Hour Meter

[ryer]

Hey guys,
This might sound like a dumb question but does the hour meter on a new tractor (B26) actually mean one our of time on your watch or is the hour on a tractor meter different? For example...is 50.2 to 50.3 on the meter actually 6 minutes? You would think that it is but my meter takes longer than that. So, is my meter malfunctioning or is there a difference? Thanks.

 

[mrwitty_1]

My older B7100 hour meter works just as you stated, multiply the white digit on the left by 6 and that is the minutes into the hour, example : 4 x 6 = 24 minutes. Mine is dead on with a regular clock.

 

[HOYT.TRYCON]

My understanding of a tractor hour meter is that it shows one hour of use when the tractor runs one hour at the tractors rated rpm. Alot of Kubotas have a rating at about 2600 rpm but it does vary some from model to model. To give you a example, it would take two hours of engine running time at a high idle of 1300 rpms to put one hour on the meter for a engine rated at 2600 rpm.

 

[Treemonkey1000]

They all should be the same. That's engine running time. Each 1/10 of an hour is 6 minutes. Unless you are a Lawyer then it adds up to about 20 minutes of charging time....

 

[Jimbrown]

There are two kinds of hour meters. One type just records time exactly like a clock when the key is on. The other type commonly called a HOBBS meter records time based on engine RPM. Typically one hour would egual one hour of time at what ever RPM equates to 550 power take of rpm. If running at 225 power take off rpm that would equal 30 minutes. I do not know what type the B26 has. I suspect it just records time with the key on.

 

[KeithInSpace]

I have never personally witnessed a "PTO" hour meter, but from discussions here, I'm convinced they exist. I have no clue where the break point is where the regular-hour hour meter matters less and the PTO-hour hour meter matters more, but a general statement is that larger equipment measures the hour by PTO revolutions as stated. I am certain my BX measures an hour by time...regular hours.

It probably stems from accurate service intervals for larger equipment. If it is equipment that spends a certain amount of its life idling or puttering around off idle, it would greatly increase your service intervals (have them be further apart) to have the "hour" measured off of engine rpm's rather than by an hour's time. So if I made something of a guess, the "agrictultural", "contruction" or "working" machines...the L, the M, the TLB B series (B26, not the tractor B) would have an rpm type gauge.

Us regular folks with the smaller tractors get regular hour type stuff. It takes forever enough to get 100 hours on my machine...if it was measured by engine or PTO RPM, it would take 3 years for me to change the oil, for goodness sake.

 

[steverichmond]

Taking the question a little different direction. Does anyone know if the BX2350 hour meter increases if the Key is simply on or does it only increase when the engine is running? I had a riding lawn mower click off 40 hrs before I noticed the key was accidently left on.

Thanks,
Steve

 

[ryer]

Hey guys,
I think the mystery is solved. I called the dealer and he had no clue. So, here is what I did...I took a stop watch and I measured an interval from 68.9 to 70.0 at idle (about 900-1000 rpm). It took 13 min 40 sec. I then measured the time between 70.0 and 70.1 at about 2500 rpm (540 pto on the gauge). It took exactly 6 minutes. So the B26, which does not have the electronic dash like an L39 must have a meter that runs off of rpm. Of course, this will probably all change next time I try to measure it...or maybe my stopwatch is broken. Thanks for the input!

 

[Treemonkey1000]

Well gee I was wrong on that one. I would have expected all of them to be engine on time no matter what RPM. I will have to see what my Kubota does

 

[KeithInSpace]

Does anyone know if the BX2350 hour meter increases if the Key is simply on...

I was in a real bind for light one evening and my only choice at the time was to use my tractor's headlights. To turn them on, the key must be rolled all the way to the "run" position. As such, the hour meter was definitely rolling. Burned an hour off the 'life' of my tractor that night.

So I am 99.6% certain that the BX hour meter...at least on my BX2230...measures a true hour regardless of engine RPM. I would expect that to be true across the BX line. And given the earlier example, it makes sense. I would expect that to be the case in their ZTR's and smaller mowers as well. Not sure about the B tractors. Makes sense that the B26 is an rpm measuring type given the construction environment it was designed to operate in.