Drivetrain wear question - Forward vs Reverse w/ Loading

[CV428]

I have had my BX2380 for 6 years and move a lot of mulch, rocks, logs, and dirt with it. Our yard is shaped weird, and the position of the house and septic make heavy equipment access to the back yard nearly impossible. I have to get all heavy deliveries on the driveway and then move bucket by bucket to the back yard (cul-de-sac lot with several acres behind my house, giant pizza slice).

I moved ~50T of dirt on Saturday, mostly in 4WD-L. Each round trip was 1/8mi, and my entire yard is a downhill slope with a few very steep areas. It took 14 hours but I got it done. I had to reverse down the hill for safety reasons (bucket forward would have resulted in a tip-over, guaranteed), and I'd return up the hill empty bucket forward. There were no safe areas to do a 180 except at the bottom of the hill. The tractor handled it effortlessly, but I may need to do this many more times to finish the build site I am working on.

It got me thinking- I don't know the exact internals of the BX2380 transmission but assume it's similar in design to other hydrostatic transmissions. Is there any additional wear in running in reverse for extended periods of time with loading? Or, high vs low gear ratio? I noticed the ultra-steep areas caused rpm overrun and NVH from engine braking (I never exceeded 3k, so don't think I was redlining the poor thing), so I had to ride the brakes down the hill in several areas.

I'm meticulous with maintenance, but I also tend to overthink and fixate on wear. I just want to make sure I'm not abusing it with bad practice...

 

[jaxs]

Avoid overloading and overrevving along with proper maintenance should give you many trouble free hours. 100 hours of use is 100 hours whether in 10 hour increments or 2 hour increments.

 

[JasonW]

50T of dirt, as in 50 Tons. 100k pounds?
As long as you keep up with maintenance, grease when needed, don’t overheat it and use clean fuel I wouldn’t worry about too much.

They will wear out eventually but it’s more of user abuse than hours/work.

 

[CV428]

50T of dirt, as in 50 Tons. 100k pounds?
As long as you keep up with maintenance, grease when needed, don’t overheat it and use clean fuel I wouldn’t worry about too much.

They will wear out eventually but it’s more of user abuse than hours/work.

Correct. It was fluffy screened dirt, so it scooped up effortlessly, and I have a piranha tooth bar. It took ~140 trips according to the notifications on my Wyze cameras. I grease every 2-3 hours of use. That FEL has done an insane amount of work in the time I have owned it. The 50T of dirt was just a lot for a single long day of work. I am starting to see a little play in the bucket tilt pin, but every other connection has no discernable play.

I wouldn't be exaggerating if I said I have moved well over 100T+ of just logs with that thing, between my property, local roads (hurricane cleanup), and tornado cleanup/volunteering from 2020. Concrete, rocks/boulders, mulch, engine blocks, you name it. I am usually careful with loading. If I start to lift and feel that the weight isn't even, or is pushing the limits, I don't do it.

As for "abuse," the only time I know I was abusing that thing was when I dug up a large hidden slab of junk concrete last year and had to tire-flip it down the hill. I never fully lifted it (there was no way that little machine could, even a mini-ex struggled to move it), so I just kept repositioning and rolling it up on end, rolling a log under it so it couldn't roll back and squish me, and then let it slam down the hill. Not the safest thing I have ever done but it worked and didn't damage anything.

Never overheated. I clean the radiator and air filter at every oil change. I have done all maintenance here, usually at shorter intervals than required.

It just felt "wrong" running the thing in reverse as long as I did on Saturday. Again, it didn't care, but I don't know if that's necessarily a bad practice.

 

[RCW]

Didn't have to move the distance you have, but I've done many, many tons of driveway stone and other "stuff" over the years.

The others gave great advice.

The way to eat a Whale/Elephant, etc, is "one bite at a time". A BX just takes smaller bites than other machines.

 

[Blue2Orange]

........It just felt "wrong" running the thing in reverse as long as I did on Saturday. Again, it didn't care, but I don't know if that's necessarily a bad practice.

