Freewheeling downhill on a new TC55DA

[Doc_Bob]

The last couple of time's i parked the tractor and left it running when i got off the seat it didnt kill the engine. Maybe this is a small warantee item. If you get off the seat it's should to kill the engine if the brake is not set. If you are running the tractor and stand up the transmission goes to neutral with the shuttle still engaged.It has to be a saftey switch or swich malfuntion.

My TN70A with EHSS (Power shuttle) has a safety switch in the seat which can easily bypassed. All it does is defeat my power shuttle. Never stops the engine once it is running.
Bob

 

[shaley]

My EHSS 2120 will roll down a incline when in gear and engine off. It has warning placards stating such. I'm not sure what it does when it wants to overrun down a hill.

 

[Roto]

I dont know about you guys but if mine starts rolling down a hill i would simply hit the brakes and stop and figure what happened. BRAKES!!!!!!!

Mike

 

[jimmysisson]

I'm not sure what it does when it wants to overrun down a hill.

Shaley - do you mean when it's running? You do get full enging braking while it's running, and nada when it's not. You need the hydraulics under pressure to keep the EHSS engaged. No engine, no engagement.
Jim

 

[Ford850]

After re-reading the first post and reading Fullpull's quotes from the manual, it sounds like he lifted his weight off the seat which caused the tractor to disengauge the transmission. Can someone test that theory in a safe location? If that's the case, then stepping on the inching pedal should reset the transmission after coasting to a stop (or while coasting down the hill).
I'm still confused as to why it was originally described as "losing traction" though. If the rears were sliding down the hill, it wouldn't be "in nuetral" once he reached the bottom of the hill - it would have slid down the hill, but then gained traction and continued to drive forward once at the bottom.

 

[meledward23]

I have a TC-55da. I was using it yesterday after reading this post. I would surmise my test was inconclusive. Here is a summary of my experiment.

1) I wear a seat belt at all times. A tractor that has a rollover bar is more dangerous without a seatbelt on than a tractor without a rollover bar if I recall correctly per statistics.

2) while wearing the seatbelt, I lifted my arse off the seat on a small steep decline. The tractor did not loose gear at all. However, I was wearing my seatbelt so I can not be sure the seat switch disengaged, and am pretty certain that it did not.

3) I was definetly in four wheel drive and had a medium load in the bucket.

4) I tried several times with no change of events.

5) My hill is to short for extensive testing. I could loosen the seatbelt in order to disengage the switch, but I need a bigger hill which is at the farm. Tractor is stuck at the house till I get my truck on the up and up again.

 

[FULLPULL]

I agree with the you still have brakes to use .And for saftey we need to know our tractor and let anyone that uses our tractor's know about the saftey switches. When i checked my tractor it was on a safe grade with the rops down and no seat belt which could or could not have a impact on the way the saftey system work's .I used to have a TC40D which had a different transmission and the saftey system work's different for that tractor.My new TC55DA is still new and has alot of new gadget's or new to me. The manual didnt go into as much detail as i would like but most of it is there for the reading.

 

[jt7157]

First, let me thank all those who have responded to my post. Your ideas and input are very helpful. Also, please let me assure everyone about one thing: I did not I get up off the seat while going down the hill. Each time this happened, the tractor accelerated, either from loosing grip with the ground and skidding or by coming out of gear. I still wonder if loosing traction will cause the tractor to come out of gear if speed becomes too great. Once the tractor stooped, it was absolutely out of gear, so the question is chicken and egg--which came first. And yes, I should have used the brakes each time, but I did not because the distance to the bottom of the hill and a level spot was not too far off. I did get out of the seat once, however, while bush hogging; I used to do this all the time on my Dad's Ferguson just to get a better look ahead. I believe the switch under the seat that takes the tractor out of gear is a hassle as I can no longer get up to increase my visibility unless I stop (which is safer I suppose). I'm going to visit my dealer today to see if he can help. Thanks again for all the responses.

 

[Ford850]

jt7157,
Was it steep enough grade that with the help of a small bump you could have lifted some of your weight off the seat, taking it ouf of gear? When you say it accelerated, did the engine rev up or just the travel speed like it was popped out of gear?

 

[hazmat]

When I was a young man, we used to take Dad's lawn tractor up the hill and put it into nuetral to gain speed on the descent.

I'm sure that had nothing to do with the front wheel falling off a couple years later (broken spindle)

I hope you get the problem resolved.