Changing Gears question

[Hognosh]

I know I will sound dumb, but i was told the only dumb question is the one never asked. so bare with me.
My question is should i depress my clutch select my gears and put it into forward and have a low rpm then slowly let go of clutch & increase rpm and be on my way, or can i select gears and change them while on the move? is this bad on the clutch to change gears while moving?. or does this depend on the type of tractor?

any help would be great in details, as the people i do ask seem to give me a different answer each time, and after all its my clutch not theirs, i thought i would ask you experts.

 

[D7E]

Depends on the trans type but with a bit of skill (RPM matching and double clutching) there are few that cant be shifted on the move successfully

 

[RaydaKub]

I know I will sound dumb, but i was told the only dumb question is the one never asked. so bare with me.
My question is should i depress my clutch select my gears and put it into forward and have a low rpm then slowly let go of clutch & increase rpm and be on my way, or can i select gears and change them while on the move? is this bad on the clutch to change gears while moving?. or does this depend on the type of tractor?

any help would be great in details, as the people i do ask seem to give me a different answer each time, and after all its my clutch not theirs, i thought i would ask you experts.

If you are pulling a heavy load behind, I don't see much choice but to do just that. You can't start a heavy load in top gear. So you get it moving and throttle up, clutch, throttle down, and move up a gear to speed up. This is really no different than driving a truck, and for the same reason.

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[tcartwri]

Depends on the gearbox. You can measure the rpm drop between gears by rolling along at the same ground speed. Note that difference, and then you should be able to float the gears up without using the clutch at all.

 

[texasjohn]

Your ears will tell you when you have NOT shifted properly...they will grind...avoid the grind...and use a gear low enough to avoid lugging/killing the engine...again,use your ears to let you know how the engine is doing, and keep RPM's at 1500 to 2500 depending on task.

 

[Looking4new]

When you let the clutch out, feel for it to grab, you may hear the engine exhaust note change too as the load is taken up by the transmission. DO NOT just dump it. You could end up with the tractor on top of you and screwing up the rest of your day. (Killing you).

 

[dougtrr2]

The clutch is not the issue. It is whether the gears in your tractor transmision are synchronized like a car or not. If they are synchronized then you can change on the fly, no problem. If they are not synchronized you can still change on the fly but it takes more skill to to "manually" synchronize them using engine rpm. If they are not synchronized DO NOT try to change gears on a hill or you could get stuck in neutral and be freewheeling down a slope.

Take Care,
Doug in SW IA

 

[Hognosh]

I tried changing gears when it had a heavy blower with hydraulic tank on back which weighs a lot and i was changing gears no problem on the go, but then i removed that weight and couldnt change gears without feeling a rumble in the shifter in my hand. so i stopped, I dont mind setting my gears then going. i just didnt know if that was normal. to have to set say 2nd an 4th (my fav speed) and start at that. I really dont mind that and then i avoid the whole gear issues. but is that normal to just do that? (with little or no load)

 

[tcartwri]

Yup, it's just like driving a non-synchro 10 speed in a truck. You get used to having a load on it, and when it's empty it throws your timing off and you tickle the gears for a little bit.

 

[Hognosh]

Yup, it's just like driving a non-synchro 10 speed in a truck. You get used to having a load on it, and when it's empty it throws your timing off and you tickle the gears for a little bit.

when it "tickles" do you push through that and put in gear or is this causing damage? i usually put to neutral when i feel this and stop it and let it "settle" and start again.

 

[tcartwri]

I wouldn't make a habit of it. You can ride the clutch slightly to take any shock off the driveline, but if it's badly out of sync, you won't get it in no matter how hard you push. Just something you have to practice.

 

[Gary Fowler]

Many of the modern manual geared tractors have a 2, 3 or more range selector and then 4 or more gears in each range. Most of them have sycronized gears in the 1,2,3 ,4 etc. but the tractor must be stopped dead to change ranges ie L,M & H range. You can do some serious damage to the transmission trying to change ranges while moving.

 

[MikeFarm]

Hi Hognosh

I have just had my tractor for 40 hours. I set whatever gear I need for the job from rest. It's got 4 gears and 3 ranges and in any of the gears from ranges 1 or 2 I can start from rest and move off as it's got such great pulling power. Only the highest range would stall at a start from rest but I'd never be using that for slashing (bush hogging). Only last month I had the first opportunity to use the highest gear when I had to drive on the road at about 30 km/hour. For that I did have to press the clutch and change gears quickly and smoothly.

Mike

 

[Hognosh]

yeh mike thats what ive done, and i guess ill play it safe and continue to do that. i rather have the pain in the butt of stopping and changing gears. but still having a tractor that i dont need to get repaired cuz ive ruined my clutchs/trans then changing on the fly just to look cool infront of my pigs watching me.