Snow Equipment Owning/Operating Pictures of your snow weapons

[MossRoad]

My old IH2500b tractor loader from the mid 70s had a soft stop feature, so if you yanked your foot of the forward or reverse pedals, it wouldn't jerk you around. The directional pedals were on your left. On the right, it had a throttle pedal. So you could set your RPMs to whatever you wanted as a baseline, and if you needed some more umph, like pushing into a pile of material, you could just give it the gas with your foot and keep your hands on the wheel and joystick.

While I admire all the new features of modern tractors and cars, sometimes simple mechanical linkages could accomplish quite a bit and repairs were simple.

 

[MinnesotaEric]

Its a great transmission and i dont think i could live without it now but its kind of half amazing and half gimmick. Having 2 speeds in each range is worth is weight in gold but switching between them on the fly is slow, unpredictable, and does some weird jerking. The auto down shift can actually be dangerous if you're doing any delicate work so i never use it and only manually shift with the paddle shifter. The auto throttle advance is pretty good. the L3540 i used to run had a cable operated advance and that was pretty bad because it made the pedal much heavier but the l6060 i think is all electronic so it doesnt change the pedal feel at all. The only issue i find with the electronic throttle advance is if you're working on bumpy ground it'll have a combined effect of the engine rpms and the pump flow when your foot bounces on the pedal causing some lurching so i opt to usually just run at pto speed if the ground isnt flat. Maybe the stall guard would serve a brand new operator but i dont find a use for it. and last, the hst response control works really nice and consistently. i didnt realize how much i rely on the hst response until we got our b2920 and i'd keep jerking to a stop because i'd pull my foot off the pedal thinking it would come to a nice easy stop.

so, with about 2600 hours with that transmission i'd say stall guard and auto down shift are a no and the shift between high and low could use lots of improvement but everything else about it is amazing. Oh, except the stupid 2 button control setup that they switched to in the 60 series. the 40 series controls are nice though.

My tractor doesn't have a rocker foot pedal in it so bumps don't cause a variable speed. From the way I see Paul Shorts using his 2-speed high range manually, that beats my computer controlled 2-ish speed. I think neither tractor actually has a 2-speed in each gear but through software, they simulate "gears" sort of like how CVT transmissions simulate gears except Kubota gives the operator control, which seems useful. Otherwise all the new HST transmissions when I was out shopping in '13 and '14 had variable response, speed control, cruise control on the 60hp models with HST. The feature I would love is a synchronized 3-speed on the manual side. That would be nice.

 

[amhicks21]

My tractor doesn't have a rocker foot pedal in it so bumps don't cause a variable speed. From the way I see Paul Shorts using his 2-speed high range manually, that beats my computer controlled 2-ish speed. I think neither tractor actually has a 2-speed in each gear but through software, they simulate "gears" sort of like how CVT transmissions simulate gears except Kubota gives the operator control, which seems useful. Otherwise all the new HST transmissions when I was out shopping in '13 and '14 had variable response, speed control, cruise control on the 60hp models with HST. The feature I would love is a synchronized 3-speed on the manual side. That would be nice.

Yeah, im with you on the synchronized manual Eric. I'd actually even find an extra range or two useful. I find myself in lots of situations where i could use a range between medium and high. Unfortunately my only experience with Kioti was a 35hp demo that i did some brush cutting with that was painted white and had Bobcat stickers on it so i dont know much about how their hst functions but it sounds interesting. I dont know all the details but Kubota says they are using a 2 stage motor for their 2 speeds per range. So, I take that to mean instead of a physical gear its a dual displacement hydraulic motor? I couldnt find any info on the details in a quick search so if someone knows, i'd like to hear about it. It definitely functions as a normal gear though. The difference in torque and top speed is the same as you'd get with a gear which is great when doing things like pushing snow. When it gets too heavy to push in high which will top out at 15mph and you start losing speed its just a quick paddle shift to keep on trucking in high range low gear at a max speed of 11mph (it would be 17 and 12mph with R4 tires since they're taller than my turfs). However, when put in automatic mode it can cause a big problem if say you're prying on a stump and it decides to downshift and the extra torque causes an unexpected move. Im not sure if any other companies are using a true 2 speed per range or not. I dont think so. If there are, I'd love to know. The local Deere dealership has really been after our business and i'd love to give the 4066r a try because of the EPTO option (ive twisted driveshafts apart on 2 implements despite slip clutches and would like less power sometimes) but i just cant give up having the HST plus in exchange for a 3 range.

 

[Fallon]

My tractor doesn't have a rocker foot pedal in it so bumps don't cause a variable speed. From the way I see Paul Shorts using his 2-speed high range manually, that beats my computer controlled 2-ish speed. I think neither tractor actually has a 2-speed in each gear but through software, they simulate "gears" sort of like how CVT transmissions simulate gears except Kubota gives the operator control, which seems useful. Otherwise all the new HST transmissions when I was out shopping in '13 and '14 had variable response, speed control, cruise control on the 60hp models with HST. The feature I would love is a synchronized 3-speed on the manual side. That would be nice.

