Mowing BX24 mowing RPM?

[MOPAULY]

What rpm do you mow at? I'm at 15 hours so I haven't taken the machine over 26-2700 rpm yet. Dealer says not to worry about it, but I'd prefer not to. That is unless the engines are already broken in and they don't count the time against it.

Any better performance at higher rpm?

 

[GUMBO]

MOPAULY, I have 48 hours on my BX24 , and after reading this site for years(could afford looking at the site long before I could afford the tractor), was to vary your rpms. I ran at higher rpms(2800-2900) but not at full throttle. I guess it depends on how much faith you have in that tach. also.
Gumbo

 

[Volfandt]

The BX23 owners manual indicates to not run at full throttle for the 1st 50 hrs, I'd say the BX24 is the same.

I followed this recommendation but there were others that broke theirs in how they planned to work it. I've got 200 trouble free hrs on it now and hope to have 1000's more.

After break in I run mine at a hair under full throttle when I mow (no tach on the BX23). This way I get the most blade tip speed out of the machine as it can give and high blade tip speed = best cut.

I run at about 4/5ths throttle when working the FEL and/or BH as this gives me a pretty good balance of speed and power. When I was getting used to the BH I used about 1/2 throttle.

I pretty much followed the manual.

Volfandt

 

[fishpick]

FWIW - I did about the same as Volfandt the first 50... which was very recent.

 

[rdsaustintx]

All WOT all the time.

My mower cuts better and rattles less.

Russell in Texas

 

[c-and-a]

For full mid-PTO speed, you need 3000 RPMs, based on specs. Based on discussion with my dealer who recommended to not run above 3000 for the first 50hrs, I mow between 2800-2900 - no issues with cut or bagger...

Closing in on 20hrs

 

[AceDeuce]

My manual states not to operate "at full speed" for the first 50 hours. It didn't clarify whether that means engine RPM or ground speed. It also didn't elaborate further on what speed(s) you should operate at.

I might be nit-picking but Kubota operator's manuals could use a little work IMHO.

In contrast, the lead mechanic at my dealer indicated to always run at WOT while mowing. I pointed out the above statement in the manual and he said yes he was aware of the instructions in the manual but his advice was coming straight from Kubota service and new product training he had received.

I'm honestly not sure that it makes a hill of beans worth of difference. My tractor now has about 235 hours on it and I've seen no appreciable oil consumption or other indication of improper engine break-in.

 

[fishpick]

AceDeuce - I concur... I'm more likely to listen to the dealer than a translated manual. For instance - when the tractor arrived - it had the FEL, BH and MMM installed - manual clear states this is something not to do - dealer does it all the time and has never had issues...
Wanna dig in the first 50 hrs with the BH - well - you need decent RPM's - dealer said "no problem" manual says - not to... again I'm with the dealer.
Just like years back when you bought a new car and it had a long break in period - today's engines apparently need less time to break in... I'm thinking the dealer know and has been taught - and the tractor is designed to accomodate that type of use... my 2 cents on my use.
I mow at or right around 3000rpm's.

 

[AMR]

my best cut/ground speed/bagger operation for my BX23 is just a hair under WOT

for BH/Loader work I try to run as low RPM as will get the job done as I do most of this while my 15 month old is sleeping, I don't know who is grouchier when he gets woken up by my tractor, him or his mother

 

[DaveInColorado]

I mow near WOT and use somewhere near 1 gallon/hour (mowing). For FEL and anything non-mowing, I run the engine as slow as what makes sense for the situation. Sometimes that is just above idle. FEL uses about 1/2 gallon/hour. These are very rough fuel usage estimates!

440 hours, BX1500. I put 250 hours on it the first year, 100 last year, and maybe 50 hours this summer. I must be getting old!

David Haile
Fort Collins, CO