5 Reasons Your Tractor Can't Climb a Hill

It is exciting to imagine what can be accomplished with your tractor, but why does it struggle when you need it to climb a hill?

00:00 - My Tractor Wont Go Up a Hill
00:23 - Tractors Are Not Designed for Hills
01:22 - Hydrostatic Transmission
02:08 - Cold Oil or Wrong Oil
03:10 - Plugged Filters
04:00 - Terrain, Tread, & Traction
4:45 - What to Keep in Mind

[ProductiveRecreation]

Your gear vs. hydro pull test from a while back says all you need to know about which transmission will climb better. Gear drive = more power to ground.

[Jeremy-fysz]

This video is interesting because i've always been amazed with how well our garden tractor climbs hills. Straight up a 30degree incline. And when we got a Kubota, it was an old manual trans with bad brakes, so I always make sure i'm in low range with high revs for fear of stalling. That thing will climb straight up a wall with the Asian market R2 tires.

[donaldelder]

I own a small Tractor service.. physical size is a major factor for me when looking at new tractors, the first thing I want to test is if the tractor can go up a hill in medium hydro gear... at full pedal... I carry full buckets of Gravel up driveways all the time. I have found the kubotas lx, l, even bx will do it. New H workmasters will not but a boomer will, mahindra of same size will, LS will not, Branson yes and Kioti/bobcat yes and Deere is very model specific. These are tractors in the 25 to 30hp range. Many tractor owners are not farmers where crawling speed performance is critical. Many, like myself, value the speed over ground while under load (full box blade, full bucket and uphill)to be more important than what can be done in low gear. I also compare the pto power of those same machines and find the pto performance better on machines with poor medium speed uphill performance. I would really appreciate a more detailed explanation on what makes one brand more suited than say another brands equivalent machine or possibly the hydro transmission differences.

[otahu]

Loved Your Gear Vs Hydro Test. I Grew up Working with a Ford fn8 Those so called little tractors would pull a mountain of square hay bales. Then I started working at my Local Port. We would use John Deere 50Hp Tractors in mid gear number 2 to Pull 99 200lbs of Giant Rolls of Paper up to the Ship for loading. It is amazing how different the hydro Tractors are compared to Gear Drive. An those Old school John deere lasted 5 years 4000hours before needing rebuilt on the trannies. Now I'm into a Gear drive Kubota and Wouldn't look back. Best bang for the buck and Easier on fuel too then hydro tranny.

[deanbarr]

Good explanation Neil. Took me many years to learn this. I used to struggle with a 35 HP New Holland hydrostat. Kept telling our local dealer this tractor is way too wimpy. He couldn't explain to me as you just did why. I finally figured out after about 8 years and another New Holland with a manual transmission. Could've saved a lot of money had I known this.

[danielmoulton]

It seems the takeaway is don't get a tractor to go fast. If you want to go fast, get a go cart. These machines were designed to pull like mad on relatively flat, smooth ground. The fact that lawns have grown exponentially larger is making them attractive to users unfamiliar with their operation hasn't yet been adequately addressed by the manufacturers. I've been working ag tractors for well over 50 years, and from my observations I'd say the most dangerous time for newer operators is after 2 to 5 years of use when familiarity has, as the saying goes, begun to breed contempt. Beware the folks who think they're pretty skilled after 400 hours of seat time.

[hoke]

This video is very beneficial and will save owners money. Alot less maintenance cost and some good safety points.

[jeffreyvictor]

Neil…this is definitely one of my Top 5 videos of yours! Thank you for sharing!!

[masonlynch]

I used to mow an old dirty dirt dump with my tractor. This dump had massive hills that you couldn’t really mow sideways. So I would go up and down them. My tractor has a hydro transmission with 3 ranges. It could climb the hills in medium but did a lot better job in low.

[KubotaL]

There's also the misconception that mashing the hst pedal equals more power, particularly when the throttle is tied to the pedal. When an hst is starting to lug on a hill the operator needs to LET OFF the pedal and raise the rpm.

[Sam-pwzh]

I'm giving it all she's got Capton.
More power!

[phild]

Low range and four wheel drive have worked on hills for me. Hard to work on hills, for a variety of reasons.

[Josh-jqxq]

I had this problem when I got my L2501. I need to mow uphill all summer long. I was pretty upset thinking the salesman sold me the wrong machine and it was too late to upgrade. Then I dropped my loader. That changed everything. Dropping all that dead weight allowed me to shift into M range and I can now mow in half the time it took me previously.

[steve]

This is the exact same complaint passed along to my Bobcat dealer about my CT2040 compact tractor purchase. Messick's response is what I would appreciated from them. All I got from my dealer was a shrug of the shoulders.

[boomerau]

living on a hill with a 29HP hydro no dramas - wait till it is up to temp before going and run it around PTO RPMS all the time once up to temp.
The only times it slows is 4wd up hill in wet weather running a large flail in tall grass or running the flail through shrubs the height of the rops - love the flail no removing fallen branches or small shrubs/tree in the way but a really nice finish that you and your dogs can walk on.
It will start in high gear up hill with a full bucket of clay however there is an art to doing it and probably isn't a good idea from a frame damage perspective as it will bounce more.
I would note that the maximum pump flow if you need power is 3000 RPM so if not running a PTO implement and want the flow/"power" - AKA hill, loaded bucket, backhoe or other hydraulic attachment; get those RPMS way up. Idling is not going to get you anywhere fast - yup ear muffs and get things done.

[robertlivingston]

Took me a little bit to teach myself to let off on the hydro pedal to get more power while loading from a dirt pile, your brain tells you to push harder but then you start to stall, by letting up you keep the RPMs up thus getting more power to the wheels.

[bryanblake]

One thing I have also noticed is the operator will not raise the RPM when putting the unit under load like that. You don’t need it all the way like you are running a bush hog but bringing it up off idle makes everything work a lot smoother

[thebradleysoncatbirdhill]

Great information, Neill! You guys continue to lead the pack in education!!!

[ern]

As a heavy equipment operator I dislike hydrostatic trans. I bought a 1725 NH Boomer std trans when they came out, absolutely loved that little tractor, had a Bradco 8.5' BH and a 6 way hyd. drag box. Many people ask if it had a power shift trans 🙂

[-LOW]

I bought a new Workmaster 25 HST. It was worthless in high range. Shouldn't even come with a high range. Took it back and bought a Workmaster 40 HST. If I could do it over again I'd get the Workmaster 35 Gear Drive. I'd save thousands and have more power. Live and learn....