How does Yanmar powershifty tranny work?

[davesisk]

Is it well suited to back and forth loader work? Just curious...I've been spoiled by a hydrostatic drive machine that I have now (push one pedal to go forward, push the other pedal to go in reverse). Can someone describe how the powershift tranny works (in terms of operation)?

From a chart I'm looking at, the YM 1510/1510D, 1610/1610D, 1720D, 1810D, 1820D, FX20D, 2010/2010D, and a whole bunch of others have this powershift tranny.

Thanks!
Dave

 

[Tractors4u]

If you have ever driven a "shuttle shift" tractor, they drive a lot like Yanmar's Powershift. With a normal shuttle shift, you are simply changing directions, forward/reverse with the shuttle lever. On my last Powershift Yanmar, an FX26D, I had 2 reverse speeds, neutral, and then 3 or 4 forward speeds. Powershift lets you shift with or without the clutch. You are on the tractor, you have selected your range, which you have to use the clutch for. The Powershift is in neutral, you want to go forward, push the shifter to 1st gear. You can either use the clutch or not, it is your choice. Want to go faster, bump it to 2nd or 3rd. Want to back up? Pull the shifter back. On my FX26D, it would go to neutral and stop unless you had the button on the shifter pushed in. The shifter of mine was like a floor mounted auto trans shifter in a car, only it was mounted next to the right fender. On the 10 series Yanmars their shifters are mounted on the transmission hump between your feet. You have to pull them over to get to reverse. On the 20 series Yanmars the shifter is set up like an "On the column shifter" of a car or truck. Instead of the button to push in like the FX, you simply lift the handle slightly while you are shifting to reverse. Yanmar did this to keep people from accidentally shifting from high gear forward to reverse. With a little practice you will get to the point where you can go from forward to reverse and time it so that the tractor slows down enough not to throw you over the hood changing directions. The Powershifts are great for loader work.

 

[davesisk]

Hey, thanks for the post! I have driven a shuttle shift once. It had a seperate gear selector for which gear, then a shuttle shift lever to go in either forward or reverse. Can't recall if you had to clutch to shift between forward/reverse or not though.


So, you can shift from say, a low forward speed to a low reverse speed without clutching then? Sounds like it would be reasonable for loader work. Plus, if you need to change directions on a hill, you don't have to clutch right? That's nice...not having to disconnect the wheels from the engine on a hill is a big plus in my book.

Mechanically, how do they actually accomplish this? Is this type of transmission tend to be reliable or problem-prone? Since it's all mechanical, I'd imagine it's probably pretty reliable?

I've got an old Power-trac right now. It's incredibly versatile, and remarkably powerful for it's 1200 lb size. It was pretty beat up when I bought it and I've put a lot of money and time into fixing it up. It still takes quite a bit of maintenance even though there's nothing "wrong" with it now per se, so I'm considering possibly selling it and getting something that just doesn't require much TLC. Not sure I'll find that in the price range I'd like, but we'll see!

Dave

 

[thegreatrandini]

Most shuttle shifts require clutching. Alot of ag tractors have power reverser which is like the power shift. On my 2210 I have 3 forward powershift gears and one reverse. The reverse is about the same as forward gear 3. I wish it was more like 1 or better yet I wish it had 3 reverse gears like it does forward. It works great for loader work but not as nice as a hydorstat and not even close to as nice as a skid steer loader.... Much better than manual shift or even standard shuttle shift.......I have heard people call the Yanmar powershift "bullet proof". Plus it allows you to use your pto kinda like a live pto.

 

[JerryG]

There are power shuttles (power reverser) and there are power shifts. Power shuttles/power reverses have no clutch required for gear changes going for forward to reverse. Power shifts don't require clutching between gears or for forward / reverse. Both types of transmissions accomplish gear changes by using hydraulic clutch packs and solenoids.

 

[Cord]

It's sorta like a automatic. With the shuttle shift there is no park, so it's in neutral. You don't need to use the clutch to shift from neutral to 1st or reverse. You can bang shifts up to 3rd and back down as fast as you want. You can slow, shift to neutral and then into reverse with out touching the clutch. If you want to change the range gear, you must stop and use the clutch.

 

[lens12]

The powershift transmission is pretty trouble free. It uses hydraulic clutch packs . It is all mechanical, no solenoids. I'm not a big promoter of powershift for loaders. The manual states the tractor should stop moving before shifting into the opposite direction. I'm afraid drivers may get in a hurry & shift too soon. People should be aware of this fact when using the powershift.

 

[thegreatrandini]

Yea they aint as good for loaders as a hydostat. Yea you don't want to slam your tranny back in forth too hard too often. They are alot better than standard shift for loader work....Most the time your moving pretty slow and you kinda learn to time the shift as the roll of the tractors slows or stops. They work pretty well .....