Whats wrong with the L4400?

[N80]

According to the manual you should stop before changing gears. However, even driving it at the dealership I was able to shift will on the move. I don't know if that hurts anything, but I doubt it.

I don't have my tractor yet (tomorrow!) but I've heard that it isn't a bad idea to have some weight on the front when using a heavy mower and that the FEL provides that weight fairly well. But again, I have no experience.

 

[Bird]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( I've heard that it isn't a bad idea to have some weight on the front when using a heavy mower and that the FEL provides that weight fairly well )</font>

Yes, and no. /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif Having some weight on the front end is helpful; how helpful might depend on the weight of the mower. And the FEL will provide that weight. Many people do just that and you just need to try it both with and without the FEL to see how well you like it. It provides the weight just fine, but for nearly all my mowing, I removed the FEL for several reasons: (1) my mower wasn't heavy enough to make me need the weight on the front end, (2) better visibility with it out of the way, and (3) smoother ride without it. The FEL sticks out far enough in front that it made the front end of the tractor bounce up and down over slightly rough terrain.

Now of course, if you're going slow enough you wouldn't have the front end bouncing up and down, and if you're mowing in vegetation that's thick enough that you might not see things like stumps, big rocks, debris such as big logs, etc., some people find it's a good idea to have the FEL on, with the bucket down low so it will encounter any such obstacles before the mower does.

So you just need to try different things a little slow until you find what works best for you and the terrain you'll be in.

 

[N80]

It does seem like having the FEL on while mowing would decrease visibility and limit maneuvering in tight places.

That brings up two questions:

1) Is there a general rule on how many pounds (in the form of suitcase weights) to add to the front per pound of mower? Or is the specific to the type of tractor. And if there isn't a general rule, for those with a 4400 or 4300, how much weight do you carry up front for the type of mower you have? I realize it might be trial and error but it would be nice to have a ballpark figure for how many suitcases to buy.

2) Does this tractor need anything other than the brushguard to hook the weights to.

I've got more weight/ballast questions but I may start a new thread for that.

Thanks.

 

[dknarnd]

For myself and all the mowing that I do I wouldn't want the FEL on for the reasons you mentioned. I have been cutting the same fields for over 30 years so I pretty much know when I'm going to hit something /forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif

However since some is on hills I would want to add some weight up front just incase.

I'm still interested in hearing what gear/range you generally cut in, and even more from a L4400 owner. I would hate for low range to be to slow and high range to be to fast.

 

[Bob_Young]

I have not yet run the cutter without the FEL, dknarnd, it's too convenient having it on. I often find downed limbs and sumac trees around the edges of my mowed areas. It's great to be able to pick them up with the loader and ram them back into the woods. Cleaning up the trash while mowing was an unexpected bonus. So to is the practice of using the FEL as a mine detector. The grass gets pretty high in some places before I get to it. It can totally hide a downed limb 4 to 5 inches in diameter. Running the FEL a few inches off the ground has saved me grief several times.

That said, I do have to admit that the BrushBull 720 (6', medium duty) is probably too heavy for the L4300 alone; the front end would definitely be light in some situations. The cutter weighs about 1120lbs. as I recall. The L4300 manual states the upper limit for brush cutter weight is just under 900 lbs. I take this to mean that anything heavier has the potential of lifting the front wheels in certain situations. However, with the FEL, it's been fine so far.

I mow in low range only. Normally I'm threading my way around trees and use third gear/1900RPM (540 PTO RPM is at 2475 engine RPM). According to the book, third gear/1900RPM is 1.9mph, kinda slow. If it's an open field, like it was today, and the weeds aren't too thick I use fourth gear/1800-2000RPM. If I think I'm in a minefield, it's second gear/1600RPM or thereabouts. The trees are on 20 ft. centers so swinging the FEL through the gap hasn't been an issue.

My original intention was to mow without the FEL and with the toplink disconnected on the 3-pt. hitch (2-pt. hookup). But, for the reasons above, I'd hate to take the FEL off. Also, on uneven ground, I've found that the 2-pt. hookup is more prone to scalping.

The dealer did warn me that the BB720 was almost too much mower for the L4300. I bought it anyway because I needed something tough and it was a good match for my Ford 4000. I'm doing a little work on the Ford now and, so far, have been happy with how well the cutter has worked with the L4300.
Bob

 

[bigfrog]

To all:

I'm late to this post because I check the list infrequently. If you search on my username you will find a post I made in April regarding a L4400 that I took delivery on then. I posted exact pricing and equipment. I did get the tires loaded with fluid, the FEL, and a 6' Land Pride rotary cutter (bushhog). I think I can shed some light on a couple things.

