Engine Break-In

[rpeter]

My new <font color="orange">B7800</font> is being delivered next week (05/07). Boy is it going to be a long week /forums/images/graemlins/mad.gif

I have a question on engine break in. I know the manual says not to run it at “full speed” for the first 50 hours. I am not quite sure what that means. The mark for the PTO speed is pretty close to the top of the tachometer. Does that mean running it at “almost” full speed is OK /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif

 

[kubotabilly]

rpeter,
Everyone is going to tell you something different, but on my 3 Kubota's I broke them in at or near pto speed. Right off the truck I started to mow at the suggested pto speed and have had no problems whatsoever. Kubota Corp. just doesn't want you to go out and try to move your house in the first 5 minutes of ownership /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif.

Bill

 

[Henro]

To quote Bird:

<font color="blue"> The topic of break in RPM has been discussed many times and I think the concensus of opinion is to not worry about it much. The dealers I've talked to always said to go ahead and start "using" the tractor from the start. Your manual says not to operated it at "full speed" and while you can certainly mow at that speed later with no harm, PTO speed is probably actually a couple of hundred RPM less than "full speed". So in my opinion:

1) Vary the speed a good bit instead of holding a steady speed - whether slow or fast - the first 50 hours (basically the same recommendation as your Harley),

2) In addition to varying the speed, you want to put some load on the engine; just don't lug it, and of course I'd vary the load, too.

3) And beyond that, go ahead and do whatever work you want to with the tractor. </font>

Hard to say it better than that! /forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif

Bird's post is in this thread...

 

[plaindave]

I used to work for Caterpillar and one time during a factory tour a customer asked an engineer about engine break in periods. This was one of the more senior engineers who had been there for many years. He just looked over his glasses at the guy and said "Son, the minute you turn that key you're not breaking in the engine - you're wearing it out."

His point was that on new modern engines there is no break in period required. We would fire off large generator sets and within 30 minutes have them running at full speed (1200 or 1800RPM, continuous).

On my 7800 I didn't worry about it. Two weeks after it was delivered several hundred yards of fill dirt arrived. I set the throttle at about 1800RPM and ran it till the dirt was moved.

 

[rpeter]

Thanks guys, I guess I just did not do a good enough search. I am a computer teacher who teaches people how to search the internet, but the search engine on this site and the results that it gives mystifies me /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif