Compact sub compact?

[JTKub]

@jjeff thanks for posting your experiences with your RK unit. I've been reading up on these machines for some time and there's not a ton out there on them, so it's great to read your posts.

I recently bought it's TYM cousin, a T224 with FEL and 54"MMM. It's got a Yanmar 3TNM74F in it, setup similar to kubota, with the flywheel out front.

I hear you on the pricing. I shopped JD, Kubota, Mahindra, Kioti and LS equipped with a FEL and MMM. You're talking $24K for green or orange. $20K for Mahindra. $18700 for Kioti. I was at $16K all in, out the door with my TYM. I'm still waiting on delivery and have my usual buyers remorse.. We'll see how it goes. I'll be posting up in the TYM forums for sure.

 

[dadohead]

Doesn't John Deere use cast aluminum pretty extensively? Probably most manufacturers do these days anyway.

Yes, for transaxles! Retired JD engineer here... had transaxle responsibility too. Aluminum is used because it rejects heat much better than cast iron; this is the number one killer of the transmission (that and not changing fluid). Strength is not an issue as it is easy to add adequate section. You dont hear much of transaxles structurally failing do you? Nope, they lose efficiency. Don't worry so much about engine oil service... primp on the transaxle. Most important service you can do.

Congrats on the new tractor!

 

[jjeff]

Yes, for transaxles! Retired JD engineer here... had transaxle responsibility too. Aluminum is used because it rejects heat much better than cast iron; this is the number one killer of the transmission (that and not changing fluid). Strength is not an issue as it is easy to add adequate section. You dont hear much of transaxles structurally failing do you? Nope, they lose efficiency. Don't worry so much about engine oil service... primp on the transaxle. Most important service you can do.

Congrats on the new tractor!

Understand aluminium dissipates heat much better than steel Definitely wish they'd add a small hydraulic cooler somewhere if they use cast iron. Anyways in my experience with steel and aluminum the aluminum parts or casting will be destroyed if you lost a bearing or something related to a steel component in short order. Snow drift but have you ever seen what an aluminum chain case looks like after a bearing failure on a snowmobile? I can fix steel somewhat successfully, occasionally. On the other spectrum my aluminum repair attempts is nothing but a bunch of inappropriate 4 letter words.

 

[rontaki]

>snip snip<, I also wear my free rural king tractor hat frequently with growing confidence

Like this one?

 

[JTKub]

Understand aluminium dissipates heat much better than steel Definitely wish they'd add a small hydraulic cooler somewhere if they use cast iron. Anyways in my experience with steel and aluminum the aluminum parts or casting will be destroyed if you lost a bearing or something related to a steel component in short order. Snow drift but have you ever seen what an aluminum chain case looks like after a bearing failure on a snowmobile? I can fix steel somewhat successfully, occasionally. On the other spectrum my aluminum repair attempts is nothing but a bunch of inappropriate 4 letter words.

It does seem odd that these units rely only on the hydro fan for cooling. I'm assuming there's other SCUTs that are set up like this? Of the units I looked at, the only one I can think of that had an obvious hydraulic fluid cooler was the Mahindra SCUTs.

I'd imagine the hydrostatic drive is aluminum, bolted to a cast iron transaxle assembly. I guess they rely on the ~3.6 gallons of fluid and the fan blowing on the aluminum fins of the hydro drive.

 

[dadohead]

Understand aluminium dissipates heat much better than steel Definitely wish they'd add a small hydraulic cooler somewhere if they use cast iron.

Yup...  everything is running bearings in aluminum housings anymore: automotive, motorcycles, ATV, utv, snowmobile, watercraft, etc. They run in oil; if designed right it's a non-issue. My 2000 series runs an aluminum trans housing AND a cooler. It even called for an initial 50hr service. Follow your tractor's OM. It's a big deal.

Enjoy that new tractor!

 

[JTKub]

Yup...  everything is running bearings in aluminum housings anymore: automotive, motorcycles, ATV, utv, snowmobile, watercraft, etc. They run in oil; if designed right it's a non-issue. My 2000 series runs an aluminum trans housing AND a cooler. It even called for an initial 50hr service. Follow your tractor's OM. It's a big deal.

Enjoy that new tractor!

Thanks. TYM specs a 50hr service for the engine oil/filter, transaxle oil/filters and front axle gear oil change. The nice thing is they don't spec anything fancy in terms of fluids. Just generic tractor hydraulic fluid, 80w90 gear oil and they seem to push 5w30 or 10w30 for the yanmar engine per the temperature chart.