Happy Ending...2400 Beat at 400hrs

ckless · Jul 7, 2001

Well I took the advice and walked away from the B2400 with all the 'issues' and took a shot at a new B2710. I talked to the original dealer, got quotes from several other local dealers, re-negotiated the price and they delivered it July 3rd(in just 4 days!). I spent the entire 4th moving trees, box blading, etc. and what a machine! I love this thing! 4wd, HST, A4's, FEL and the box blade(which was essentially free) gets me around in FL sugar sand on a very hilly piece of property with little effort. The 4wd is a must here...

Quick question though: the 50hr mark and the service that's done, does that constitute the 'break-in' period and what type use is advised before then and then if the 'break-in' is less than 50hrs, what hr reading would make up the 'break-in' period?

PS. Two small downsides...no Kubota hat(darn) and a small nut missing from the throttle linkage...

Bird · Jul 7, 2001

ckless, yes, I'd consider the 50 hour mark as the break-in period, but really didn't worry about it too much. I'd vary the rpm during the time a bit (which you'll probably do in normal usage), and the manual recommends against "full speed" the first 50 hours, but I certainly used some PTO powered implements during that time and PTO speed is only a couple hundred rpm below "full speed." I think you'll really enjoy that tractor. I've got just over 300 hours on mine.

Bird

r0GuE · Jul 7, 2001

Good move. Enjoy the machine. I wish I had enough land to require a B!

Rogue

frank_f15 · Jul 7, 2001

ckless: congrats on new 2710. and i bet if u ask the dealer he will STILL give u a nice bright orange hat/w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

kerr · Jul 7, 2001

ckless,congrats on the new rig.I think you made a wise choise walking from the sick 2400.Thats my favorite orange one too.My dealer gave the ol-, young bride 2 sets of keys and 2 of the nicest green hats you ever saw.Treat it like anything new and kinda ease into it for awhile.

patrickg · Jul 7, 2001

My dealer brush hogged some varying height grass at my place with my new rig and declared that 2200 RPM was fast enough and if it bogged down just ease up on the HST pedal. This is the guy who put himself through college contract brush hogging so I value his oppinion. After the 50 hrs he said I could take it up to PTO speed when needed but running a bit conservative saved wear and fuel. Sounded like pretty conservative but reasonable advice to me. This was for a new 2001 L4610 HSTC. I am approaching 60 hrs now and on the 4th I brush hogged some pretty big stuff 3 in and a bit over which caused me to briefly go to warp factor 540. At one point I got a bit of smoke from brush hog clutch when I bogged it down on the big stuff but no apparent catastrophic damage, probably just a bit shorter life (I hope, he said while whistling in the dark).

Patrick

Alan L. · Jul 8, 2001

The 2710 manual says to run at 2600 RPMs for the correct PTO speed. If you don't, the mower doesn't spin as fast. If it cuts fine at 2200 then you should be able to go faster, thus finishing quicker. The darn thing won't use even a gallon of fuel an hour anyway, and as long as it is at proper operating temp I don't think 2600 vs 2200 RPMs will wear it out quicker.

I certainly don't see anything wrong with being conservative during the break-in period, but it seems that using lower than recommended RPMs just make you run the tractor longer to do the same amount of work, thus offsetting any perceived decrease in wear and tear.

Alan L., TX

Bird · Jul 8, 2001

Patrick (and Alan L), I agree with both of you. I usually run my PTO powered implements at full PTO speed then vary my ground speed as needed to do the job, but there's certainly nothing wrong with running a lower speed if the implement is doing the job the way you want it done at the slower speed. And of course, to me, another advantage of the lower rpm is less noise.

Bird

looch · Jul 8, 2001

Having only 20 hours on my B7500, I am also concerned about the 50 hour break-in period. The dilemma for me is that the Bush Hog manual mentions the occurrence of rapid blade wear (cutting edge and bolt hole) if running it at speeds lower then 540. Is this just a very conservative manual? In any case I guess the cost of replacements blades justifies a proper tractor break-in period.

Paul

patrickg · Jul 8, 2001

Paul, I recall folks that were so enamoured of their ability to downshift through the gears and use compression braking A N D S A V E O N T H E I R B R A K E S that they did it virtually all the time, mindless of the fact that clutches were more expensive and more difficult to change out than brake shoes. As a special techinque for certain instances(like a down grade), OK but all the time? Similarly, I think I'd worry a lot more about the longevity of my tractor engine than a minor thing like the premature wear on cutter blades. Which is more important to you? (Rhetorical question, I think.) My PTO speed is 540 at 2600 RPM. My dealer empirically arrived at 2200 being good enough as to loading/lugging the engine. This is only 15% reduction from 540 to 457 RPM on the PTO as tach drops from 2600 to 2200. I think it is a reasonable tradeoff and it is only for 50 hours of brush hogging I F that is all you do.

Any experts out there? What would happen to the brush hog blades in 50 hours from running 15% under standard PTO speed? Assume mostly grass and small seedlings/saplings as was my case. I didn't start "logging" with mine until after 50 hours.

Of course, Paul, this was an empirical finding by "my expert" based on my tractor and brush hog. I don't know what he might have recommended for you. That too is an area for speculation by our resident experts.

Patrick (I still prefer to stay below 2600 unless I really need full power to the weapons array.)