Stupid is ....

[Mike_Kanzer]

Just got off the phone with the John Deere mechanic. My 855D XUV froze up on the weekend while I was moving multiple loads of old hay to a compost pile. I was going in and out of gear driving to and then backing up to the pile. I was in four wheel drive in high gear and it froze in reverse and would not shift. Well it turns out that I burned up the clutch and had evidence of belt slippage with heat damage. The constant shifting in high gear did not let the clutch full disengage. As I said stupid is as stupid does. My stupid tax is going to cost me 700$ for a new clutch and belt plus labor. He told me in the future to do that type of work exclusively in low gear and after shifting give the clutch time to disengage before moving off in the reverse or forward direction. Live and learn! oh well - Mike

 

[2fast2]

Sorry Mike, that just doesn't make sense to me. When you take your foot off the "gas", the clutch disengages. You shift forward Hi, to N to R. Or forward L to H to N to R. I can't see how you did ANYTHING wrong. These things are made to work. You were working with it. It broke. I think it was defective. Should be a warranty repair (I would hope.)

 

[namesray]

Just got off the phone with the John Deere mechanic. My 855D XUV froze up on the weekend while I was moving multiple loads of old hay to a compost pile. I was going in and out of gear driving to and then backing up to the pile. I was in four wheel drive in high gear and it froze in reverse and would not shift. Well it turns out that I burned up the clutch and had evidence of belt slippage with heat damage. The constant shifting in high gear did not let the clutch full disengage. As I said stupid is as stupid does. My stupid tax is going to cost me 700$ for a new clutch and belt plus labor. He told me in the future to do that type of work exclusively in low gear and after shifting give the clutch time to disengage before moving off in the reverse or forward direction. Live and learn! oh well - Mike

don't really see what you did wrong unless using high gear at low speeds to do work was slipping/hard on the clutch/belt, kinda like using high gear on a tractor to do fine tune work and riding the clutch to control speed instead of using a low gear. i also don't know much about the john deere xuv's and how they specifically work. sorry to hear you are having trouble. chalk it up to a learning experience, as life is full of them. there are many things i have done wrong with my equipment and such and had to learn the hard way. it's only bad if we don't take what we learned and apply it to the next time. good luck and hope you are up and running again soon.

 

[Canada_CT230]

Built JD tough!

 

[2fast2]

Besides, Mike, multiple loads of old hay just can't be much of a load unless you're pulling a trailer to do it. Whatever you can pile in the box wouldn't be overworking your XUV. Most of us pile as much firewood in as we can possibly fit. Dirt / rock can get really heavy fast, and I can see how that might be really heavy but still, it is a machine made to work. And it sounds to me like you have a shifting problem within the transmission, not a belt and clutch problem. Or maybe one brought about the other? I sure hope it gets fixed right and you continue to use it like the tool we all thought it was.
Please keep us posted when you get the rest of the story.

 

[Mike_Kanzer]

Thanks for the comments guys.
It seemed kind of strange to me also that it would be the clutch. At times it had been hard to shift from high to reverse so I wondered if it were the gears. Maybe though the clutch was not disengaging properly to allow them to shift. I would think that if you are off the pedal the clutch should be disengaged. I will see what the JD mechanic says after he fixes it so I don't repeat the same mistake.
I have learned over the years that we all pay some form of stupid tax now and then. It is part of life's bumps in the road. - Mike

 

[TOMMYHPX4X4]

always use low gear when doing any kinda work with them and always let the engine idol down before shifting what probably happened was the engine was still idold up a bit when you shifted it and that caused the belt to spin a bit on the clutch. you could also have the mechanic check to see if the idol is set right it could be just a bit high and you'll just end up doing it all over again.

 

[Bird]

I have learned over the years that we all pay some form of stupid tax now and then. It is part of life's bumps in the road. - Mike

Sad, but true. I think I've paid my share.

 

[Mike_Kanzer]

Tommy-
That is what the JD mechanic told me as well. Need to let it rerurn to idle before shifting and to run it in low gear when working. Interesting thing is the JD owner's manual doesn't mention either thing in relation to using the gator. - Mike

 

[MadJack]

Isn't this a snowmobile type clutch and belt??? Similar to the Polaris drive system?
What is costing $700 PLUS labor?????????????????????????
There are guys all over who rebuild this style clutch for $150 to enhance performance. I think I'd look someplace besides the 'dealer'!

I did look at the JD gator this spring, and I'm sure glad I didn't jump.

When working my Yamaha, if it won't pull or sounds like it's lugging, THEN I put it in LOW range. But hay? Even wet hay mixed with dirt?
If I had paid $12,000+ for something I couldn't do farm chores with........