When to use four wheel drive?

[Fuddy1952]

Last Fall I bought a JD 3038e I really like, but how/when do you use 4x4? Sounds like a stupid question, but I forget and leave it in 4wd a lot. I was bushhogging just now in 2wd, but hilly parts and it started to rain I had to put it in 4x4. I guess my point is does it hurt to leave it in 4x4 or better not to. Thanks!

 

[iflywhatevr]

Last Fall I bought a JD 3038e I really like, but how/when do you use 4x4? Sounds like a stupid question, but I forget and leave it in 4wd a lot. I was bushhogging just now in 2wd, but hilly parts and it started to rain I had to put it in 4x4. I guess my point is does it hurt to leave it in 4x4 or better not to. Thanks!

Don’t use it on pavement or general high speed road travel. I use it in mud or snow and a lot when mowing uneven terrain. I keep mine on about 80 percent of the time.

 

[Fuddy1952]

Thanks!

 

[dalola]

Agree. The only time NOT to use it would be on hard dry surfaces like asphalt & concrete (especially if turning), or if you were concerned with tearing up a yard or grassy area. Mine is 4x4 most of the time.

 

[Slowpoke Slim]

Tight turns in 4wd will tear up the ground. So will leaving the rear diff lock on, if so equipped. Not a big deal in a construction area or out in a field, but can be a problem if you're on improved ground like landscaping or a nice lawn at the time. I'm in 4x4 all winter long, and any other time I have traction issues (like brush hogging up a steep incline). Rest of the time I'm in 2wd.

 

[Texasmark]

Only when needed. Saves fuel and wear and tear especially tires.

 

[hawkeye08]

I too forget to take it out of 4WD occasionally, but i use mine for traction as mentioned but also for braking going down hills. If the rear wheels start sliding, you don't have a braking then.. I knew that, but learned it firmly when mowing a hill going up and down, made it up without 4WD, slid part way down in 2WD, put it in 4WD always for that hill.

 

[ovrszd]

Does your tractor have a 4wd indicator telling you when it's engaged?

Study your dash indicators and functions. Learn them and use them. Disengage 4wd when not needed.

 

[LD48750]

I only use 4 wheel drive AFTER I loose traction or when I have GOOD reason to believe I will.

 

[crazyal]

One thing to remember is tractors don't have front brakes. 4wd is the only way to offset that. When going down a hill with weight in your loader you could find out too late that the rear tires don't have enough weight on them to keep them from skidding.

 

[CMV]

Depends o the machine. On my little ls I pretty much left it in 4wd all the time. Corner of bush hog digs in a little was enough to anchor it. So that was more remember when to disengage for road travel. With the heavier machine now, I rarely need it. But will always engage when heavy stuff in loader or on pallet forks even with p,entry of ballast....just a good practice I feel to ensure I most amount of control even if back end wants to get light on a bump or something. If ground is wet I’ll use it too just to reduce chance of spinning rears and making ruts, but I tend to work less on wet ground now due to the heavier machine since my ground is pretty soft in general.

 

[LouNY]

I tend to use 4wd unless I know that I won't need it, opening up a hay field I'll mow the first swath or 2 in 4wd if I am not seeing any moisture in the wet spots I'll flip it off unless the field has lots of off camber corners or steep spots. When using the FEL I'll run 4wd all the time unless turning on extremely hard ground and having to turn tight. Uphill or down I'll use 4wd. Running down the road I turn it off, unless it's a gravel/dirt road and I have a heavy load.

 

[vvanders]

+1 on crazyal's comment. If you've got any hills and using the loader I'd recommend keeping it on any time you're not on pavement. You don't have front brakes so the tractor will be a lot more stable with all wheels engaged.

 

[dragoneggs]

Lots of solid replies... gonna depend on your specific terrain. I am on slopes 90% of the time and off hard pavement so my default is 4x4 engaged. If I go onto hard surface I disengage... go off road I engage. Makes life simpler and safer.

 

[daugen]

My property is like a pool table except for ditches. And when I'm mowing roadsides with the Kubota there are several areas with enough slope, and wet areas just to the right, where after rains the tractor will start to slide to the right, which is very disconcerting (sure makes the eyes go wide open...) so I tried mowing in 4wd. End of problem, much more secure feeling. Just a matter of grip.

