Kubota 4WD

[TripleR]

I'm with the rest of the guys... Kubota is no better (or worse) than any other tractor manufacturer. 4WD is not intended to be used on dry, grippy surfaces like pavement or concrete. Usually the tire size match-up is pretty close, but not perfect. As long as you have a bit of slippage it's fine, such as with snow, mud, or dirt. That's normally where you need 4wd anyway.

Front chains are a bit different, they can potentially provide full power to a front wheel if you hook into something solid while the rest are slipping, although the differential action SHOULD prevent that from side to side. If both rear wheels are spinning and the fronts bite hard, you MAY break something in my opinion.

I didn't put front chains on the 3400 because it really doesn't need them.

If you check the owner's manuals for any 4wd truck, it says not to run in 4wd on dry surfaces because of added wear and tear, stress, etc. AWD systems with a viscous type coupling (a la Subaru) are different again, they're meant to run all the time because of the slip action of the viscous coupling.

I use mine where I need it, and leave it in 2wd otherwise. Anywhere I'm operating in snow or mud, it stays in 4wd. Dry ground (mowing or traveling) means 2wd.

Like anything else here, that's just my opinion.

Chilly

Yep, that's why I go by the manual provided by the manufacturer. My 4x4 trucks say don't drive on pavement in 4WD and you can sure tell why if you forget and hit pavement, but mt tractor manual doesn't say this. My CX80 has 2 WD, 4 WD on demand and 4WD. I don't normally run in 4WD on pavement because of wear, but have done so for many years without problems. The front differential may not be as robust as the rear, but is far from fragile.

I also have run my 4WD ATV and RUV as per manual without problems.

 

[Oldchuck]

My L4400 stays in 4WD all the time, rear chains also stay on year round too. I'm never on pavement and don't have front chains although I think it might steer better in snow with fronts. I'm often in mud or snow so I need the traction most of the time. So far in this thread nobody has reported a problem with that.

 

[Tailrotor]

Same here, I live on a hill side and My BX 2230 stays in 4x4 all the time thats the only way I can Mow my grass. And the same with the L45 if it goes out of the drive and down into the yard its in 4x4 all day long. No problems at all, the Bx is 4 years old now not one issue.

 

[BotaBigot]

The "bind" we experience turning on dry pavement is inherent with most 4X4 designs. In order to eliminate it, there needs to be a differential in the transfer case, along with the ones in the front and rear axles. Most on/off road systems don't have one, instead relying on slippage...which is why owner's manuals caution us about dry pavement use.

Tractor design usually results in a smaller front differential, which, under certain load conditions could exceed design limits in 4X4 mode...like backing up with a heavy FEL load and wheel slippage/grabbing.

I think the real issue is shock loading caused by tire slip/grab, which is aggrevated with chains, and further aggrevated with clutch/manual trans. I had personal experience with a B6000 running FEL into a spoils pile. Ground was rough, foot bouncing up and down on clutch pedal, slip/grab...broke teeth on REAR ring gear. IMO...best prevention is HST trans and keep wheelspin to a minimum...

 

[sevilla]

In my manual for L3830 in the chapter of the front wheel drive there are a few safety warning and this note under the heading "IMPORTANT": "Tires will wear quickly if front wheel drive is engaged on paved roads". That's it.

 

[EE_Bota]

For my BX2200, it reads

"Be careful to avoid sudden temperature changes in front axle unit, such as might be encountered in a mountain stream or a snow bank. Sudden temperature changes can cause glass gears contained within to shatter."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Just kidding. I could not resist.
I had the BX2200 front axle apart at Christmas to replace the leaky seals which get rotated during steering. I can attest to the fact that front axle looked plenty strong, and after 785 hours, everything still looked fine.

 

[whistlepig]

Thank you

Here's how.

Once you are on the page you are reading, highlight the URL (page address location) that is located at the top of the page (where the hxxp://www.xxx is located), copy that entire address and past it in this text area as done here (below).

Tire Chains on industrial tires? - Page 4 - TractorByNet.com


To reference a single post, click on the post number that is located in the top right of the poster's area (say post #10), click on that and a single post will pop up in a seperate screen. Copy that URL and paste it in the text area and that single post will come up in lieu of the entire thread. If one wants to see the entire thread of said single post, look in the top right part of the single post and click on the thread name. You will be directed to the entire thread.

http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/1825119-post4.html

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.

Thank you very much for these instructions. I tried this for a little while last night and got frustrated. I did not intend to say that the Kubota 4WD is inferior and that people were having all kinds of problems. It's just that from my reading I got the impression, perhaps my error, that the 4WD has to be babied. I can see from reading the excellent posts here that my concerns are incorrect.

 

[crbr]

Thank you very much for these instructions. I tried this for a little while last night and got frustrated. I did not intend to say that the Kubota 4WD is inferior and that people were having all kinds of problems. It's just that from my reading I got the impression, perhaps my error, that the 4WD has to be babied. I can see from reading the excellent posts here that my concerns are incorrect.

I would say (after reading more) that your concern warranted a question and I can see your point of view. Thank you for the additional reading reference. I learned too.