1) Gears for mowing. I have hill farm land that is enrolled in the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) in Missouri. To oversimplify a bit, this means I usually mow the ground no more than once per year. I have some access paths that I mow more frequently. On the access paths, the grass is fescue, quite thick, but without saplings or brush. Usually it is no more than 12-18" when I mow it. Here, you can run in high range first gear. This is a pretty quick pace. On other parts of my land (and some has been in the CRP for 20 years now), the saplings are dense, about 1" - 2" in diameter and sometimes up to 10' tall. Here you will want to mow in 3rd gear low range. As I come out of the very dense brushy and woody areas, I will mow the mixed grass areas (orchardgrass, lespedeza, fescue, blackberries, honeysuckle...you get the idea - very gnarly stuff) in 4th gear low range. For some reason, I feel like I am really making good time in 4th gear and it is just fast enough to create a breeze even when it is hot and muggy. 3rd gear low range is slow enough that I use it when outlining the fields on the first pass or get into some extremely thick stuff that I feel safe and the tractor is never overloaded. I am not dodging many obstacles though and you might need to adjust your mowing speed for that reason. Because the tractor is new, I am not quite up to full PTO RPM's. I think that is about 2400 or so, and I am probably running just under that in the 2000-2150 range. The tractor has never ran out of power on some very steep and nasty stuff. This time of year, you will need to clean the radiator screen regularly as it will fill with seed and stuff and you will notice your temperature start to rise. With a clean screen, I think I could lay waste to my fields all day in 95 degree weather in the nastiest stuff I have and the temp would never budge.

2) FEL or weights. Like someone said above, leaving the FEL on is just way too handy. You never know when you might need to pick something up and I too appreciate the weight. I mow with the FEL fairly low, with the bucket tilted up. My visibility in this position is not very obstructed. This has the effect of pushing down a lot of the taller saplings way out in front of you, so I feel my visibility is actually better than my old Ford which just had a brushguard. I also had a lot of trouble keeping seeds and such out of the radiator with the Ford. I like the fact that the shock of the bucket hitting the vegetation out in front of the radiator shakes a lot of debris off before it gets sucked in.

3) On the shifting. It is designed to come to a full stop to shift. However, you can shift some while rolling. For loader work, the shuttle shift with F and R lined up on the Low range on your left side works great. As you are going Forward into a pile, there is a moment when you stop and you can slide this lever into Reverse. Same for moving in reverse and switching to forword. You will get to so you time your shift right at this point and you will hardly notice the shift. It is probably not quite as slick as Hydrostatic, but very, very workable.

My overall impression has been very positive. The power has been great compared to my older Ford. I can mow (if you can call it that <grin>) a lot of area on a tank of fuel, and it has performed flawlessly. So far, my only problem has been a hood that is a bit cantankerous about opening and the dealer has a new hood prop ordered for me. I would definitely fill the tires and leave the FEL on for weight. If you are used to larger tractors, I think you would appreciate all the weight you can get.

Good Luck

 

[ArkCivEngr]

Rob,

My Dodge is an ST, which is the same level of trim as your XL. Not many of those around. /forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif I actually preferred it because it does not have carpet. After all, who wants carpet with 2 year-old twins? /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

As an add-on to the actual discussion, I was going to get the L4400 until I learned that it wouldn't accept the BH90 subframe mount hoe. It only takes the 3-pt hoe.

 

[FL4400]

My FEL has never been taken off my tractor and proably never will. I like to leave it on with the root rake attached so I can move loose stumps or tree limbs that are down in front of me. As for mowing speeds I run low 2 thru 3 on the most of the rough stuff, but I have mowed as fast as high 2 of some very flat stuff with no problems.

 

[N80]

I finally got my tractor. It handled the 7' pull type just fine. I found I used low 3 or 4 most of the time because 1) its a big heavy mower 2) even though my little fields are 'flat', they have ruts and heavy fescue clumps which lead to bouncing at higher speeds 3) the fields require a lot of turning.

I've made a new post on getting the tractor but in summary, I love it. I think an HST or GST tranny would be wonderful but with a fixed budget it came down to tranny niceties vs HP and HP won. But if you've driven anything with a clutch, it only takes a little while on the tractor and the shifting is second nature. The configuration of the range gear shift lever is excellent.