I was always told to keep the tractor out of 4wd unless needed due to fuel consumption and wear/tear. Now I've also read a zillion posts here saying that's nuts, the tractor is designed to run all day long in 4wd, obviously not on paved/concrete surfaces.
So I learned something here and use 4wd now for a lot more than loader work. In my case, better to be safe than sorry. Plus I changed out the front hydraulic fluid with Kubota's "better" fluid at 300 hours and it all works very nicely.

I hope one of you tells me I'm crazy but I don't see any 4wd indicator on my Kubota's dash. I wish it had one.

 

[Monster5601]

Last Fall I bought a JD 3038e I really like, but how/when do you use 4x4? Sounds like a stupid question, but I forget and leave it in 4wd a lot. I was bushhogging just now in 2wd, but hilly parts and it started to rain I had to put it in 4x4. I guess my point is does it hurt to leave it in 4x4 or better not to. Thanks!

My stays in 4x4 unless I'm on pavement. Messick's has a good video explaining how the front wheels are designed to turn a bit faster than the rear wheels. Don't know if this is true across all brands but I would thing so.

Neil discusses the front wheel lead in the first part of the video. Understanding rolling radius - TMT - YouTube

 

[kthompson]

My stays in 4x4 unless I'm on pavement. Messick's has a good video explaining how the front wheels are designed to turn a bit faster than the rear wheels. Don't know if this is true across all brands but I would thing so.

Here is Neil: Understanding rolling radius - TMT - YouTube

I can not say this is true 100% of the time either but have been told over and over unless front and rear wheels are same diameter the front wheels will always be little faster. Easy to tell if a person wants to, hook to a pull load and get on dirt and the front tire will leave a track that shows the little higher speed.

 

[oosik]

I would guess I use 4WD less than 10% of the time. Only use it AFTER I begin to loose traction with the rear wheels or know I going to loose traction. I travel all over my 80 acres and seldom need 4WD.

In the winter I occasionally use it when plowing snow on my mile long gravel driveway - coming up out of the valley in the driveway. The driving surface will, at times, become a solid sheet of ice on the drive up and out of the valley and the extra traction/pulling power is required to continue to plow the snow.

Some times in the summer when doing heavy ditching on the driveway - I will engage 4WD because the load being pulled by the rear blade gets to be pretty heavy and the rear tires begin to spin.

My Kubota M6040 is a pretty heavy unit - 10,100 pounds - and seldom looses traction in 2WD. I have a VERY HD grapple on the FEL, rear tires filled with Rimguard and a VERY HD rear blade.

 

[shui5612]

I usually leave mine in 2wd unless I'm driving into a ditch or using the loader to its capacity (I.e. I need to get more than one bucket from place a to b, in the case of just one bucket I might leave it in 2wd since I can fill it up almost all the way without 4wd).

For snow removal it depends on how slippery it is, usually I stay in 2wd due to having a snow blower which clears the path, yet if I see that I get too much wheel spin I will use 4wd with the rear and front dif locks open to still allow for tight turns.

My tractor has 4 wheel brakes so I don't feel a difference in regards to braking, although in 4wd it will engine brake all 4 wheels rather than 2. But if I press on the brake pedal then all 4wheels engage.

 

[ovrszd]

My property is like a pool table except for ditches. And when I'm mowing roadsides with the Kubota there are several areas with enough slope, and wet areas just to the right, where after rains the tractor will start to slide to the right, which is very disconcerting (sure makes the eyes go wide open...) so I tried mowing in 4wd. End of problem, much more secure feeling. Just a matter of grip.

I was always told to keep the tractor out of 4wd unless needed due to fuel consumption and wear/tear. Now I've also read a zillion posts here saying that's nuts, the tractor is designed to run all day long in 4wd, obviously not on paved/concrete surfaces.
So I learned something here and use 4wd now for a lot more than loader work. In my case, better to be safe than sorry. Plus I changed out the front hydraulic fluid with Kubota's "better" fluid at 300 hours and it all works very nicely.

I hope one of you tells me I'm crazy but I don't see any 4wd indicator on my Kubota's dash. I wish it had one.

Your Kubota will be the only newer model I've ever saw without an indicator if it doen't have one. Mine is a small green tractor shaped light in the dash pod. Similar in size to the PTO indicator.