ALWAYS use 4wd on hills!

[JoeL4330]

To think, I've been dodging death every day for years using a 2wd tractor on steep hills. As rjkobbeman mentioned, it has more to do with going straight down hill when possible, and going slow when conditions call for it. Common sense must be used no matter what technology you have.

IMHO, it has more to do with unweighting the rears ...say, with a FEL on the front and the mower on the ground ...raising the mower would help if one had presence of mind ...4wd always works

 

[RalphVa]

I was going straight down the hill with a 400 # bush hog on the 3 ph. There was so much engine braking in "L" range that the wheels skidded. I hit the brakes and should have hit the throttle instead. The bush hog trail wheel probably had not straightened completely from the turn left down hill. That was probably why it skidded right.

We've had stick shift diesel cars for 32 years and have another stick shift diesel car now. They definitely have more engine braking than gasoline engined cars. On our 240D, with its rather high ratio rear end, we had to glance into our rear view mirror before letting up on the accelerator pedal to make sure no one was on our tail. Otherwise, it's like hitting the brakes with no brake lights.

Some manufacturers maybe had their automatic transmissions not allow too much engine braking with a diesel engine to avoid straining their auto transmissions. The newer automatics with dual clutches don't have this problem. Anyway, this is likely how this MYTH got started.

It's the engine compression that gives the engine braking, NOT whether it has closure on the suction side of the engine.

Ralph

 

[Bill Hoffman]

That's why I keep the loader on. When you start to skid, lowering the
bucket acts as one heck of a brake. But, yes, if you can do it safely, accelerating is also a good way of regaining traction. But 4wd, always.:thumbsup:

Bill

 

[American Bulldog]

Another point.... Always put your truck in 4WD and set the E-BRAKE when loading the tractor on a trailer. My friend a couple years back didn't do this, and his tractor lifted the rear end of the truck off the ground when he was loading it on the trailer. He was on a hill, so the truck started rolling, and was totaled as it went flying into the trees.

If you have 2WD never ever try to load on a hill.

 

[AMR]

I was mowing with my BX23 on a hill in front of my house one afternoon when the machine was fairly new. I wasn't in 4wd and started down a slope of about 12 to 13 percent. I lost traction and man I thought I was all done. The tractor went like a rocket down the hill sliding left, right, and back again. I worked the wheel like a crazy man. The good news is that it gets flat then goes down like a 30% incline. Thankfully it stopped about 5 feet from that. WOW, I was shaking like a leaf.

Henceforth I used 4wd all the time when I was mowing.

Now that I have my B3030 with filled rear tires I find that I don't need 4wd but the memory of that sleight ride sticks firmly with me.

Another morning I was watching my neighbour moving a large flatbed with roof shingles and a couple units of plywood. He was on a pretty big, and beautiful Ford tractor. He was hurt in an accident of some kind a while ago and doesn't have the use of his legs but this guys works around his house like a dog, and he has several beautiful Ford tractors. I watched him drive this trailer down his driveway on a wet morning, his tractor broke free and I thought he was dead. Thankfully it jack knifed after a couple hundred feet but did not flip over. I saw he had a bunch of help so they unloaded the trailer while he sat and watched. I am sure he counted his lucky stars then too.