CK2610 HST New owner questions

[mangler]

Just took delivery of my 2610HST, with the 4030 loader.

I like it so far, but a few things are annoying me.

Stinks to high heaven. Morning first start puffs a black cloud of smoke in the garage, half hour to vent it out. Tends to stink a lot, lots of diesel fumes, even after it is close to being warmed up. Is this normal? 3.9 hours, so hopefully that's a break in thing.

Very hard to shift into low range. This is doubly true in 4X4, a bit easier in rear wheel drive. Overall the HST shifter feels like it needs to be manhandled to shift gears. So far in 4x4 I shift into medium range, and then sometimes it will let me ease into low. Sometimes. Is this also a break in thing, will it get easier to shift? Definitely not smooth shifting.

Also found out the tractor loader is next to useless without rear ballast. Almost flipped it the first day, with a full bucket of sod. Rear wheel off the ground, quite high on the pucker scale. Hopefully it will be better with the box blade on.

I did not break it yet, so there's that. Also a lot more fun filling raised garden beds than with a wheel barrow and a ramp.

 

[BrkMstr]

The DPF units smell less, but diesel is diesel, when I start it in the garage in the summer I have a fan beside it turn it on high open the door and start the engine - let it run a minute or two and touch the forward till it rolls out the door and it sits till it warms up, when I ride by the fan I shut it off - during the winter I hook an exhaust hose to it use the exhaust hose cut out on the door and let it run. If if gives you a hard time shifting into low / med / high I tap the pedal / release and shift it into gear don't try shifting while holding the pedal down hit / release when you release shift it, it moves easily - for 4WD I may have to reverse or move forward a little, release the pedal and then shift it in or out, never an issue it goes in. My rear tires are filled with Rim Guard, Have no issue with full loads of loam, gravel as the Rim Guard is great for ballast.....

 

[mangler]

The DPF units smell less, but diesel is diesel, when I start it in the garage in the summer I have a fan beside it turn it on high open the door and start the engine - let it run a minute or two and touch the forward till it rolls out the door and it sits till it warms up, when I ride by the fan I shut it off - during the winter I hook an exhaust hose to it use the exhaust hose cut out on the door and let it run. If if gives you a hard time shifting into low / med / high I tap the pedal / release and shift it into gear don't try shifting while holding the pedal down hit / release when you release shift it, it moves easily - for 4WD I may have to reverse or move forward a little, release the pedal and then shift it in or out, never an issue it goes in. My rear tires are filled with Rim Guard, Have no issue with full loads of loam, gravel as the Rim Guard is great for ballast.....

Thanks BrkMstr, I was holding the clutch down, thinking like all my manual cars that was the way. I will try the tap and release tomorrow. I wish they touched on this in the freakin manual (a joke btw).

It did seem to stink a bit less at the end of the job tonight, when it was warmed up to operating temp. The first start is the worst, with what sounds like uneven firing and black smoke. I thought it was warm enough not to engage the reverse key glow plug cycle (low 60s), but maybe it needs it all the time on a cold start, regardless of temp?

 

[justman777]

Congratulations! Diesels are diesels, and be glad you didn't get a tractor with all the emissions "stuff" on it! You could always put it outside under a carport or something if you don't want to stink up the garage, but you do want it under some type of cover.

A box blade isn't nearly enough ballast. You'll want to add something in the 800+ pound range. If you get some ballast and fill your tires, you'll appreciate how stable it makes loader work. FWIW, I have a 1000 lb ballast (give or take a few pounds) on my tractor, and that's about right for scooting around my sandy lot and doing loader work. There are times I wished I had more back there though, and I'll either be adding weight to my tires or filling them soon.

Enjoy the new tractor!

 

[John Skull]

I haven't noticed much black smoke on my 2610 on start-up, but I park it outdoors and I'm in a warmer climate. Yes agree you need some ballast for any FEL work.. I can get by with a box blade hauling dirt scoops but I keep the bucket low and take it easy. The Kioti backhoe of course adds half a ton+ of ballast. Congrats on the new Kioti :thumbsup:

 

[The Fred]

Mine stinks too but the DPF hasn't given me any problems yet because there isn't one.

 

[SManZ350]

Just took delivery of my 2610HST, with the 4030 loader.

I like it so far, but a few things are annoying me.

Stinks to high heaven. Morning first start puffs a black cloud of smoke in the garage, half hour to vent it out. Tends to stink a lot, lots of diesel fumes, even after it is close to being warmed up. Is this normal? 3.9 hours, so hopefully that's a break in thing.

Very hard to shift into low range. This is doubly true in 4X4, a bit easier in rear wheel drive. Overall the HST shifter feels like it needs to be manhandled to shift gears. So far in 4x4 I shift into medium range, and then sometimes it will let me ease into low. Sometimes. Is this also a break in thing, will it get easier to shift? Definitely not smooth shifting.

Also found out the tractor loader is next to useless without rear ballast. Almost flipped it the first day, with a full bucket of sod. Rear wheel off the ground, quite high on the pucker scale. Hopefully it will be better with the box blade on.

I did not break it yet, so there's that. Also a lot more fun filling raised garden beds than with a wheel barrow and a ramp.

Using the glow plugs before starting in cooler weather did away with the smoke on startup for me.

My dealer demonstrated that when it is hard to shift to tap the forward or reverse pedal. I guess this unloads the transmission and makes it easier to shift and it has worked for me. The 4wd lever can also be difficult to engage/disengage if the transmission is loaded. Moving the tractor front or back will unload it and make it easier.

Diff lock can also be difficult to fully engage. If you step on the diff lock and the pedal does not go all the way down, rolling forward while turning will allow it to slip in place. The right/left axles will turn at different rates while turning so that the sweet spot to engage diff lock comes around.

Since the brake is in the transmission, the front wheels will not have any brake in 2wd. I had a little dirt stuck to the inside of my bucket and it was enough to raise the rears off the ground when I slowed down while going downhill on my driveway one day. I went for a short uncontrolled ride before the rear settled down and I was able to stop. So lesson learned for me; 4wd when going downhill.

I havent' had the rear come up on me with a full bucket, but I do have ballast in the rear tires.

 

[levi333]

Have not had any stink or black smoke with my bought in January 2610HST, just hit 15hrs. It puts out some white smoke on start up but goes away after about 15seconds.
Getting into Mid range is the hard one for me. I push it back and forth from neutral to Low several times to get it into Mid most of the time. Will have to play some more with the pedals.

Are your rear tires filled? That should help some. I have not had any issues with rear weight, but I've got a backhoe on mine, the best ballast!

 

[justman777]

I think most of us have issues getting into mid-range. The issue is with the gears being mis-aligned. If you rock back and forth in your seat (not side to side), you should be able to slip it into gear. This moves the wheels just slightly, which moves the gears as well. Alternatively, you can tap the reverse pedal slightly to get the gears to move just a little bit and hopefully get them aligned. I find myself alternating between rocking back and forth and tapping the reverse pedal. Both methods seem to work. I prefer the rocking back and forth though.

 

[mangler]

Thanks to all for the tips. Rear tires are not filled, but I do have a heavy (680lbs) box blade on order, and some suitcase weights coming my way. Maybe I'll hang the suitcase weights on the box blade

I will look at filling the tires, either Rimguard or diy windshield washer fluid (I already have the special valve and pump). Rimguard is painful, no dealers close to me and a pain to bring tires/tractor to get filled.

Could not afford backhoe ballast