Some Random Tractor Help...

[waterloo88chev]

I figure a forum full of truck owners, there has to be quite a few tractor owners on here, right? Well I'm new to the tractor owning thing. I've got a 27 horse Kubota. I just bought a mowing deck for it, and the deck says the maximum PTO rpm should be 540. The tractor is hydrostatic transmission, so you just set the throttle an then choose a driving speed, low, mid, high. The tach says that at the lowest throttle, it should be 540. (it's actually 1000, but it says to set it at 1 (1000) for 540). doing this just seems like the driveshaft to the mower is moving so dang slow. Now granted, this is my first mowing deck with a tractor, so i dont know what exactly to expect, but i expected a little more umph than this. Anyone have any insight for me? I know there are specific tractor forums but I trust you guys so i thought i'd give it a whirl here. thanks

[Jessie]

It does appear slow but if your tach or gauge indicates the setting shown is for 540 then I'd say that's where it should be run at the minimum. I would think that 1000 would be rpm of engine. My small tractor has a tach and for 540 pto speed the engine speed must be 1600 rpm's but that differs from tractor to tractor. Blade speed may be different than pto speed due to gearing.

[leolkfrm]

Look at the tach there should be a marking for 540 and maybe 1000 it is the rpm of the pto at a specific rpm not the rpm of the engine. The engine rpm must be in its power curve so usually somewhere between 1500 and 2000 engine rpm. hope it helps

[waterloo88chev]

yeah on the tach itself it says something like "PTO - 1 - 540" so im assuming thats it. id like to crank it up a little bit but on the mower theres a warning sticker saying "540 PTO rpm maximum" so i dont want to break something

[bubbas91lariat]

ya, running a mower at high speeds is very dangerous. Usually, the PTO rpm is lower than the engine rpm. Ive got a 28 horse 4x4 kubota with a front loader. we got a 5' bush hog and a small backhoe that came with the tractor. the highest speed for our bush hog is 750 rpm so we run the PTO at about 2 gear in high side on the tranny. It does really vary from tractor to tractor though. good luck.

[leolkfrm]

The sticker on the mower is so if you have the option of 540 or 1000 rpm, on the tractor, you do not select the pto position for 1000 it will spin things too fast. a 1000 rpm impliment usually has a different spline configuration so a 540 will not hook to it. Max ground speed will be determined by the quality of cut and height you desire. As the blades dull you will have to slow foward speed down for the same results so don't hit things! and keep the blades sharp!
Also understand that the hydro will draw about 6 hp of the 27 so don't oversize the deck to available hp

[bubbas91lariat]

actually, if its anything like my bush hog, it doesnt even get that sharp it mainly just spins fast enough to where it just knocks everything down.

[leolkfrm]

Bubba He has a finish mower for the lawn not a bush hog so different rules apply! Also when bushog blades are new and sharp they cut, if all you see is swirl marks and beaten grass when you use it its time to grind the blades.