How are the hydro drive tractors doing in the bitter cold ?

[botaman2]

You are doing your HST a disservice by locking out the clutch! It is far more beneficial to let the HST warm up with the clutch out,so that the fluid can get pumped around thus warming itself. I generally even keep the mid-pto engaged (being located at the bottom of the tranny)to further the warmup.

 

[john_bud]

You are doing your HST a disservice by locking out the clutch! It is far more beneficial to let the HST warm up with the clutch out,so that the fluid can get pumped around thus warming itself. I generally even keep the mid-pto engaged (being located at the bottom of the tranny)to further the warmup.

My experience is from operations at temperatures from -30F to -15F. I've gone out of my way to discuss this with service managers from Kubota, JD and NH. All of them agree that it shouldn't happen, but all have seen it happen (HST filter leaks). They all agree that the best way to warm up an HST tractor at the temperatures I listed is the way I outlined on 2/08.

Shock loading of the filter housing to trans seal from the pre-charge pump causes the seal to blow and the fluid to leak past the seal. It occurs due to the overpressure relief valve not being able to open instantaneously and the fluid flow rate across the relief being much smaller than the pump output when the fluid temperatures have thickened it dramatically.

That's my direct experience, your's may vary.

 

[pat32rf]

My JD4300 came with the optional trans heater. Only problem was the fact that it was mounted in the drain plug-the lowest part of the casing and had a 8" cord hanging down. Cord lasted about one week and the heater came out the first fluid change. I now have a block heater, lower rad hose heater and a battery heater, all fed off one cord, controlled by a switch at the front door. At -30C I give it about 1hr then let it run for5-10 minutes before working it. Most times I am only running up to the barn for a bucket of firewood or similar so it gets a short run at 1500rpm before it needs full rpm.
There is a spot on the range shifter where the tranny is in neutral if I ever have to move it with a dead engine.(I found this out once by knocking the shift lever just before going down a hill)