540 RPMS?

[Zippo1]

I'm new to the tractor thing but I do recall someone telling me that I should run my attachments (5 foot brush hog, rototiller and PHD) at 540 RPM at the PTO. My New Holland TC40 even has a cute little 540 icon at the correct place on the tach. However, I also notice that it's only 500 RPMS more to get to redline on the tach (3,000 RPM). It seems strange to drag the brush hog through the pasture at my lowest gearing while the engine is screaming along at 500 RPM below redline. Am I doing it correctly or am I overlooking something obvious?

 

[jeff9366]

My Kubota tractor engine runs at about 2,200 rpm to achieve 540 rpm at the PTO.

Experiment with a higher gear. I usually 'hog in HST/MEDIUM.

Check to be sure your Rotary Cutter blades are sharp.

READ YOUR OPERATOR'S MANUAL. OPERATOR'S MANUAL should be your primary reference for TC40A operations.

 

[RPW]

If your grass/brush is thick and tall go for it. If it's light then I throttle back to about 1500 to 1800 and run in a higher gear.

 

[RedNeckRacin]

unlike your car, the tractor will run at pto rpm all day long with no ill effects. The big thing with mowers that is often forgotten about is blade tip speed. You get a better cut at 540 pto rpm unless you have very light vegetation.

 

[Zippo1]

unlike your car, the tractor will run at pto rpm all day long with no ill effects. The big thing with mowers that is often forgotten about is blade tip speed. You get a better cut at 540 pto rpm unless you have very light vegetation.

Thank you. That helps.

 

[Utopia Texas]

Run your brush hog at the 540 rpm for most efficient cut and then select your gearing/ ground speed to match the height of the grass. In other words the blade speed remains constant but the ground speed forward should match how tough/tall the grass is while mowing.

 

[WM75Guy]

They are designed for that. The mark is at 2400 RPMs. My Boomer 8N is pretty much used for mowing only, occasionally for tilling. It has spent it's whole life at 2500 RPMs. I usually run mine up to 2500 RPMs so if I hit some thick grass it does not fall as much. Before I got it the TC40DA did the same thing.

 

[Zippo1]

Thanks everyone. I appreciate the help. I think I'm comfortable now running along at 540 PTO RPM.

 

[Agvg]

Even at 3k you could run for years

 

[jenkinsph]

Thanks everyone. I appreciate the help. I think I'm comfortable now running along at 540 PTO RPM.

That is fine for mowing and tilling^^^.

For a post hole digger is not a good idea, usually an idle is preferred for this operation. Much lower speeds.

 

[vvanders]

Thanks everyone. I appreciate the help. I think I'm comfortable now running along at 540 PTO RPM.

Something else to keep in mind is the throttle is going to set the governor to a specific RPM, however how hard your engine works is going to be set by the load on your drivetrain/pto. In neutral with nothing on the pto you're engine would be barely working at 540/~2k rpm. A temperature gauge at the exhaust is the easiest way to measure how hard the engine is working(heat generated is a function of fuel burned).

Also tractors are built to be run hard all day long unlike cars/etc. That's why you can spend 30k on a ~25hp machine, they're build to be used.

 

[Gary Fowler]

For a post hole digger is not a good idea, usually an idle is preferred for this operation. Much lower speeds.

This is very good advice. PHD doesn't need to turn super fast, in fact they do much better with speed of engine just above idle. High RPM make them bounce around a lot. Also when using a PHD use the 3 PH to control the descent rate by lowering it a bit at a time as needed, don't let the auger screw into the ground or you will be in trouble. Slow and easy so the dirt is thrown from the hole otherwise you might be faced with turning the auger in reverse with a big pipe wrench to unscrew it from the ground- not a pleasant duty. Sometimes it will be so tight that you have to turn the PTO drive to unscrew it, that takes many rounds of turning to get one revolution of the auger and also might require you to unhook the PTO shaft from the tractor.