Proper Hydraulic Shuttle Operation

jdavis7399 · May 27, 2010

I was recently baling hay with my 9540. My understanding is that the hydraulic shuttle is more efficient than a human so my practice has become to simply move the shuttle from neutral to forward to start and forward to neutral to stop. I figure this is much less of a load than the normal forward to reverse that the shuttle is designed for.

When baling I am operating the PTO at around 530 RPM or 2100 engine RPM. When I eject a bale I can simply move the shuttle to neutral, eject, and move the shuttle to forward. This feels a little like popping the clutch in a car. Should I reduce RPM before resuming motion?

I think the larger Ms use a similar mechanism to automatically upshift and downshift under full load like with a plow or disc so a felt my demands were relatively modest in comparison. The manual has no discussion of the proper use of the hydraulic shuttle.

gwdixon · May 28, 2010

When I used cheap hydraulic oil the hydraulic clutch started to feel like it "grabbed" or popped the clutch as you say. It even did it using the foot clutch. Very disconcerting.

Does the M do this when the fluid is cold? Mine had the behavior only when fully warmed up and after an engine/transmission load - like haying.

Apparently the M7040 and M9540 use the same transmission/hydraulic clutch package so a change to high-quality oil may be indicated. I know, I know... 15 gallons is a bit expensive..

rjkobbeman · May 28, 2010

Maybe this is a case where the foot clutch should be used? I know the hydraulic shuttle is meant to be used for clutchless shifts between forward and reverse (and vice versa), however I would think that it is not meant to be used in that manner at full throttle.

I have an M8540 on order... so I have been trying to learn as much as I can about the hydraulic shuttle. This appears to be a gray area.... Seems a little odd that the manual doesn't go into detail about this operation.

Starting and stopping while the engine is running at full throttle (because of PTO operation) seems like a pretty normal operation to me!

E/S · May 28, 2010

My M8540 does the same thing at higher RPM's, why are you stopping to eject the bail ?

E/S

rjkobbeman · May 28, 2010

E/S said:
My M8540 does the same thing at higher RPM's, why are you stopping to eject the bail ?

E/S

What is the highest gear you are comfortable using when starting/reversing using the shuttle at high RPM?

eatenabean · May 28, 2010

I never use just the shuttle at high RPM. The book on mine says to lower rpm then shift the shuttle. When bush hoggging I use my clutch when I shift between forward and reverse.

jdavis7399 · May 28, 2010

I think for a round baler it is normal to stop to eject or else you will have a mess. I am baling in 1st high at about 5 mph. I am using super udt fluid. The shuttle seems to be operating normally but I do not want to run it in a way that is harmful. My baler dealer is also a Case dealer so I will get his opinion from the Case perspective next week.

E/S · May 29, 2010

rjkobbeman said:
What is the highest gear you are comfortable using when starting/reversing using the shuttle at high RPM?

Low range only, and even then I try to lower the RPM's first.

E/S

gwdixon · May 30, 2010

I tried the shifting at high RPM and see what you mean. The clutch pops in and gives a bit of a jerk. It does not feather in like a manual clutch might.

Using the foot clutch solves the issue. Even though my dealer says that the foot clutch and the hydraulic clutch are separate clutches the foot clutch seems to grab almost like the hydraulic clutch at times - very touchy.