gardner175
New member
I have a question on optimal idle speed for operating a 4550 under light load. I have a tier four 4550 and am asking because of my very limited understanding of the diesel, hydraulics, and catalytic converter operation.
There is a decal on the tractor, and statements in my owner manual, that state: “Do not exceed ½ throttle for the first 5 minutes of operation”. There is also a note in my owners manual that states: In cold weather, idle and warm up for 5 minutes at approximately 2000 rpm before loading”.
My tractor RPM meter goes from 0 to 30 (0 to 3000 RPM). So I would calculate that half throttle would be 1500 RPM.
Now to further confuse things the owners manual says: “Do not apply load on the tractor at low engine speeds. Always apply heavy loads at full throttle RPM of engine”, however it also talks about the PTO 540 Mark: “This mark is located in the RPM meter at 2058 RPM of engine. It indicates the Engine RPM at which the PTO shaft will rotate at 540 RPM”.
I would have thought that operating PTO driven equipment would qualify as a “load”, however the engine RPMs for PTO speed seem to be less than 1 revolution per second more than the cold weather warm up idle speed. I am so confused!!!!!!!
So, is it damaging to the engine, hydraulics, and/or catalytic converter if I idle the tractor at about 1500 RPMs for an extended period of time while holding a raised 800 lbs load in the FEL?
I am asking this because I frequently need to use the tractor as a wheelbarrow to move loads of mulch to the garden where I need to hand distribute it around plants with the tractor idling in neutral. I have found that when I idol at PTO speed while the tractor is in neutral I can't get it in gear without grinding, even after I have depressed the clutch for several minutes. I need to slow the RPMs down for several minutes before I can put it in gear from neutral. If however I let the tractor idol at 1500 rpm I can quickly shift into gear from neutral and move to next spot where I will be hand distributing mulch.
Sorry for all the detail minutia, but I am way over my head on this. I don't want to damage the tractor, and am looking for best practices ideas.
There is a decal on the tractor, and statements in my owner manual, that state: “Do not exceed ½ throttle for the first 5 minutes of operation”. There is also a note in my owners manual that states: In cold weather, idle and warm up for 5 minutes at approximately 2000 rpm before loading”.
My tractor RPM meter goes from 0 to 30 (0 to 3000 RPM). So I would calculate that half throttle would be 1500 RPM.
Now to further confuse things the owners manual says: “Do not apply load on the tractor at low engine speeds. Always apply heavy loads at full throttle RPM of engine”, however it also talks about the PTO 540 Mark: “This mark is located in the RPM meter at 2058 RPM of engine. It indicates the Engine RPM at which the PTO shaft will rotate at 540 RPM”.
I would have thought that operating PTO driven equipment would qualify as a “load”, however the engine RPMs for PTO speed seem to be less than 1 revolution per second more than the cold weather warm up idle speed. I am so confused!!!!!!!
So, is it damaging to the engine, hydraulics, and/or catalytic converter if I idle the tractor at about 1500 RPMs for an extended period of time while holding a raised 800 lbs load in the FEL?
I am asking this because I frequently need to use the tractor as a wheelbarrow to move loads of mulch to the garden where I need to hand distribute it around plants with the tractor idling in neutral. I have found that when I idol at PTO speed while the tractor is in neutral I can't get it in gear without grinding, even after I have depressed the clutch for several minutes. I need to slow the RPMs down for several minutes before I can put it in gear from neutral. If however I let the tractor idol at 1500 rpm I can quickly shift into gear from neutral and move to next spot where I will be hand distributing mulch.
Sorry for all the detail minutia, but I am way over my head on this. I don't want to damage the tractor, and am looking for best practices ideas.