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What's Your Tractor's Limit?

B

Bill VA

Well-known Member
You've got your tractor out there plowing or haying or whatever - working it to the limit.

Question is - what is the limit, when does the light in you're head go off and say, I need to back off, take a smaller bite, lower the gear, find another gear or I'm so sick of this tractor, I'm going to let it blow!!!!!!

Loss of traction, coolant needle going into the red, black smoke pouring out - what is your tractors feed back to you, you'd better ease off or I'm going to have a coronary while you're in the seat!
 

If I've got it WOT and I'm losing revs, it's time to gear back, typically this is climbing a hill. Normally select a gear that allows easy engine acceleration.
 
Just remember gear life goes down with the cube of the load, and remember the age of you tractor. Helps to turn on the thinking cap. Sometimes going a little slower give both you and your tractor time to enjoy the job at hand.
Neil
 
I dont think I like the work "limit". In my head pushing it to the limit is just short or even past where stuff brakes loose and things go very wrong.. I'm a hay farmer.. so I listen to the sound of the tractor for changes as I cut or bale.. there is that sound that only the owner/operator of said tractor would know.. I wear ear plugs which blocks out the loud sounds but I can still hear the sound that counts..Hard to explain but to someone who hasnt been there done that and even heard the heart wrenching sound a time or to that would indicate shut it down....shut it down now!! In this regard I dont loan out equipment to neighbors/etc. just for that reason they are not familiar with the equipment..when I push my skidloader to much it usually just kills it.. then I know but again you can year it in the motor before that point..
 
When I'm at 3/4 throttle and move lever toward full and no engine response then I know I'm working it to hard.
 
With my 3020 Deere's it is the temp guage with the 4020's it tends to be black smoke and my 4520 I do not know yet as I do not have any implements big enough to work it hard.I really do not work any of mine hard anymore as I just use the bigger tractor for the hard jobs. Back years ago I worked the 4020 alot of nights with 3-4 inches of fire coming out the muffler pulling a 5 bottom plow all night long.The 4520 just plays with the 4020-4230 size implements although chopping snaplage can pull it down. Tom
 
Sound of the engine/ rpms.

More or less if it doesn't have any Torq left I should drop a gear. If its a hill or known spot that is small and pulls it down a little thrn I'll see if it rides through it, but only for a tiny bit.

Paul
 
I really don't have any overworked equipment. If the 40 foot cultivator is struggling in C1 on the 8430 I know the soil isn't right. I often use a little too big of a tractor - running them at their limit breaks them really fast. With that big bird if she breaks she's going to the junk. I'm not paying for another split on it!

I used to use a 36 foot drill in the 4440 and it worked it pretty good. The first thing I lost was traction which was good. There's no reason for something else to give. I load the mixer grinder on the Farmall M really good to work that tractor. The only time the RPMs ever drop is when throwing in alfalfa - that old girl hates that. I'd rather the tractor bucked than the grinder broke something. When I start seeing smoke out of anything but the 4020 I know I am not going to push it harder. The 4020 smokes all of the time. When the governor is kicked up and the speed is still dropping its time to make some decisions.
 
When your goin around a hillside with a 3pt implement on a 150 horse tractor and your affraid to pick it up outta the ground cause you think it might roll or when you can clean the floor of the cab by simply opening the door on the bottom side and watch it roll out! Yea reclaimation work would really put a tractor to the limit! Especially those green tractors with the ivt tranny get the left side on the up side and to steep they wont move! Old tw ford walked right on by!
 
Some people like to overload their tractors, and then tinker to get a little more out of it and when it blows blame the oil or the fuel.
 
I remember those days and night on a 4020 with 4 18 plows the red muffler and lil yellow flame. Sure was for for a 15 year old! Bought my first 4520 in high school and and then a 4230 the next year but still love dads old 4020!
 
Never, I don't do that to my tractors, worked to hard for them, and respect them to much. I don't over work others equipment either.
 
I like the decals on old Farmalls "Do Not Overload". Put there for a reason. You can hear the engine straining, and if you lose any RPM its a little past time to hit the clutch, you've already worked it too hard. Sometimes get in a tight spot and let it pull through but I really don't like to do that.
 
