New Kubota MX5400HST, Steep Hill, Rotary Cutter. Safety and stall/power questions.

[Bullwinkle123]

This has nothing to do with your problem, but be very careful about lifting heavy implements on your 3 pt when going up a steep hill. Many, many farmers have died, especially before the advent of ROPS, when their tractor's balance shifted from front to back on a steep incline and the tractor, with a heavy implement lifted, flipped on them. It will happen so fast you have no time to react. And your ROPS is of very little help if you don't use your seatbelt. I always drag a brush cutter or disk harrow (set straight) on a steep incline.

Thanks, those are the sorts of tips I'm looking for (as I abused a post for two topics)

 

[jeff9366]

Should I have engaged 4WD?

YES I keep 4-WD engaged at all times except when traveling hard road surfaces with a load in FEL bucket. On hard road surfaces front tire wear increases slightly in 4-WD because front wheels are moving slightly further than rear tires (5% +/-), pulling tractor. This movement differential is known as 'slip'.

No penalty for keeping 4-WD engaged on soft surfaces. Sometimes the improvement in steering over dirt with 4-WD engaged may prevent an unwanted event if you need to turn sharply.

I致e read on this forum that under the right (wrong!) conditions that tires filled with beet juice can spin the rims inside the tires thereby rendering the tractor stationary. You should take a look at some of those discussions

My rear 6-ply R4/industrial tires still appear normal when inflation is zero. The stiff 6-ply sidewalls support them. I am reminded of slow air leak in right-rear tire when I notice tilt on FEL bucket. Air inflated R4/industrial rear tires can disengage from tire rim under load when tires pressure drops.

Tractor was at max load moving uphill, almost no load descending.

I use 4wd on any slope, but it is particularly important when going forward down a slope. The rear gets light and you have insufficient braking ability - it can be a wild ride.

Tractors have no brakes on the front wheels. Brakes only on the rear wheels.

If in 2-WD descending, when weight transfers to front wheels, you may have almost NO BRAKING. With 4-WD engaged you have a simulation of brakes on four wheels.



Is MX perhaps overdue for your first DPF regeneration? First regeneration may come early relative to successive regenerations.

 

[jeff9366]

I had the RPMs at the marker for peak PTO operation, so ~2500 or so. The engine RPMs didn't hiccup, they were fine. I even increased it further, to ~3000.

Contemporary tractors have an INDEPENDENT PTO. Changing the hand throttle will change PTO speed but vary power to wheels very little. Power to wheels is controlled by foot throttle. Are you sure you did not push on the foot throttle at the same time?

The incline when I stopped moving was very steep, I don't know the angle, only that my inexperienced pucker factor was high, and perhaps I leaned forward far enough to cause the seat sensor to take action. (Not sure what that does, just stop movement? Or stop the engine - which clearly didn't happen).

Seat safety switch turns off the engine if weight is removed from seat.

 

[7879fordman]

I figure its because u ain't holding the pedal down enough. Try it again with pedal held all the way down . U want hurt it holding the pedal down .

 

[nybirdman]

I figure its because u ain't holding the pedal down enough. Try it again with pedal held all the way down . U want hurt it holding the pedal down .

Wrong!Pedal UP give most power on a HST.

 

[Ortimber]

I live on hilly property. I've had 5 different hydro tractors over the years. I can tell you for certain that the amount of power loss on the hills is substantial. There's no easy way to know if your machine is acting normal, but my hunch is it probably is.

 

[7879fordman]

Wrong!Pedal UP give most power on a HST.

I have a hst and wrong again it want go push the dam pedal down . I feel OP is scared to push the pedal down from all the dont push the pedal down hard on here most likely just feathering the pedal. It will not hurt a thing to hold the pedal down to make it go .

 

[Bullwinkle123]

Update: I spent a couple of hours out there on the hilly field today and running the rotary cutter on the mess from past seasons. It performed flawlessly, and as expected. So whatever happened the other day was most likely operator error.

There is one thing I did differently today, I had it in 4WD (which is the UP position on that lever on my MX5400). I tried all manner of things, no problems whatsoever. Fun fun fun!

 

[Peter 315]

Nice you will get the hang of it...........

 

[Bullwinkle123]

After posting my last note, I walked down to where I was stuck the other day, maybe it wasn't entirely operator error after all, it's clear there was one wheel spinning based on the bare patch and mud flung out behind it. It also happened to me on another hill after the post in 2WD too. Hazards of getting the R4's, though they're so far gentle enough on my very wet lawn, so that's good (R4's were a compromise). Fortunately I have the 4wd and locking diff options if I need them, now I know what was happening a bit more.