Warnings...

[jimg]

Been reading thru my owners manual and noticed at least two warnings Ive never seen applied. The first is transporting w/ a covered exhaust pipe so the turbo wont spin in unlubed bearings. I cant ever recall seeing a tractor transported this way (locally or over the road). The second is not using the front axle as a tie down point. Is there a real engineering reason for them? With so many manuals being written by lawyers its hard to tell any more.

 

[srsu99]

I haul my tn 75a backwards when I can. If not able to do that I put a metal bean can over exhaust that has a hole in it(plastic not a good substitute). A 36'' bungy cord will reach from the hole in the side of the can to the exhaust pipe brace. If you dont fasten the can then you can watch it blow of in your rearview mirrior when you get up to about 50 mph. Maybe even get a chance to buy someone that new windshield, like you have always wanted to do! We have other heavy machinery with this same problem(maintainers,loaders, dozer. etc,). Almost looks like the manufacturers design the pipe to purposely catch wind. I really dont know how far you would have to haul it to cause damage. Damage would not be noticeable until later. Just remember to remove can before you start machine to unload otherwise you can go look for your can in a tree.

 

[srsu99]

I have been tieing mine on the loader bucket, kind of kills two birds with one stone. DOT here says all moveable attchments must be secured (loaders, backhoe arms, dozer rippers etc) Dont try to win the arguement with DOT about it not going anywhere, they will not reason with you on this one. Maybe you can ty over your front weight bracket. If you dont have one tell wifey you gotta have it thaT usually works for me anyway. BTW how are you liking your tractor so far?

 

[LoneCowboy]

I put two very large round things (name totally escapes me)
Basically the chain goes thru it
and it has holes in them that hook to the same bolts that hold on the front weight set.
Very slick, lot easier to do. (I trailer every day)

 

[whitetiger]

Been reading thru my owners manual and noticed at least two warnings Ive never seen applied. The first is transporting w/ a covered exhaust pipe so the turbo wont spin in unlubed bearings. I cant ever recall seeing a tractor transported this way (locally or over the road). The second is not using the front axle as a tie down point. Is there a real engineering reason for them? With so many manuals being written by lawyers its hard to tell any more.

The covering of the exhaust is most likely to protect from claims of turbo damage that actualy was caused from shutting of an engine at a high RPM. To spin the turbo with air flowing thru an exhaust pipe is not really possible as exhaust valves and intake valves on the same cyclinder are not open at the same time. No place for the air to flow thru = no flow to spin the turbo.

You should never chain over the front axle as it is possible to crack, bend or break it by over loading the housing. A 3/8 log chain, a load binder and a long cheater will put out a lot of down force.

 

[jimg]

That was my thought also about the turbo...how can it spin given the back pressure? Even it it were to spin it wouldnt be much.

As for using the front axle as a tie down my dealer does this. While Im not crazy about the practice I doubt its caused damage (in the past) b/c otherwise it would have stopped.

LC those tie down rings that are put on at the factory come off at the dealership. Ive never seen a delivered tractor w/ them still in place. I wished theyd just leave them on. I was going to ask that my dealer reinstall them on my machine and ask that they use them also.

 

[LoneCowboy]

My good dealer (as oppposed to the "other" one) has done that for every single one of my tractors. STarted with the MF and the service manager came up with the idea, and then I've had him do it on all the tractors.
I dont' think it's a stock part, not sure where it comes from (although it's a NH part, I've seen the sticker on it), but it's slick for trailering.

I think the "wind blowing the turbo" is crap too. I never cover it, makes no sense to me, and I trailer every day. I do always let the tractor run at idle for 3 to 4 minutes after I've run it hard to make sure it cools the turbo down.

 

[mahlers]

For long trips at highway speeds, the turbo can indeed spin backwards. With a multi-cylinder engine, there will always be partially open exhaust and intake valves at some point of the engine rotation - and that provides a path for the air (and bugs, dust and rainwater) to go down the exhaust pipe through the turbo, into the cylinders, and out the inside of the air filter. When I had my tractor shipped across the country, I made sure they duct-taped the exhaust pipe really well just to be sure. It's cheap insurance, and if the manual went through the trouble of printing it, you can be sure that the engineers found it to be a possible scenario.

 

[jimg]

B/c its in a manual doesnt necessarily mean theres an engineering reason for it. Its hard to tell any more which warnings are put in by lawyers & bean counters to limit liability in the edge cases and which arent.

I did think of the open valves argument but how much air could that let thru? (Thats not a rhetorical question.) It seems that given the constrictions in the system (bends, partially open valves and air filter) there wouldnt be enough velocity to turn the turbo fast enough to cause bearing damage.

I think its telling that you had to initiate covering the pipe. How many dealers cover the pipe when they transport a machine??? I havent seen any. By your argument if it was important enough to print then dealers would likely be practicing it too.

 

[BTI]

There are a couple of reasons for manuals.
One of which is "we told ya not to do that it's in the manual".
They don't want to warranty ANY turbos.
When it comes down to SINGLE most expensive items on tractors, a turbo pretty much takes the prize.
Turbo has no lube at speed if it is being hauled.
I agree that they CAN spin, but I don't know how much and for what distance etc.
Thats probably why it's in there.
If they put in the manual you could tow 20 miles "uncovered"...then EVERYBODY that had a turbo go out "only towed it 19 miles" LOL
I know that all the guys I know with pulling tractors and turbos ALWAYS cover their exhaust.

BTI