is this abusing the tractor?

A

ad356

Well-known member
is plowing in 3rd gear and really loading the engine down abusing it? we had allot of snow and 2nd gear just wouldn't produce enough momentum to easily move the 2 foot of snow we got. im not ridding or feathering the clutch anymore then what it takes to get the tractor moving. once she's loaded down i leave my foot off of the clutch until im ready to stop and make another pass. i just want to make sure im not going to hurt the tractor. it has pretty decent power but a couple of times i actually loaded it down to the point of stalling out, most of the time these tractors will push until they start to run out of power. one thing is for sure, the C60 is a little workhorse.
 
Pushing two feet of snow is a lot. You are better off using 1st gear and moving a little at a time. Continued use of third gear will likely result in a splitting session before long.
 
Are you comfortable with it? Is it causing you to put yourself in an unsafe situation? Loading the engine down is sort of a subjective term. If you're plowing (moldboard) or doing other tillage work, you're going to load the engine. My thought is that if you're not lugging it way, way down to the point of stalling, and/or if you can hold that rpm the whole time you are pushing snow, you're not putting yourself in an unsafe situation, and you're not slipping the clutch, so you're not hurting a thing there. From what I understand, you're actually putting less strain on driveline components in a higher gear.

I've never pushed any snow but it seems to me some speed to go ahead and get it out of the way is better than just putting along and having to make 3-4-5 trips to clear the same piece of real estate. I say if it'll carry it in third, push the throttle forward and get on with it. :)

Al

Al
 
Put a little more angle on the blade and use 2nd gear , the more angle should roll the snow better.
You should not hurt anything in 2nd providing you dont hang anything
Boss
 
Barnyard":6826rxif said:
Pushing two feet of snow is a lot. You are better off using 1st gear and moving a little at a time. Continued use of third gear will likely result in a splitting session before long.
Click to expand...

what does using 3rd gear wear out faster? it didnt seem that the clutch was slipping and i wasnt ridding it, does this damage the clutch anyways? this was an extreme snowfall but under normal conditions i use 2nd gear. i just wondered if what i was doing could burn out the clutch
 
Only you really know what conditions you have. You must be familiar with your driveway - basically every foot of it. You have to know where the bumps are, depressions, and any loose rocks/asphalt etc., anything that could end up getting frozen to the ground. If you hit something frozen to the ground in 3rd you are going to end up in a world of hurt - be it limited to your Cub or in a worst case scenario to both the Cub and YOU!. I have well over 1,000 feet of asphalt driveway - and I have not problem plowing snow in 3rd gear, in fact it is the only way to get the snow to actually fly off the side of the angled plow and clear the bank. One proviso - the first cut is made in 1st gear with the blade straight and sometimes I work up to 3rd - using 3rd to simply clear the remains once I know there is nothing I can get hung up on.. If I were to hit a frozen obstacle in 3rd, that would be the end of the ears on Ellie :( Good judgment is the prevailing factor needed in the decision. I have plowed the same stretch before it got blacktopped, but I limited myself to 2nd. The Cub-54 does have a trip spring but don't rely on that :!: The vast majority of my snow plowing is accomplished in 1st gear. Coming to a fast and sudden unexpected stop on a Cub will give you a brand new perspective on what a 12 feels like on a pucker factor chart of 1 to 10 :shock:

Riding the clutch will eventually smoke your clutch. It will surely reduce the life of the clutch at the very least. Again it depends on your situation, what dangers/tight areas you have to work in etc..
 
R$udi probably answered your question to me better than I could. I was thinking two scenarios here. One is that, yes you may put more wear on your clutch at a faster rate. The other thought I had was of John's "split" torque tube. I remember seeing that a couple years ago and was reminded of it when I saw what gear you were using. Lee was faster finding the picture than I was. :lol:
 
i have lived at the house for over 3 years now and know the driveway well. its mostly dirt/loose gravel with no large stones. the heavy heavy stuff was moved in 2nd and i moved up to third when i got the really heavy stuff cleared out. i dont really have anything to get caught on and i dont use much down pressure. im going be aware of the danger, i wasnt aware there was much danger in plowing beyond common sense. i have plowed with old garden tractors and if you hit something you just stop; of course the cub is allot heavier and has a larger engine so it has more torque.

i have a 54 blade and it has the trip spring underneath the blade so its not a cob-job blade, but still im going to have to be careful. i dont want to hurt the cub or myself.
 
From your description, you have nothing to worry about. All things equal, you are not, I mean absolutely not, going to put more wear on the clutch in a higher gear than in a lower gear.

Al
 
A grader blade must be used like a grader blade if used for snow removal, slow and easy unless edge trip adaptions are made like Ricky Racer did on his.

A minor change I make to my grader blade for the winter season is to eliminate the down pressure so the blade floats like an actual snow plow. If a small obstruction is struck, it bounces over it instead of stopping the tractor.

It takes me quite a bit longer to plow in 1 and 2 but with no down pressure and at slow speeds, I have a greater chance of not breaking something.

It is cool to roll along fast enough so that the snow rolls off to the side like a commercial snow plow on a truck, but the grader blade was never meant to do that so if you do operate that way, you risk damaging your equipment.

Check all the plow fasteners after every use.
 
BTDT, broke a three point blade in half twice using speed as a substitute for traction. It's hard to push/pull snow with 1800x 16 turfs! 2110 Ford while at work years ago,btw.
 
I would rather break traction than parts.

I only use 3rd for going down the road. But that could be just me. I much prefer 1st or 2nd for doing any work. In fact, I almost always mow in 1st, but I never mow anything like a lawn. Mostly I rely on 'gut feeling', if it feels wrong, it probably is. If you are comfortable with it, should be fine.
 
How does going faster in deeper snow work better?

I'm surprised you can move 2' of snow, even fluff, with a Cub in 3rd gear. Last time I got in deep snow with my Cub it barely had enough power to crawl through the drifts in 1st. I can't imagine pushing 24" of snow in front of me in 3rd.
 
I don't think you're abusing a thing. I used to plow a skating rink down at the lake. I took about 8 passes forward and back--enough so I could then go in a circle--and then angled the blade all the way to the right and went round and around in third. I could throw the snow pretty good. Lots of fun, too. Didn't hurt the Cub one little bit.
 
Matt Kirsch":3m9pisz4 said:
How does going faster in deeper snow work better?
Click to expand...

Matt:

I am not capable of explaining the physics of it but it simply does. The faster the snow comes up the blade the faster it will flow off the blade. Have you ever watched a highway plow? They boogie, at least up here they do - 80 - 90 kmp two plows in echelon on a 4 lane highway moving a foot of snow or better like it was simply feathers. Heavy snow that is wet is a lot harder to get to move, but speed does help it get over the shoulder embankments.

With Ellie and my blade angled, in 1st gear the snow will roll but pretty tight. In second the snow will roll higher, looser and faster. In 3rd well the snow just flies off the blade. Over 10 years now of plowing snow with Ellie both with a home built plow and now my Cub-54. Since I put the hydraulics on the blade, plowing snow is not only easier but it is a heck of a lot more fun :D
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top