I have a customer that is the largest landowner in the 2 state area where I live,which happens to be VA and WV. He is a multi-millionaire. He keeps about 1000 Black Angus cows and has 8 New Holland 4WD tractors. He trades 2 of these tractor for new ones every year. He has 3 diskbines and 3 Kuhn rakes and 3NH round bailers that he trades 1 every year. He has 2 full time hired hands that work for him. The only thing that any of them know is wide open and straight ahead. They can tear up and demolish anything ever built. He totally destroyed the blade on a new Caterpillar D6 last year and Cat gave him a new one.NOT a new blade a new D6. I work on a lot of his equipment and I have told him and his men many times. IF you would just slow down a little and learn to use a lower gear, You wouldn't tear up so much stuff. The only answer I ever get is, WE DON'T HAVE TIME TO SLOW DOWN, SEND ME A BILL.
 
My JD 401 industrial is around 65 hp. Since I do only mowing with my 7 1/2 ft flail mower. I never overload the motor. If I get into some real heavy wet grass the slip clutch on the mower will slip before the tractor even starts to bog down. The tractor has a good life. Stan
 
I always like to have more tractor then I need for the job. A tractor that is working at it's max , is burning more fuel, and shorting the life of the tractor. I do not want to be the last owner of any tractor or piece of equipment. So I try to keep them in the kind of shape some one else would like to own.
 
When the dull red manifold goes to bright red. LOL

I like to run it at about 80-90% load on a tractor that has NOT had the pump turned up. The only way to read that is to know the feel and sounds of the tractor. My neighbor almost bragged about the red manifold and melting the Pistons in his 8630 Deere because the pump was turned up and he was pulling a nine bottom plow so fast. Well duh!
 
Any more with no-til these tractors barely get warmed up. I like it that way, keep the fluids changed and don't have to worry about breaking down due to overloading.
 
Years ago I had a neighbor call and say I have a new 5000 ford tractor, going to be plowing over in the bottom come by and check it out. I made it over after supper that night. He was pulling 4 plows in a long bottom. When I saw him turn in the end thought that thing had a funny light on the side. The exhaust manifold was white not red.. Now mind you this is a first day old tractor. Told him he was going to burn that thing up, he said no just breaking her in right. I watched that ford 5000 stay on that farm for over fifteen years and 4 thousand hours and still ran when traded so must have been broke in right. Myself I like to get to that sweet spot where they feel good say about 80 % of load or so.
 
We used to pull a 4-16 moldboard plow with a new or several year old Farmall gas 706. I couldn't believe how hard we worked that tractor. I was only about 11 when we got the first one, so the first things I used it for were disking and harrowing. The first time I got to plow was the first time I ever ran something that did not run full throttle. Dad told me to run it in low 4 and we should have probably run it a gear lower. I think it was running about 1800 rpm or a little less. It had 16.9 x 34 tires on it. I found out later that the tire size made a difference in speed. The speed chart by your feet, said the speeds were with 18.4 tires. I don't know whether they were 34 or 38 on the chart. I figured out later that the 18.4 tires were probably for an 806 and IHC was cheap and didn't put an appropriate decal on the tractor according to what the tire size was installed on them. If I remember running it at that load (the worst example) we only got about 3000 hours before a complete overhaul was expected. We were farming about 400 acres and probably plowing about 250.
 
Man, this is a different bunch of guys than the ones that turn their 100 hp tractor up to 200 hp and pull it to the peg for ten years without any problems.
 
A long time ago in the late 1950's I had a classmate tell me he was plowing with his dad's 720 diesel. He evidently lugged it down till it started to run backwards. Said he started yanking levers really fast! Is that what you call an overload?
 
For what they cost it's not worth working the crap out of them. I work my 1550 diesel but I don't over load it but it works for it's keep. In the picture she is pulling a Oliver 565 4x16 plow and has power to spare. Bandit
a210527.jpg
 
No, Bob It is not Jim Justice. I used to do some work for him when he was top dog at Bluestone Farms. He didn't pay the best in the world and I haven't done anything for him lately. He is now too busy worrying about the the Greenbrier Classic and running for Governor to farm.
 
The Ford 5000 is one tough tractor. Possibly, in its size class, the toughest tractor ever built. Based on the old Major/Super Major.
 
Ok. I never said anything about sandy soils. I have a 1550 gas, with the under-slung front end, loaded 15-5-38s, and wheel weights. Used to pull 2-16 fully mounts. It pulled them ok until you hit some tracks where the manure spreader was or the lime truck went through, then it stopped dead in its tracks. Heavy clay loam never lets you forget where the compacted spots are. Our 1550 was never blessed with much power, the 880 gas would walk away from it pulling 3-16s and eventually the 1550 would have to get out of the way.
 
