540rpm

sjf · Feb 11, 2004

Just a simple ? for you all. Im running a 60 inch snow blower on the back of my tc29s and was told by a friend that i should run it wide open when snowblowing to get it to blow farther. will this hert my tractor or is it safe to do this. i always thought that 540 was the limit for the equipment without doing any damage
thanks

OhioGuy · Feb 11, 2004

I'm betting the manual suggests running the tractor at the correct RPM to get 540 RPM at the PTO. I'd bet that a few RPM's above tat RPM aren't going to be detrimental.

Did it take awhile to get used to the backward driving for snow removal?

Curt

PineRidge · Feb 12, 2004

I would not be running it at full engine RPM, that can't be good for your engine. My TC-40D has a indicator lamp that comes on when I reach PTO speed of 540 and it is usually about 2600 RPM. Maybe a tiny tach would help you better judge?

KrisHansen · Feb 12, 2004

I run my engine so that the revs are in the range that keeps the 540 light on, generally 2500 or so. In very heavy snow, I do run full throttle, but even so, it still runs in the 540 range, but the engine is working pretty hard. Diesel engines like the ones in our tractors are deisgned more or less to run at or above 90% of their capabilities all day.

further, if you have a hudrostatic drive, you will not be able to take full advantage of it till you get the revs near max.

PineRidge · Feb 12, 2004

<font color="blue"> I run my engine so that the revs are in the range that keeps the 540 light on, generally 2500 or so. In very heavy snow, I do run full throttle, but even so, it still runs in the 540 range, but the engine is working pretty hard. Diesel engines like the ones in our tractors are deisgned more or less to run at or above 90% of their capabilities all day.

further, if you have a hudrostatic drive, you will not be able to take full advantage of it till you get the revs near max.
</font>

Kris I run a HST and if I bump my RPM's up a bit from the 540 mark my red 600 RPM over speed light comes on in a heart beat. Do I understand you correctly that you advise running a PTO in this range or beyond?

KrisHansen · Feb 12, 2004

Mike,

I meant at the higher end of the 540 range.. another thing to consider, if it's idling with the 540 light on, at load, it might need more throttle to keep up with the load..

What I usually do is engage the rear pto, get the 540 light on , then rev it till the 600 light hits, then back off just slightly till the 540 light comes on. This way, I am confident that my engine will have enough revs to keep it in the 540 range under load. If the load increases, I increase throttle, even if it overrevs a tiny bit before the load really increases and bogs the engine.

PineRidge · Feb 12, 2004

Kris I kinda thought that is where you were coming from. I knew you would not be running your rig in the red zone either. I normally use the same procedure as you for setting the PTO speed before mowing, blowing, tilling or whatever.

Be Safe.... /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

sjf · Feb 12, 2004

Thanks for replying everyone. I checked with the head mechanic at my dealer and he said that as long as i was shure there were no objects i could hit that running over the 540 rpm range wouldn't do any harm. I still won't open it all the way up but going alittle over won't hert. just trying to get alittle more distance out of the blower so it don't build up on the east side of my driveway. the wind is almost always comming out of the west off of lake erie .900 feet of open field north south pure hell in the winter.
Thanks again

rambler · Feb 12, 2004

I would not want to red-line my _engine_ but for this use, many many people will go a bit past 540 rpm on the pto. Just a judgement call, but the snow blower is designed to handle a lot of rotating stress so a bit more isn't as big a deal as, say, whirring blades on a brush hog. (Difference: The brush hog frequently hits jarring loads & the blades need to bounce, while the snow blower operates in soft stuff or the shear pin is going to go anyhow, 500 or 625rpm....)

Note for the record I'm not telling anyone to over-rev, but I only note that a lot of people do with a snowblower with not much problem.

--->Paul