mfwd vs 4wd

[Anonymous Poster]

What's the difference between MFWD and 4WD?

 

[JackIL]

MFWD stands for Mechanical Front Wheel Drive. That name was first used by John Deere for full sized Row Crop ag tractors (front wheels smaller than the rear wheels) with front axles that were shaft driven from the main transmission. That term was used to distinguish the drive from the forerunner Hydraulic front wheel drive that Deere offered briefly in the early 80's. For full size ag tractors, 4WD normally indicates a vehicle steered with articulation in the center and having all tires of the same diameter and all powered.

John Deere uses the MFWD nomenclature on compact tractors as well as ag tractors.

For compact tractors with all wheels powered, the terms 4WD or All Wheel Drive are commonly used. Most have the front wheels shaft driven and thus could be said to have Mechanical Front Wheel Drive. Exceptions would be Ventrac and Steiner which use hydraulic motors to power front and rear axles and Power Trac which uses hydraulic motors on all 4 wheels.

Jack

 

[Mrwurm]

Excellent description. /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

 

[JimMc]

Thanks, Jack. That description clears up a couple of distinctions I was wondering about, too.

 

[art]

Jack, John Deere was the last tractor manufacturer to use a gear drive front end as they tried to push the inefficient hydraulic drive. Try Oliver, IH, Allis,and Ford. Mechanical front wheel drive can be seen in there literature nearly 20 years prior to Deere's introduction of a gear drive.

 

[JackIL]

Art,

You are certainly right about other manufacturers offering front drive before John Deere. However, none of them specifically called it "Mechanical Front Wheel Drive" or MFWD. Deere used the term "Mechanical" to distinguish it from their unsuccessful "Hydraulic" drive, and the name has stuck ever since.

Jack

 

[art]

Jack you might be right, I've been going over my old stuff here, back to early 80's found nothing they just refer to it as mchanical assist.

 

[SrChf]

ok, so just to be clear (newbie here) I am looking at getting a used JD2305. some sellers list their unit as 4WD and other MFWD. Is there a difference, or is it tomato, tomahto. if there is a difference, what price and performance differences should I expect between the two. Thank you!

 

[dex3361]

ok, so just to be clear (newbie here) I am looking at getting a used JD2305. some sellers list their unit as 4WD and other MFWD. Is there a difference, or is it tomato, tomahto. if there is a difference, what price and performance differences should I expect between the two. Thank you!

Welcome to TBN
MFWD is Mechanical Front Wheel Drive and this is what most call the 4WD. So they are both the same on this tractor.
If you are talking to a lager 100HP+ guy he will tell you that when the front and rear wheels are nearly the same size then its 4WD and if the front wheels are much smaller (like what you see on CUT (Compact Utility Tractor) or SCUT (Subcompact Utility Tractor) then its MFWD or FWA (Front Wheel Assist).

 

[jenkinsph]

As far as Deere tractors are concerned most of the new stuff is mfwd in the compacts you referenced. FWD can also mean hydraulically assisted front wheel drive such as in my x749 mower. In turns the fwd can speed up the outside front wheel to help reduce scuffing the lawn. Some of the older ag tractors we have (Deere 3130LS) have hydraulic front wheel drive and are fwd but as explained are not mfwd.

For most uses mfwd is the better and more simple way to go.

 

[dex3361]

As far as Deere tractors are concerned most of the new stuff is mfwd in the compacts you referenced. FWD can also mean hydraulically assisted front wheel drive such as in my x749 mower. In turns the fwd can speed up the outside front wheel to help reduce scuffing the lawn. Some of the older ag tractors we have (Deere 3130LS) have hydraulic front wheel drive and are fwd but as explained are not mfwd.

For most uses mfwd is the better and more simple way to go.

Does the x749 have wheel motors of a hydraulic motor driving the input shaft to the front axle?

 

[jenkinsph]

Does the x749 have wheel motors of a hydraulic motor driving the input shaft to the front axle?

x749,
It has a hydraulically driven front axle with a variable proportioning valve to feed the left and right wheels. The variable valve is connected to the steering linkage so that as the linkage moves left and right this in turn can vary the wheel speeds.

On the older fwd Deere's these had front hydraulic wheel motors to drive the wheels. Don't know how these were made to slip but would guess the relief pressure were set low enough to allow for some slippage.

 

[dex3361]

x749,
It has a hydraulically driven front axle with a variable proportioning valve to feed the left and right wheels. The variable valve is connected to the steering linkage so that as the linkage moves left and right this in turn can vary the wheel speeds.

On the older fwd Deere's these had front hydraulic wheel motors to drive the wheels. Don't know how these were made to slip but would guess the relief pressure were set low enough to allow for some slippage.

Thanks for the info.

 

[V1Rotate]

Jenk,
I'm a little confused. Does the 749 have one hydraulic motor that drives the front or two?

 

[beppington]

Maybe somebody can explain my 4WD.

Recently when trying to pull down a tree with 4WD engaged ... tree was barely budging, but I decided to keep pulling for a bit to see if it might go ... I observed the front right wheel spinning (trying to pull), but not the front left wheel at all. FLW just sat there. The wheels were turned slightly to the right at that time.

I noticed that if I turned the steering wheel to the left some, sometimes that would cause the LFW to also spin (try to pull), but this action didn't seem to be "firm" ... With the wheel turned to the left, the LFW didn't always "try", just sometimes.

Sometimes neither would spin, & definitely the FRW would spin more often than the FLW. Occassionally both would spin. Occassionally neither would spin.

Is there a differential in the front axle?

Just curious how it works.

 

[dex3361]

Maybe somebody can explain my 4WD.

Recently when trying to pull down a tree with 4WD engaged ... tree was barely budging, but I decided to keep pulling for a bit to see if it might go ... I observed the front right wheel spinning (trying to pull), but not the front left wheel at all. FLW just sat there. The wheels were turned slightly to the right at that time.

I noticed that if I turned the steering wheel to the left some, sometimes that would cause the LFW to also spin (try to pull), but this action didn't seem to be "firm" ... With the wheel turned to the left, the LFW didn't always "try", just sometimes.

Sometimes neither would spin, & definitely the FRW would spin more often than the FLW. Occassionally both would spin. Occassionally neither would spin.

Is there a differential in the front axle?

Just curious how it works.

You have and open differential in the front end and it will allow the wheel with the least traction to slip if pushed to the traction limit. If the traction limit is not met the power is to both front wheels. The back axle is the same until you engage the differential lock this would lock both axles together and both wheels pull even is 1 is slipping.

 

[jenkinsph]

Jenk,
I'm a little confused. Does the 749 have one hydraulic motor that drives the front or two?

Separate wheel motors, here a good description from Deere.

Full-time four-wheel drive for superior traction