FWD vs. MFWD - What's the difference? Which is better, and why?

[N80]

I use mine most of the time, but I need it most of the time. I turn it off if I'm concerned about the fronts digging up my 'lawn' (ie field of nicely mowed weeds). But, as Roy says, experiment a little. You can tell when you need it and when you don't...with one possible exception. That is going up and down hills. You obviously get better traction but hen the front driveline is engaged, the front wheels get braking whereas with it disengaged you have no front wheel braking. So I keep it engaged when I'm on hills...which is most of the time.

As far as FWD vs MFWD, etc etc, those terms are largely a matter of convention. There is no dictionary of precise terminology for these systems and most names are proprietary and depend on the manufacturer. I use the term 'four wheel drive' to describe my Kubota's drive train. Why? Because that is the term Kubota uses for all of its tractors that have front drivelines. The JD literature uses a number of terms, but Kubota uses '4WD' or 'four wheel drive' almost exclusively. There are '4wd' stickers all over my L4400.

So don't get bogged down in semantics, if you have a CUT or SCUT and you use the term FWD, we all know you are unlikely to be driving this:

 

[Greyfields]

Pretty much agree with Roy, but even if you don't need to use it to have sufficient traction, using MFWD for those tasks will probably reduce wheel slippage and therefore fuel usage. This can be measured per the procedure in your owner's manual if you *really* want to.

I use MFWD for plowing, rear blade work and discing in soil conditions where there's fair resistance. I generally don't use it for much else. I can disc in 2wd but get a bit more slip. Using my scarifier I cannot keep moving in 2wd with all 7 shanks in the ground more than 4" or so, while I can easily do this in 4wd.

Thanks you two. I hate to get too far off topic, but the 4120 doesn't have draft control. Is there a way to ghetto-ize and get it, without keeping my hand on the lever going up and down with the ground?

 

[Z-Michigan]

I would guess that the dealer can install draft control for you if you want it.

I have draft control but only find it useful part of the time. It is useful for plowing; for discing it could be useful, but I don't find it's needed. Even with draft control, for any task except plowing or discing I find I am still using the position control lever a fair bit. That might be partly my lack of experience with draft control; I don't know.

 

[Sandlot]

You guys give me a headache over this MFWD vs. FWD. MFWD, or Mechanical Four Wheel Drive, means that gears are used, not hydraulics. Just like in a truck. The tire size has nothing to do with it. That is handled by the gearing in the front drive system. Sorry, just had to vent.

 

[wolc123]

You are crazy to not use 4wd for plowing, disking, harrowing. It takes a lot of power to push a "dead" axle thrugh soft soil. Doing these tasks in 2wd wastes a lot of fuel. This is why sales have dried up on big 2wd's for ag use and they can be purchased used for pennies on the dollar compared to 4wd's.

 

[RoyJackson]

You are crazy to not use 4wd for plowing, disking, harrowing. It takes a lot of power to push a "dead" axle thrugh soft soil. Doing these tasks in 2wd wastes a lot of fuel. This is why sales have dried up on big 2wd's for ag use and they can be purchased used for pennies on the dollar compared to 4wd's.

Why on earth would you write this?

 

[daTeacha]

Getting back to the original question about 4 wheels driving and how often it is needed -- I have hilly ground and most of my work is with the loader, carrying dirt, manure, firewood, etc. a fair distance. I usually am travelling more or less uphill or down, rarely directly across the slope. I find having the front axle engaged helps tremendously with a load in the bucket, despite having a lot of weight (1100 lb, more or less) on the back end of my DX29. It helps going uphill to keep the rears (ag tires) from spinning on the crushed stone in the driveway and tearing it up even more -- things have been very dry here lately and parts of the driveway are interesting to even walk on since the stones roll easily. Going downhill, it allows the fronts to help with the braking action so I don't end up sliding the rears.

The only time I am sure to disengage it is when I'm crossing the lawn area.

 

[jbrumberg]

I am in the same situation as daTeacha and deal with it in the same manner, but then again we have similar tractors. Jay

 

[GreenWannabe]

4WD and MFWD in the compatct tracotr world appears to be mostly a matter of semantics. Much of the literature I've seen lately calls it 4WD. However, MFWD (Mechanical Four Wheel Drive and MFWA (Mechanical Front Wheel Assist) all seem to refer to the same technologies - upon activation, they all provide an assist in traction by powering the front wheels through a driveshaft, differential, and bevel gearing at the axle ends.