The 5000 was not based on anything before it and especially was not based on the Fordson Major or Super Major.
I think after the 5000 came out they called it a 5000 Super Major for a while but it was a whole new platform
 
I always remember grandpa Tucker telling me when I was driving his old Farmall H "If she's pulling hard, just shift her down a gear and throttle back a bit. We have to work all day anyhow!". Must not have hurt that old H, I have it and it still runs great, gears quiet, no oil burning. And that was over 60 years ago.
 
Never really work any of them to the limit. It's true when you run them you get to know the sounds they make when normal an when not normal. I watch the gauges as well. Haying is not as hard on them as plowing is so it works out. I don't really want to run the snot out of them as repairs can be bad enough as it is. I tell my sons if you take care of things they will take care of you. No sense in running them harder than need be.
 
White hot is almost 2200 degrees F and cast iron melts at about that same temperature so I doubt that manifold stayed that hot for very long.
 
This ground is called Clermont Clay with Blanchester Silt Loam added in to the mix and it can be funky to work, But the sandy ground thing is the first question everyone seams to ask. I bought this 1550 D in 1988 and it has been pulling the 4x16" as long as I have had it. We had a MH 44diesel that pulled 4x14" in this same ground, 3 gear till it started to heat up then down shift to 2 gear till she cooled off then back to 3rd. I use to love plowing in the spring towards evening when the dew would set, You could watch the flame start coming out of the stack and the black smoke would roll and 3rd gear all night long. That is one tractor I wish I had back. Bandit
 
Never thought about it and know I have seen manifolds put off a RED glow, but that one was much more like a light than a red glow.. Looked like it would melt or drop any time. He was plowing in a 80 acre field and plowed most of the night. I told him I would drop a gear and back-off a little but he said need to break it in like I am going to run it.. Like I said never saw anything else like that old 5000 in my years.
 
In the good old days----by the length of the flame on the muffler. 4 inches,OK; 6 inches and its gonna overheat. 44 Massey.

Ben
 
Until you have them on two wheels or cast a shadow in front of yourself with black smoke you just don't really know if you are working them too hard.
Not that I work my stuff this hard on a regular basis but at one time or another I have pushed most everything to its limit and know what it can or can not do.
Know your limits then hold back 10 percent for a safety margin when you find yourself on a nasty hill or wet spot.
 
jm.- " he said need to break it in like I am going to run it.."

That's how I did all my rebuilds. Take it a little slow for the first hour and change oil and filter. Re-torque connecting rod bolts and head bolts, adjust valves, then....run the guts out of it
 
I'll try to respond in a more civil tone as my first response to your post was evidently and not surprisingly poofed. The Fordson Super Major was first offered for sale in the United States as a Ford 5000. This brought about a new design based on the design of the Fordson Super Major. Period. I don't know where you were, nowhere I'd guess, but I was there.
 
How would you treat anmials if you had to farm with them ? I think how a person treats an anmial says a lot about them????
 
(quoted from post at 17:46:44 01/04/16) I dont think I like the work "limit". In my head pushing it to the limit is just short or even past where stuff brakes loose and things go very wrong.. I'm a hay farmer.. so I listen to the sound of the tractor for changes as I cut or bale.. there is that sound that only the owner/operator of said tractor would know.. I wear ear plugs which blocks out the loud sounds but I can still hear the sound that counts..Hard to explain but to someone who hasnt been there done that and even heard the heart wrenching sound a time or to that would indicate shut it down....shut it down now!! In this regard I dont loan out equipment to neighbors/etc. just for that reason they are not familiar with the equipment..when I push my skidloader to much it usually just kills it.. then I know but again you can year it in the motor before that point..
Click to expand...

That pretty well sums it up for me too.
 
My point was that the 5000 was not "Based" on any earlier Fordson models like the Power Major. The 5000 was a ground up new platform.
Yes for a time it was called a Super Major 5000 in the Canadian and British markets - maybe for a year or two.
The US built models did not have the Super Major badge on them. They were, and still are a Ford 5000.
 