 

[Blue2Orange]

Thought hasn't crossed my old brain until now. Have always had a rear mounted snowblower. Many hours in reverse on the traded-in compact NH. Assume since Kubota sells/markets rear pto snowblowers. Hours in reverse must not be an issue.

OT: find the high back seat not ideal for operating in reverse for long stretches . Just me? Time for some rear view mirrors.

 

[TheOldHokie]

I'm meticulous with maintenance, but I also tend to overthink and fixate on wear. I just want to make sure I'm not abusing it with bad practice...

Stop thinking - the tractor is not in any added danger.

Dan

 

[NCL4701]

Is there any additional wear in running in reverse for extended periods of time with loading? No

Or, high vs low gear ratio? If the engine is bogging or HST is screaming (significantly louder than normal), use low gear. Don’t over think it. Listen to the machine. It will tell you what it’s comfortable doing.

 

[Bearcatrp]

With that much work, I would check the oil often. If it seems like it’s wearing out faster than normal, change it for peace of mind. I wouldn’t change out the filters until normal maintenance schedule. On any vehicle I have owned in the last 50 years, I would pull the dip stick and put some oil on my fingers. Rub together to see if I feel any grit. If I felt it, would change the oil.

 

[jaxs]

If I felt grit in motor oil I would figure something had went horribly wrong and might be too late to save engine. One thing is certain, I'd not be using that brand filter any longer.

 

[CV428]

Is there any additional wear in running in reverse for extended periods of time with loading? No

Or, high vs low gear ratio? If the engine is bogging or HST is screaming (significantly louder than normal), use low gear. Don’t over think it. Listen to the machine. It will tell you what it’s comfortable doing.

Much appreciated, makes sense. I have never bogged the engine, or even come close to it. The most I have seen in high gear is a 100-200rpm drop on a steep incline, nothing I would consider "bogging." Low gear, it doesn't drop noticeably at all.

I did notice the HST was a little louder than normal in high gear with a full load, so I switched to low when hauling. Very minimal compared to when I am mowing.

With that much work, I would check the oil often. If it seems like it’s wearing out faster than normal, change it for peace of mind. I wouldn’t change out the filters until normal maintenance schedule. On any vehicle I have owned in the last 50 years, I would pull the dip stick and put some oil on my fingers. Rub together to see if I feel any grit. If I felt it, would change the oil.

I change the oil every 40-50hrs, grease every 2-3hrs of FEL operation, and do a general inspection every few hours. I had it up on the lift to do the full fluid/filter service about 100hrs ago. The oil has never had any grit or shavings, sometimes it comes out looking like dark honey which is surprising for a diesel.

So far this year, it has moved well over 150T of dirt, 60T of boulders, and enough trees/logs to make a pile the size of a house. I paid a friend to rent his mini excavator for the digging and 600+lb boulders, but the little BX2380 did everything else. I've been really impressed with it, just have a hard time gauging "abuse." I'm the sort of guy that builds a 1200hp car and drives it like a grocery-getter.

Stop thinking - the tractor is not in any added danger.

If I could do that, life would be a breeze haha. I get what you're saying though.

 

[Bearcatrp]

What kind of lift do you have? I need one to raise it up at least 3 feet.

 

[CV428]

What kind of lift do you have? I need one to raise it up at least 3 feet.

I have a MaxJax M6K. Our garage only has 8' of headroom so that's all that fit. That thing paid for itself in two months. We've done a full car resto on it, working on a 2nd. It can lift a Mustang to full height with 2" to spare. SUVs, high enough to comfortably do brake and suspension work. The tractor with the ROPs bar down, full height. I did have to use safety jacks for the tractor since the lifting points weren't wide enough for me to feel safe without it.

That's part of why I'm doing the site prep project- I want more overhead room. I'll move the MaxJax to the new building eventually. I haven't had a project that required a full height lift. I even lifted a car off a k-member + drivetrain with it, no problem.