New L3400 delivered today- Breakin period question

esqn1000 · Jun 11, 2005

First, thanks for all the opinions and information from everybody on the boards; It was a lot of help to me in coming to a decision. After looking at and test driving a lot of tractors, I went with a L3400HST, FEL, and 5' cutter. It was delivered today and I just got back from puttering around getting used to it.

How delicate do I have to treat a new tractor for the first 50hrs. Manual says not to run at full speed during breakin period, but what exactly does that mean? Does it mean don't run full throttle to 3000 rpm, or not to run at pto speed? I want to cut my field and need to run at ~2500 rpm to get 540 pto rpm. Should I run the cutter at a slower speed for 50 hrs? Or do I need to run 1 hour cutting, then back off rpms to 1500 and run FEL some, then back to cutting?

Thanks for the (continued) help. I'll post some pictures as soon as I can make them smaller.

btolle · Jun 11, 2005

You will get 10 answers and each will be different.

My philosophy is that the people who designed and built the tractor also decided what the Operator's Manual should say. Since I do not have an engineering degree I figure they are more qualified to decide how it should be done.

Why is it we men hate to read the directions and hate even more to follow the directions?

And if we do read the manual and don't like what it says we start asking other folks until we find some who agree with what we want to do. Maybe we like to have someone to blame if we do what we want and have problems, "The guys on TractorByNet said I could run it wide open from day 1. Wonder why it blew up at 100 hours? Must be their fault."

Personally, I held the RPM's down during the first 50 hours. The consensus of opinion seems to be that varying the RPM's every few minutes (5 or 10) by a couple of hundred RPM's is more important than the maximum RPM's you run in the first 50 hours. I didn't hit PTO speed until 50 hours.

You can bush hog at a little less than PTO speed. It's a little slower but 300 or 400 RPM less than PTO speed will still cut OK for me.

Anyone is welcome to flame me, I am not a virgin.

Bill Tolle

esqn1000 · Jun 11, 2005

Hi Bill,

Thanks for the response. I'm not trying to get justification to bypass the manual, just trying to figure out what it means. It says not to go to max speed - but what is max speed? PTO speed is not max speed, is it?

You said you kept rpms down during first 50 hrs and varied by +/- 200 rpms every 5-10 minutes. Just keep the travel speed down and it will cut OK - is that correct? So you didn't go to 2600rpm until after 50hr maintenance? That seems reasonable to me.

This is my first tractor, so I'm just trying to make sure I treat it well so it will last a long, long time.

ronjhall · Jun 12, 2005

Congrat's on your new tractor. /forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif
PTO speed is not full RPMs. Run your cutter close to PTO speed. Vary 100 RPMs every few minutes. The first 50 hours will go fast. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

familyman · Jun 12, 2005

Agree with Ron and Bill and would add this: Give her about 2 minutes at dead idle and 4 minutes at 1200 rpm before use. Increase those times by 1 or more minutes as weather gets colder. ASAP, it's important to load the engine intermittently (make it work, but not lug) when pulling or cutting after a thorough warmup (15minutes or so). This will help seat the rings. I try to not exceed 1500 rpm or work the motor until I know she's good and warm. Vary rpm's as much as possible and try not to exceed PTO speed until after 50 hours.
My own practice, and others will disagree, is to warm up an engine then change the oil after a relatively short operating time (10 hrs. for my tractor, 500 miles on a new car). I do this because I know that no manufacturer can keep all harmful debris out of a new motor assembly and changing it after the first warmup flushes stuff out. Try to watch the oil drain with some kind of backlighting (sunshine is good) and you'll see sparklies in the oil as it drains and in the pan. This is metal. Not wanted in oil as it circulates through an engine with tight tolerances. Then proceed with recommended oil change schedule per book. Break-in takes at least 50 hrs, probably more, so don't run synthetic oil until after that. My .02.
Best of luck, and enjoy!

Charley /forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif

btolle · Jun 12, 2005

( Hi Bill,

It says not to go to max speed - but what is max speed? PTO speed is not max speed, is it?

You said you kept rpms down during first 50 hrs and varied by +/- 200 rpms every 5-10 minutes. Just keep the travel speed down and it will cut OK - is that correct? So you didn't go to 2600rpm until after 50hr maintenance? That seems reasonable to me.

)

Maximum speed is wide open throttle, not PTO speed. Usually, max. speed is only 200 to 300 faster than PTO speed.

When I bush hog I often run 200-300 below PTO speed, seems to cut just a well there as at rated PTO speed. I listen to the engine. A subtle change in engine sound tells me when I need to speed up or slow down.

The warmup advice is good. I try to wait until the temperature gauge starts to move before using the tractor and then go slow for the first few minutes.You are not only trying to warm up the engine you also need to warm up the hydraulic fluid.

In my case it takes me about 3 or 4 minutes to get out of the shed and through the gate. Once the temp gauge moves I go slowly out of the shed and through the gate. If you live in a cold climate the warmup time will be longer.

Don't forget to run the tractor at lower speed (1,500 or so) for the last 3 or 4 minutes in order to let it cool a little before shutting it off.

I am not sure about the axle/wheel hub connection on your tractor but on my B7510 one thing I found was that the bolt that holds the rear hub to the axle needed to be tightened about every 10 hours for the first 60 or 70 hours. The "wedge" design of the hub/axle seems to take a while to seat itself properly.

Common sense is your best guide. Give yourself time to learn how your tractor reacts before doing things at full speed.

BTW, for loader work I generally run between 1,700 and 2,000 RPM. It works as well there as it does at PTO speed when using the loader.

Bill Tolle

cchoate · Jun 12, 2005

( Anyone is welcome to flame me, I am not a virgin.
)

On the contrary, I did the exact same procedure - in fact I rarely get to my max PTO speed even after 120 hours. Following the manual, you can't go wrong.

ku4ns · Jun 12, 2005

I use a M5700 to cut grass and rarely run the mower at PTO speed. This machine has 350 hrs. now and has worked hard from day one. I use the PTO speed whenever I pump water, 8 inch suction 6 inch exhaust and it runs smooth. I have used Long, Ford in the past and they would sound like they were about to blow up running this pump. I don't remember if I ran the pump before the initial 50 hrs, but i'm sure we were bushhogging, plowing, pulling trees or whatever else needed to be done. I feel that in the breakin period you should vary speed, workload and the amount of time running the machine. Allow time to cool in the beginning. Heat cool heat cool. John