HST+ has a 2 stage pump, which is good they get the shift on the fly 2 speed HST in addition to the 3 speed crash box. It works beautifully. I upgraded from a L3200hst to a premium cabbed machine. HST+ alone pretty much kept me with Kubota. Most of the time I just stay in medium range & toggle the 2 speed as needed. High range is only for roading. I do use low range as fair bit, but more for low speed & precision than power.

I hear you on the unsynchronized transmissions. Every HST I've ever seen or drove had that clunky 3 speed crash box that often needed persuasion to shift. Except the economy JD... same clunky issues only with 2 speeds. That is probably the biggest draw of HST+. The shift under power toggle makes it so you rarely have to mess with the crash box.

With the Lxx60s at least you can setup auto-throttle & auto-shift so the throttle & 2 speed are actuated off the go pedal like a car automatic. Cool features, but I tend to leave the controls on manual for more precise control.

 

[majorwager]

Moss,
My 2400b had power reverser but sounds like your 2500b was full hydrostatic? Did not have floor accelerator either. Throttle was dash mounted lever. Some of the AG IH had a hydro trans. Agree simple is sometimes better. My 3 range MX is a rocker pedal, forward or reverse. Engine speed lever is seperate unrelated manual function. I rather like my arrangement. A recreated wheel often includes eight sides instead of a prefect circle, or imperfect as the case may be.

 

[Rustyiron]

I needed a winter project so I built this snow pull/push box.
I did a post on build it yourself.http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/build-yourself/390955-snow-pusher-box.html#post5012734

Here's what it looks like.

Just finished it up this morning.

 

[beenthere]

A short video of changing it from push to pull would be great.. nice fab job.

Now I see how you change it.. went to the build link. Clever. Drop it and go around and pick it up from the other direction.

Seems a box could be fab'd to work off a quick hitch in a similar fashion too.

 

[Rustyiron]

A short video of changing it from push to pull would be great.. nice fab job.

Now I see how you change it.. went to the build link. Clever. Drop it and go around and pick it up from the other direction.

Seems a box could be fab'd to work off a quick hitch in a similar fashion too.

I had a (machine side) quick hitch sitting around and turned it into a 3pt. It was not "deep" enough in the pull position and I didn't want to cut it up for that, but yes, that would have been pretty simple although I'm relying on some of that sub frame I built to support the blade. The main body is only 1/4".

 

[beenthere]

Your invention will make quick work of moving snow.. and likely won't have to touch the shovel. :thumbsup:

 

[MossRoad]

Moss,
My 2400b had power reverser but sounds like your 2500b was full hydrostatic? Did not have floor accelerator either. Throttle was dash mounted lever. Some of the AG IH had a hydro trans. Agree simple is sometimes better. My 3 range MX is a rocker pedal, forward or reverse. Engine speed lever is seperate unrelated manual function. I rather like my arrangement. A recreated wheel often includes eight sides instead of a prefect circle, or imperfect as the case may be.

Yes, it was HST with a high and lo range. Had the typical tractor throttle under the steering wheel operated with your right hand. Set it where you want it and go. Left foot had forward pedal nearest tranny hump (it was a lowboy, so you straddled the tranny), and reverse pedal to the left of that. The right footwell was a busy place. Right and left turning brakes, throttle pedal just to the left of the tranny tunnel, but behind the plane of the brake pedals. There was a differential lock pedal operated with your right heel. I think that's it for the foot controls.

I've operated a few machines with a rocker pedal directional control. I do not care for them. My current machine has a center-pivot treadle, where the forward pedal is your right foot and reverse is your left. There's no brakes at all! :laughing: The right pedal is a little longer than the left pedal. That leaves room to rest your left foot flat when moving forward, since forward is the direction you'd be going most anyway. And since the forward pedal is longer, its also got more leverage, so it takes less foot pressure to go forward than reverse. However, it has no ranges, since it has four hydraulic wheel motors, and no differentials or tranny, so-to-speak. What's nice, though, is I can go full speed 8MPH forward AND 8MPH reverse. Makes super quick loader work. With a full bucket that would normally drop the machine forward on its nose if you hit a bump, if you go in reverse with the bucket just a couple inches off the ground, the bucket acts like wheelie bars and you can just sail along in reverse at the full 8MPH. If you tried that going forward, the bucket would jam into the ground and either gouge out soil or stop you cold.

Anyhow, I really liked the IH2500b for what it was and we got our money's worth out of it. Ran it for 10 years and it cost us about $2500, so $250 per year for tractor rental ain't bad.