base for pavers. Been using in 4wd exclusively and when the FEL is fully loaded and I am turning, the BX bounces a bit or I feel some resistance on the front wheels. I am thinking this is normal with the front diff engaged, right? Aside from driving on paved roads an not wanting to chew the tires, or not wanting to trash a nice lawn, is there anything bad of always operating my BX in 4wd?

Thanks

I only use 4WD for loader work in dirt. In 4WD the front drive works against the rear drive. Extra wear on the drives just to leave it in 4WD for no reason.

TonkaToy · Sep 11, 2011

you both bring up good points. I will make to use the 4wd only when needed, thanks.

jakell2010 · Sep 12, 2011

You shouldn't use 4wd on hard surfaces like blacktop,,,but my 2920 is dangerous in 2wd in the grass , when mowing ( property is hilly),,,if the wheels can slip then it's not too hard on the finals

KJINTF · Sep 12, 2011

Check out my "Broken B7100"
I left it in 4wd 100% of the time - always in dirt never on pavement
Not sure if that had anything to do with the problem but will be going to 2wd most of time in the future

The rear end of the welded on flang for the front diff cracked completely off

Ken

KubotainNH · Sep 12, 2011

Personally, my safety is worth using 4 wheel drive all the time even if it wears something out early. With 4x4 off you only have rear braking, with 4x4 you lock in the front. This is a must when using the loader. I tried it in 2 wheel drive once just to see what it would do and ended up sliding down a hill sideways. Kinda scary. Maybe if everywhere you use it is flat.

Definitely no 4 wheel drive on tar. My tractor is 30 years old, it's still going strong.

Verticaltrx · Sep 12, 2011

I use 2wd 75% of the time, 4wd only when needed. For general light duty loader work such as cleaning out the barn, loading compost, moving hay, etc I use 2wd with plenty of ballast for traction. If I'm on any kind of hills when doing loader work I use 4wd, also use it for heavy loader work such as digging, heavy loading (rock, dirt, etc) or clearing brush. For all of my field work I use 2wd exclusively.

TonkaToy · Sep 13, 2011

The first 2 summers, I would use mainly 2wd and shift to 4wd when I found it necessary. This summer I have had a lot of digging and removing earth, then about 70 tons of gravel fill. The 4wd proved invaluable for plowing into the earth and gravel to pick it up. Also great when going in and out of the trench with a full load in the FEL, 2wd doesn't cut it. For most of this work the 4wd was pretty much always on, and although I figured it wouldn't be good for the drivetrain long term.

I was at a county fair couple of weeks ago and all the major tractor MFR,s were there, including Kubota. I asked one of the Kubota guys (sales rep) and he said, except for asphalt, you can always leave it in 4wd. The grinding sound is normal.

I liked the answer but my gut didn,t. I figured the guys on TBN with years of hands on experience, rather than showroom experience would know better.

I'll go back to 2wd and shift to 4wd when needed and make sure this tractor last a good long time. Shifting 2 to 4 isn't difficult but sometimes need to ease the tractor back and forth relive the pressure on the shaft or it won't shift. Then sometimes I just forget to change it. I suppose trying to find people to justify what sounds to be a bad idea so you feel content,,,,is a bad idea!

thanks

art · Sep 14, 2011

It isn't bad to run in four wheel drive as long as the tractor is set up right. Yes you do have more parts driving, but they would be spinning anyway while driving just not in gear.

The biggest thing here is having the proper balance of tires from front to rear. There are plenty of machines that are directly connected between front and rear axles.

The biggest sin that is done to tractors is replacing tires and not installing the right size!
This doesn't just mean whats written on the side of the tires but what is the outer diameter as well as style of tire so the casing is the same height from the outer diameter.

You can fine tune with air pressure! Many times that is all that is needed to adjust the lead lag ratio to assist with easy disengagement of the four wheel drive which is normally the first thing noticed when the ratio isn't correct.

