How to run a loader on a 1987 L2800 manual transmission?

[jcsmith]

Hello, I hope someone can help out a new guy with an old tractor. picked up this tractor used after only having ever rented hydrostatic transmission tractors and I'm having a tough time figuring out how to run the loader and drive the thing at the same time. I thought I'd just find the answer on youtube but it doesn't seem like anyone makes videos on these older tractors.

Do you generally pick one gear to work in and just use the front/back lever to change direction or do you have to start in the lower gear to save the clutch like a car?

What I have been trying so far is to push into a pile in high range 1st gear, push the clutch in, revving up the engine to lift, shifting to reverse and letting the clutch out again, is that the correct procedure? I've been stalling it a lot doing that and have not mastered curling and lifting at the same time so it's all kind of clunky looking.

Any advise would be appreciated!

 

[D2Cat]

Here's a video with a fellow using a two wheel drive machine so he has to pay more attention to what he's doing (than someone with 4x4).

Just basic pointers. Load in 1st gear. Don't try to load the whole pile in the bucket. The gears selection you choose is determined by the material you are dealing with. Imagine loading a bucket of water out of a pond. Then imagine loading a bucket of packed, wet clay or scrapping off sod. Much more resistance the the clay/sod so you go slower with lower gearing. Once you pull out of the pile with your bucket as you want it, keep the bucket low and just choose a save moving speed.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9iuWIqwShHI

 

[SRG]

Does it have a foot throttle, and a hand throttle?
Steer with your left hand.
Loader stick with your right.
Clutch with your left foot.
Foot throttle with your right.
As you barrel into it, throttle up as needed. Lower the gear, the more grunt it's gonna have to push into the pile. It's gonna come down to traction limitations at the point to determine how far you can push in.
Think of your loader stick like a plus symbol.
Forward is down, back is up, left is curl up and right is dump. Now you also have the unused corners of that plus symbol, essentially making it into a square.
Upper left corner will lower and curl up simultaneously.
Upper right corner will lower and dump simultaneously. Lower right corner will raise and dump simultaneously. Lower left corner will raise and curl up simultaneously.
When you have loader full, curl up (straight left on the stick) will help break the bucket out of the pile you are pushed into.

I don't know if that's a synchronized transmission or not. But you can start in any gear from a dead stop, usually.
If it's not synchronized, you won't be able to shift gears while in motion, only from a complete stop. And it's a diesel, so you don't really need to use the throttle while releasing the clutch to get it moving, like a gas car.

Sounds like it has a shuttle, so yeah you can use that to go in and out of the pile. Some machines require clutching to use the shuttle shift, some just require very low ground speed.

 

[jcsmith]

Does it have a foot throttle, and a hand throttle?
Steer with your left hand.
Loader stick with your right.
Clutch with your left foot.
Foot throttle with your right.
As you barrel into it, throttle up as needed. Lower the gear, the more grunt it's gonna have to push into the pile. It's gonna come down to traction limitations at the point to determine how far you can push in.
Think of your loader stick like a plus symbol.
Forward is down, back is up, left is curl up and right is dump. Now you also have the unused corners of that plus symbol, essentially making it into a square.
Upper left corner will lower and curl up simultaneously.
Upper right corner will lower and dump simultaneously. Lower right corner will raise and dump simultaneously. Lower left corner will raise and curl up simultaneously.
When you have loader full, curl up (straight left on the stick) will help break the bucket out of the pile you are pushed into.

I don't know if that's a synchronized transmission or not. But you can start in any gear from a dead stop, usually.
If it's not synchronized, you won't be able to shift gears while in motion, only from a complete stop. And it's a diesel, so you don't really need to use the throttle while releasing the clutch to get it moving, like a gas car.

Sounds like it has a shuttle, so yeah you can use that to go in and out of the pile. Some machines require clutching to use the shuttle shift, some just require very low ground speed.

It does have both throttles, I've been leaving the hand throttle set to the lowest and only using the foot throttle and riding the clutch in like I would a car getting started on a hill, but I'm wondering if setting the hand throttle to a reasonable RPM and leaving it there is the way to do it and just use that shuttle shifter so I'm not disengaging the clutch?

The loader control is really sloppy, I have to move it fully to the diagonal to get anything to happen with the combined function, I may just need to adjust that or get a new joint in the linkage.

 

[jcsmith]

Here's a video with a fellow using a two wheel drive machine so he has to pay more attention to what he's doing (than someone with 4x4).

