Down hill with loads

[smitty316 24]

I have a 312-A with a Hydro transmission. I use it to pull a small trailer for fire wood. The owner's manual says to only pull 275 pounds in a trailer because it will skid down hill. I'm pulling more weight than this and it does skid going down hill. Sometimes one wheel will turn backwards.

Is this weight recommendation for safety or will I dammage the Hydro transmission?

Smitty

[HankB 16]

Hi Smitty and

The trans in your tractor is designed for ground engaging attachments and the limit of what it will do is traction. It sounds like you have already found that out. You won't damage it by just skidding it down hill.

I live in Illinois and we don't have hills for the most part, but I suspect that the warning is safety related. You might consider using chains to provide more traction.

If you're in a hilly area, you also need to be concerned about lubrication on hills. The engine is lubricated by a slinger - not a pressure feed. If you operate at a sufficient angle that the slinger does not reach the oil in the crank case, the engine can suffer damage from lack of lubrication. If it's just up or down an occasional slope, you probably do not need to worry. If you mow along the side of a hill, you probably need to make sure it's not too steep.

best,

hank

PS: Pictures would help. :WRS:

[Kelly 1,029]

If your skidding it and turning one tire backwards that is not good, that is like pulling a hydro and the tires turning the opposite direction not recomended, not sure but I would guess it is tying to over run the trans pump.

[smitty316 24]

Thanks,

I'm using this in the Ozarks to haul fire wood off a ridge where big storms blew down a bunch of my forest. Going up is no problem. The 312-A with chains pulls like a champ. Going back down with a load can be a ternament of thrills.

I hate the idea of abusing such a wonderful machine. Something larger would probably suit my needs better, but I found this for $350.00 and like they say, poor folks have poor ways.

I'm thinking about rigging some sort of breaks for the trailer.

Thanks again for your help,

Smitty

[HankB 16]

If your skidding it and turning one tire backwards that is not good, that is like pulling a hydro and the tires turning the opposite direction not recomended, not sure but I would guess it is tying to over run the trans pump.

Probably not the same as towing a hydro because the engine is still turning the pump. After all, any time you head down a significant hill, the wheels will be overrunning the pump and I've never heard a warning about that.

If the OP is already using chains and still skidding the tires, then they are risking a wreck.

Perhaps a safer solution would be to drag the logs down off the ridge. Having more than 275 lb of logs landing on you at the bottom of the hill could ruin more than your whole day.

[smitty316 24]

I appreciate the advice. Wrecking with a load of wood is not on my agenda.

How do I down load a picture onto here?

[HankB 16]

How do I down load a picture onto here?

There are a couple threads on this forum that tell how to do that.

I use picasaweb (A Google product.)

Basic idea is to host pictures somewhere you can get a usable link to the .JPG and paste it into a post using the IMG button above.

[wh500special 2,236]

The trans in your tractor is designed for ground engaging attachments...

I'm not 100% on this, but the Eaton 7's (Eaton 700)used in the 312-A's, 314-A's, and 516/518-H's really aren't up to the task of heavy, repeated use such as plowing and heavy towing (Nick? Seems like you had some additional info on this). I think they weren't recommended for ground engaging. Most (all?) of the 312-H's had the Eaton 1100 which are much more robust.

I've had a couple of tractors with blown 7's...including a pair of 724Z zero turns and a 252-H lawn tractor.

That aside, it sounds like traction is your primary problem and it's probably too much of a demand on a tractor of that size. Braking ability os always a weak link on garden tractors, particularly those that brake the rear wheels thru the transmission. The brakes only work well when you have good, soild traction on BOTH tires. If either slips, the brakes aren't particularly effective.

You can try loading the cart extra heavy on the tongue or can try adding wheel weights or fluid to get the tires to hook up better, but I think your best bet is to lighten the load. Going downhill is shifting some of the tractor's weight and the tongue weight of the trailer to the front wheels - lightening the rear - which can get you in trouble.

If you slip going uphill, you run the risk of backflipping the tractor which isn't much fun either.

The 275 lb limit is pretty unrealistic, but it is probably the limit where WH engineers and management felt confident in their product's safety. It's really easy to overload them at such a low rating.

I think Hank's right in saying you're risking a looming accident.

Steve

[smitty316 24]

Steve,

I appreciate the input. When you say "blown" what actually goes out?

Smitty

[wh500special 2,236]

This is where a little bit of knowledge gets me in trouble...

I'm not sure what gives out in them. But I have experienced a number of them that simply no longer move the tractor.

Unlike the old Sunstrands which kind of die a slow death, my experience with the Eaton 7's is that they all of a sudden just quit working. I've never been inside one to find out what had broken.

Steve