Engine speed for YM1700

[bruce1966us]

Actually one is lugging an engine when you can't open up the throttle and gain rpms within 7-10 seconds. Example , driving up a hill in 3rd gear at 1500rpm and you want to speed up. If the engine is relative unresponsive to the throttle you need to find a lower gear.

 

[HGM]

I dont want to argue anyones opinion of what luging is. I just think it is important to remember that most folks (I think) run the tractor at a steady speed with the hand throttle. This would mean that you have a small chance of knowing that your lugging if that is a correct definition.

My definition remains if the RPM drops while at steady speed, its lugging. This will manifest itself with more noise, black smoke, and bucking..IE - Lugging....

To each his own.......

 

[bruce1966us]

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My definition remains if the RPM drops while at steady speed, its lugging. This will manifest itself with more noise, black smoke, and bucking..IE - Lugging....
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And I agree with your posting.

 

[fig]

Dick,

I have tried the same thing you have before on my 1700, but I don't think I will try that again. I have about 4 acres that I cut just about every weekend for 6 -7 months. There are sections of this land that have some hills and sections of grass that are thicker than others. When I try to mow on the hills and thicker grass sections; I have to drop back to 1st / high to keep from lugging and higher running temperatures. When I get to the thinner grasses and more level land; I will bump it up to 2nd / high.

My 1700 at full throtle only shows about 2200 RPM (will not even get to the red mark on the tach). I have thought about adjusting the throtle to get more out of it, but not sure if the tach is right or wrong, so I have decided to leave it be. The higher PTO gears just put too much strain on my 1700 to be comfortable with but that is just my outlook on it.

Newton

 

[Mickey_Fx]

My definition of lugging is the same as HGM's. When you experience bucking that is placing a lot of cyclic impact loads on the drive train which can't be good under any circumstances.

I typ run the engine at what I feel is an appropriate speed for the load/work I'm doing. I'm just not of the school that say to run WOT all the time.

For overloading, I judge by bumping the throttle a bit and if the engine immediately responds, it's not overloaded.

YMMV

 

[greatrandini]

U make sense! I run a 4 ft bush hog with 22 pto hp so I can run it on pto gear 2 at 1800 rpm without lugging or over loading.(I still say they are the same thing) If the stuff is real tall and thick I drop the pto gear to #1 and open her up to 2200 rpm. If it is still too big of strain I go very slow and take half widths with the hog....

 

[Mickey_Fx]

I think some of us make the distinction between low engine speed and the bucking that takes place when over loaded and high speed overloading where bucking would not be experienced. Just an opinion.

 

[greatrandini]

Ok, I acknowledge what u say. I think overload causes lugging. ie... the engine is overloaded when you have to down shift to get up a hill. If you overload your engine at max rpms then you are truly overloading your unit. If you overload your engine at lower rpms you have the option of changing gears and increasing rpms. If you run a mower at max rpms and go through some really thick stuff you may lug your engine when the load gets too great.

 

[pruntyc]

Well, I gave it a try. Running it at around 1800 and 2 pto. It ran just the same, no slowing down motor speed, even on a hill, of about 20 feet. Not deep grass, but it was probably about 1 1/2 to 2 foot high, not too thick though. I cut for about 30 minutes or a little more, and when I speeded up, to go to another place I got some white smoke, for about a minute or two, then it went back to no smoke at all. I can't even see anything coming out of the pipe, most of the time, as it is clear. So what is the white smoke, am I hurting anything? Or is it just a little fuel buildup?

 

[Mickey_Fx]

Dick, I don't have an answer for your white smoke but do have another comment. Seems the underlying topic here is power requirements for rotary mowers.

Mower design can have a big impact on needed power. Until I got my CUT I used my BIL's tractor and mower. His tractor is about 30-32HP and I can bring the tractor to its knees when mowing. The deck has a deep skirt on all 3 sides and the heavy grass can't get out. My deck's skirt is good size cutouts on a rear side so grass doesn't build up beneith the deck. Way lass power needed. I think this is a bigger issue than sharp blades.