Carl_NH · Sep 14, 2011

I agree with Art on tire size which brings up a point. I have R4s on the B21 and I know the fronts are wearing faster than the rear due to turning/scrubbing/load wear and the number of RPM vs rear is much higher thus they wear faster.

I likewise only use 4WD as needed and in snow, but what I have noticed the 4WD on disengagement is harder/ has more tension in the gear train (than when new) and I presume this is primarily the fact that the front tires have worn down more?

So is there any merit to replacing the front tires before they are "worn out" to minimize the torque stress?

TripleR · Sep 14, 2011

I just put new tires on my L5030 and can't tell any difference in 4WD engagement/disengagement.

Sometimes I believe we tend to over think these things.

TonkaToy · Sep 14, 2011

TripleT "sometimes I think we try to over think these things".......isn't that our nature being guys?

isn't that what happens when your wife says "honey please check the light switch in the bathroom, I think it's sticking" turn into gutting the whole bathroom for a complete remodel...and of course it doesn't get finished

TripleR · Sep 15, 2011

TonkaToy said:
TripleT "sometimes I think we try to over think these things".......isn't that our nature being guys?

isn't that what happens when your wife says "honey please check the light switch in the bathroom, I think it's sticking" turn into gutting the whole bathroom for a complete remodel...and of course it doesn't get finished

Yeah and it doesn't get better with age, trust me.:laughing:

wrooster · Sep 15, 2011

art said:
It isn't bad to run in four wheel drive as long as the tractor is set up right. Yes you do have more parts driving, but they would be spinning anyway while driving just not in gear.
The biggest thing here is having the proper balance of tires from front to rear. There are plenty of machines that are directly connected between front and rear axles.
The biggest sin that is done to tractors is replacing tires and not installing the right size!
This doesn't just mean whats written on the side of the tires but what is the outer diameter as well as style of tire so the casing is the same height from the outer diameter.
You can fine tune with air pressure! Many times that is all that is needed to adjust the lead lag ratio to assist with easy disengagement of the four wheel drive which is normally the first thing noticed when the ratio isn't correct.

All of this would be a useful approach if the surface you are working on is billiard-table flat, if you never make a turn, if the outside air temperature never changes, if the load on the four tires is constant regardless of FEL contents and TPH attachment, and if your weight stays exactly the same.

To that end, placing a bottle of beer in the cup holder will create an imbalance.

You are over-thinking this. Driveline windup/binding and resultant tire slippage/scuff will happen in every case with a locked center differential, which is typical of the type of tractors we are playing with here. No amount of massaging the air pressure in the tires (or any other measure taken) is going to prevent this. There is no possible way to eliminate driveline windup/binding in a locked center differential implementation.

Wrooster

Carl_NH · Sep 15, 2011

wrooster said:
All of this would be a useful approach if the surface you are working on is billiard-table flat, if you never make a turn, if the outside air temperature never changes, if the load on the four tires is constant regardless of FEL contents and TPH attachment, and if your weight stays exactly the same.

To that end, placing a bottle of beer in the cup holder will create an imbalance.

Wrooster

I put a 6 pack on ice in the BH bucket as this reduces the weight on the front end but eventually this gets distributed to the center of the tractor and reduces tension and bind ups.

CHDinCT · Sep 16, 2011

Carl_NH said:
I put a 6 pack on ice in the BH bucket as this reduces the weight on the front end but eventually this gets distributed to the center of the tractor and reduces tension and bind ups.

That there's funny, I don't care who you are!

crash325 · Sep 16, 2011

Carl_NH said:
I put a 6 pack on ice in the BH bucket as this reduces the weight on the front end but eventually this gets distributed to the center of the tractor and reduces tension and bind ups.

At times I have that same problem. Should I shift into or out of 2WD. :thumbsup::licking:

Code54 · Sep 16, 2011

Here in the mountains, we always leave it in 4x4. My neighbor took his out and forgot and went over his back hill only to start sliding, and eventually turning his Kubota over. Once you start sliding it in 2 wheel it is too late. If I burn up an extra set of tires or even have to fix something down the road I figure it as the cost of doing business as they say...