(quoted from post at 14:46:44 01/04/16) I dont think I like the work "limit". In my head pushing it to the limit is just short or even past where stuff brakes loose and things go very wrong.. I'm a hay farmer.. so I listen to the sound of the tractor for changes as I cut or bale.. there is that sound that only the owner/operator of said tractor would know.. I wear ear plugs which blocks out the loud sounds but I can still hear the sound that counts..Hard to explain but to someone who hasnt been there done that and even heard the heart wrenching sound a time or to that would indicate shut it down....shut it down now!! In this regard I dont loan out equipment to neighbors/etc. just for that reason they are not familiar with the equipment..when I push my skidloader to much it usually just kills it.. then I know but again you can year it in the motor before that point..
Click to expand...

most times a sudden shut down under load can mean a lot of $ upon next start up.
 
(quoted from post at 06:27:42 01/05/16) My point was that the 5000 was not "Based" on any earlier Fordson models like the Power Major. The 5000 was a ground up new platform.
Yes for a time it was called a Super Major 5000 in the Canadian and British markets - maybe for a year or two.
The US built models did not have the Super Major badge on them. They were, and still are a Ford 5000.
Click to expand...

UD what are you doing disputing the all time authority? Don't you know that when you add "period" that you are indisputable? Just like O'Bama is our best president ever. PERIOD, LOL. But since you are nowhere, you couldn't know, LOL.
 
I try to keep a tractor moving at the rated RPM. That leaves a little capacity to power through without down shifting in the spots or up hills. I get more done in a day moving at a steady pace with an 80 to 90 percent load than I do lugged down and spinning trying to pull too large a load. To me excess slippage and black smoke are just wasted fuel and extra wear on the tractor.

It's still fun to watch someone else do burnouts or tractor pulls. But, I don't like to abuse my own equipment like that.
 
Found out the load limit of my loader on my Case 310 round nose and front end in heavy wet snow quite a few years ago. I was moving the heavy snow mixed with rain and filled the bucket, started backing up and both wheels pointed in opposite directions, took a look and the tie rod was at 90% angle. had to remove the tie rod put in a vice and make it as straight as possible. Put it back on and was good to go. Took both me and my son to get the bar back to near straight. After that little more cautious in what i try to pick up. Eventually bought a 20 ton press and went back to take the kinks out the tie rod and got it back to near perfect.
Chuck
 
Years ago (1950's) when we used to pull a Gehl field chopper with our McCormick-Deering W-6.....If the corn was that big stalk like your wrist Pioneer silage corn and the wagon was getting nearly full pulling hills would slowly bring the "Old 6" to it's knees in low gear. Bad to treat a tractor like that really, using up all it's power on the PTO then making it pull at the drawbar to the point it was just about to spin out too...."Mechanical Double Jeopardy" on the poor beast. Beast it was too, souped up to over 50 horsepower, a lot for a W-6 in 1951.
Now I wonder how my 60 horsepower souped up John Deere G would handle that load,,,,just for the fun of it of course....bet it would make some noise...and burn some gas too....
 
On my Fords, Deere dozer, and one Case skid loader its temp warning that the water is boiling or when the occasional venting of steam is replaced by a radiator in full puke mode. The Cat skid loader and one of the Case skid loaders its usually the odor of a 4000 psi hydraulic hose bursting.
 
(quoted from post at 08:27:42 01/05/16) My point was that the 5000 was not "Based" on any earlier Fordson models like the Power Major. The 5000 was a ground up new platform.
Yes for a time it was called a Super Major 5000 in the Canadian and British markets - maybe for a year or two.
The US built models did not have the Super Major badge on them. They were, and still are a Ford 5000.
Click to expand...


Agree.. they were a brand new platform and had NOTHING to do with previous models.. although they did use the super major name in some countries for continuity in marketing only....from the previous models. ford consolidated all the different lines to the "new" style in all of its plants and had a unified world wide product, with only cosmetic differences for different markets. The american, british and belgium factories all begin making the same design with interchangeable parts. Again there were minor market differences in electrical, fenders, lights, horns, emer brakes, etc...
 
Daddy drilled it into me that the way I treat my machinery is the way it will return the treatment to me.
 
I was pulling a drag behind a 4 wheeler. I stopped when I noticed that the muffler had melted the plastic above it.
SDE
 
usually common sense, if the temp is rising above normal, or you have to have the throttle wide open too, you need to get a bigger tractor or a smaller implement, if your using a front end loader, take a smaller bite
 
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