Break in procedure - Many questions

[GirlWhoWantsTractor]

Thanks everyone. Just a couple more to make sure I understand:

"Idle" is for initial start, and a brief idle period before shutting off, but that's it. If during work you need to get off the tractor and adjust something that might take a few minutes, you should go down to 1500 RPM, not all the way down to "idle." Is that right? Any other times you'd use idle? What I'm hearing is that idle is the enemy of a diesel engine.

When you've just started the tractor and you're raising the FEL or rear attachment, is idle okay or is 1500 RPM better?

After break-in, it sounds like the manual is suggesting that you should give your tractor a break from full load once in a while.

Is it bad for the tractor to have a wheel slipping? Is it better to always be in 4WD under load?

I don't want to overthink this, but a diesel engine seems quite different from a gas engine and this is my first. I figure it's just as easy to do things the right way as the wrong way. Might as well develop the right habits from the beginning.

 

[CobyRupert]

You're overthinking this.

"Is it bad to have a wheel slipping?": - If it means you're stuck, and you don't want to be stuck: Yes, that's bad.

Not really sure what you mean by this question.
Normally, tractors will apply the same torque to both wheels. So if muddy conditions allow one tire to spin with very little torque required, the other tire not spinning (say it's on dry land) doesn't have enough torque to move the vehicle and you're stuck.
There's then 2 solutions:
1) Engage the differential lock so both tires turn at the same time. Only use this temporarily when necessary. It will make steering harder as tractor wants to got straight.
2) Apply individual wheel brake to spinning tire, this increases the amount of torque applied to both tires, most importantly the one on dry land that has traction (not spinning) will (hopefully) power you out.

"Is it better to always be in 4WD under load?" - Meh! Use 4wd when you need traction. This will be usually be obvious, but note, other unobvious conditions where you may need traction are if you have a lot of weight on front end loader (FEL) and back tire's traction become "light". Less weight on back tire = less traction = less braking ability (and you can go for a "ride" down a hill). Tractors only have rear brakes. In this case, if 4WD is engaged, the mechanical linkage of the back tires with the front tires makes it so (rear) brakes will stop front tires too.

NEVER have 4wd engaged if on pavement or concrete or a surface where tires can't slip.

I was going to say idling is okay, in reasonable proportions. If tractor gets worked normally and hard every once in a while, this counters any effects of "normal" idling. Not really a big deal. However, depending on how they do the Tier IV, faster (hotter) "idling" may be recommended for longer times between regens (if it does regens?)

 

[Gary Fowler]

I don't think it makes any difference about idle RPM if you are only talking about a short period of time like 5-10 minutes. As long as the engine is at operating temps, a short idle time is not an issue. If I stop my tractor for a short period, I just reduce the throttle to its lowest setting which is about 900-1000 rpm. I see no reason to leave it running at 1500 rpm unless you are in an engine warmup period.
If you have just started the engine and need to raise the FEL, a bit of throttle will make the FEL raise faster but even at an idle, it will still work as designed and wont harm the engine.

When I crank my tractors, I usually crank them at idle (this is how the throttle is set before I turned off the engine last time), I allow a few seconds for the oil pressure to stabilize then increase the throttle to about 1500 RPM. At this point, if I need to back out of my shed, I go ahead and do it. It takes me at least 5 minutes to get from my shed to anywhere on my property that I will do any heavy work, so I use this time to warm up the engine while travelling to the work site. I will increase throttle up to 2000 rpm if needed for power or speed of travel at this time. I don't use the PTO on the B26 (PTO speed is 2600 rpm which is WOT)so I rarely go above 2200 RPMs. This seems to be the sweet spot for power, speed of hydraulics and least engine noise. The engine really starts to scream above 2200. My LS PTO speed is 1900 and only time I exceed that is if I am roading the tractor and I want to travel at max speed (2500 RPM is WOT). The engine has plenty of power to do anything I ask of it when set at 1500-1900 RPM. I can actually bush hog light cutting with it at 1250 RPM and the PTO gearbox set at 750 range (3 speed gear box on the PTO is 540,750 &1000) which is an economy setting. If I need the power for heavy stuff, I just shift it to 540 and increase throttle to 1900. As long as you are getting the desired results from any PTO attachment, there is no need to run the engine at PTO speed unless you need the most power from your engine.

 

[CobyRupert]

My LS PTO speed is 1900 (ENGINE RPM).... I can actually bush hog light cutting with it at 1250 RPM and the PTO gearbox set at 750 range (3 speed gear box on the PTO is 540,750 &1000) which is an economy setting. If I need the power for heavy stuff, I just shift it to 540 and increase throttle to 1900. As long as you are getting the desired results from any PTO attachment, there is no need to run the engine at PTO speed unless you need the most power from your engine.

"....but, but, but, there's a indicating line on my tach!"
"...but, but, but, that's what the manual says!"

(^ said sarcastically) What you said is so true. But (some of us) are so programmed to "follow the rules" or perceive authority as all knowing we can't help it.
IMHO, exceptions to this, where you may want to be closer to 540 rpm would be if attachment has a hydraulic pump (where its output/rpm ratio is non-linear). Example: a baler with a kicker, etc..