Just basic pointers. Load in 1st gear. Don't try to load the whole pile in the bucket. The gears selection you choose is determined by the material you are dealing with. Imagine loading a bucket of water out of a pond. Then imagine loading a bucket of packed, wet clay or scrapping off sod. Much more resistance the the clay/sod so you go slower with lower gearing. Once you pull out of the pile with your bucket as you want it, keep the bucket low and just choose a save moving speed.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9iuWIqwShHI

Thanks I never thought to look at other brand videos. Is he disengaging the clutch to keep from stalling as the pile stops him or is he just spinning the wheels? I can't really tell.

 

[SRG]

You shouldn't need to use the clutch, unless the motor is stalling, you're changing gears, or starting to move/stop, and maybe changing direction with the shuttle shifter.. Everything else is just taking power from the driveline and putting extra wear, and heat into the flywheel and clutch disk.

I keep hand throttle low. Use the foot throttle to get desired RPM when pushing in, until I lose traction or start to stall, then back out.

 

[jcsmith]

You shouldn't need to use the clutch, unless the motor is stalling, you're changing gears, or starting to move/stop, and maybe changing direction with the shuttle shifter.. Everything else is just taking power from the driveline and putting extra wear, and heat into the flywheel and clutch disk.

I keep hand throttle low. Use the foot throttle to get desired RPM when pushing in, until I lose traction or start to stall, then back out.

Ok, thanks guys, at least now i'm on the right track. It's clearly going to take a lot of practice!

 

[SRG]

That's just how I do it. I'm sure others have their ways to do it. I treat the hand throttle like a cruise control, for the most part. Mostly for longer runs, like running the rotary cutter, or moving snow, or just running across the property, I'll use the hand throttle. I use the foot throttle for short runs, or when engaging a pile of dirt, or using the loader in general.


Give it a hydraulic fluid and filter change too, and clean out the hydro screen as well. That might help with the responsiveness of the loader.

 

[SidecarFlip]

You shouldn't need to use the clutch, unless the motor is stalling, you're changing gears, or starting to move/stop, and maybe changing direction with the shuttle shifter.. Everything else is just taking power from the driveline and putting extra wear, and heat into the flywheel and clutch disk.

I keep hand throttle low. Use the foot throttle to get desired RPM when pushing in, until I lose traction or start to stall, then back out.

I would refrain from using the clutch at all or as little as necessary because slipping the clutch will wear it out quickly and then the repair entails splitting he tractor. Why a hydrostat or a gear drive with a wet pack clutch are much better options for longevity.

 

[hope to float]

First off you need ballast, lots of it! I set the hand throttle to about 1500rpm and select something in the low range. Engage 4 wheel drive. Drive into what you are loading and as you are engaging the pile, lift and curl the bucket. Keep forward pressure on the pile as you are filling the bucket. Sometimes the pile may have settled. Then you need to turn the bucket slightly downward, lean on the pile and pull the top of the pile down as you reverse away. Then come back in as before.
There should be no "barrelling" into the pile. Slow and steady will fill the bucket every time with the above technique and practice. AND ALWAYS KEEP THE LOADED BUCKET AS LOW AS YOU CAN

 

[SRG]

First off you need ballast, lots of it! I set the hand throttle to about 1500rpm and select something in the low range. Engage 4 wheel drive. Drive into what you are loading and as you are engaging the pile, lift and curl the bucket. Keep forward pressure on the pile as you are filling the bucket. Sometimes the pile may have settled. Then you need to turn the bucket slightly downward, lean on the pile and pull the top of the pile down as you reverse away. Then come back in as before.
There should be no "barrelling" into the pile. Slow and steady will fill the bucket every time with the above technique and practice. AND ALWAYS KEEP THE LOADED BUCKET AS LOW AS YOU CAN

Told ya, someone will do it differently. I prefer to control the RPM with my foot, so I can vary it as needed. Just gotta find what works best for you.

And just for the record, when i said barrel into it, I immediately followed with "the lower the gear, the more grunt you'll have". Obviously don't go full speed (high gear/high range) into a pile of anything. Figured that was obvious. Low 3 on my machine is 1.5mph. Not gonna be much barreling going on, and i'm usually in Low 1 or Low 2 when engaging with the loader. 4wd engaged helps tremendously too.

 

[SidecarFlip]

'Barreling' is a relative term anyway. A rabbit barreling and a turtle barreling are 2 distinctly different things.

As I stated in a previous comment, I'd be more concerned about the clutch and slipping it than anything else. Clutch replacement is always expensive.

On a 1987 unit, the clutch is probably suspect anyway. They do have a finite life.

I remember the last hydro Kubota I owned, a 5030 HSTC. You cold dig all day with it and never break a sweat. Nice tractor but just too small for my needs. About 30 horse shy at the PTO.

 

[D2Cat]

"A rabbit barreling and a turtle barreling are 2 distinctly different things."

That is probably why there is fast represented with a rabbit, and slow is represented with a turtle on the instrument panel!