L2501 HST stalls in high

[lgeist04]

New member here. Just joined 2 minutes ago. Sorry if this has been covered but I have an L2501 HST with about 48 hours on it. When I put it in high and press the pedal to the floor it acts like it is going to stall the tractor. This is on flat ground and it just recently started acting this way. It also smells like something is hot when I drive it in high and it makes a really loud whine. Almost like you have left the parking brake on and are trying to go. I know it is going to normally whine but this is louder than normal. The transmission fluid level is good. I called the dealer and he said maybe the shift lever is bent and its not going all the way into high gear. I was hoping maybe someone has some insight into this because the dealer is 100 miles round trip and I would like to avoid taking it there if I can???

 

[Roadworthy]

When my L2501 behaves that way it's because I forgot to disengage the parking brake. I guess it's possible your brakes could stick. Try pumping the brake several times to see if it will release - it's worth a try. The brake could be improperly adjusted.

 

[Mak65]

Roadworthy beat me to it. Since you mention that it***8217;s like the parking brake is on I will assume you***8217;ve checked that. My next guess as stated above is your brake may not be releasing.

 

[lgeist04]

The parking brake is off. It seems to work fine in low and medium its just having problems in high.

 

[nbking]

Mine will smoke a bit out of the exhaust only in high and up a grade, not steep, it's fine in low or medium up that same grade. Almost seems like the tranny is slipping, and the engine is over-reving, not sure how to explain. On flat land it goes fine

 

[dlundblad]

The L2501 is gutless in high and should only be used with no substantial loads on level ground or downhill. It sounds normal to me.

Are you gently pressing the pedal until you hit full speed? Also, how fast are you going while in high? Low and medium gears should be used whenever possible. High would just be for road travel.

 

[D2Cat]

Maybe you're just not use to an HST. Pushing on that pedal is not the same as pressing on the go pedal of a gas engine, esp in high range. It's counter intuitive, less pressure provides more torque.

 

[dirtydeed]

Maybe you're just not use to an HST. Pushing on that pedal is not the same as pressing on the go pedal of a gas engine, esp in high range. It's counter intuitive, less pressure provides more torque.

This.

The treadle pedal is not an accelerator pedal on a tractor with HST. My guess is that you aren't running enough RPMs when you "mash" the pedal. You shouldn't be trying to floor it from a dead stop. Rather, add some rpms and slowly increase speed by pressing the pedal.

The more you push the pedal, the higher the "gear". So mashing it is like trying to pull out in sixth gear of a manual transmission.

Read your manual again.

 

[Ludite]

I am having the same issue with my L2501 HST with ONLY 7 hrs on it! I understand how the HST works and know it is not like a car accelerator. The Low and Medium gears work fine. I have checked all fluid levels and linkages from the treadle pedal and gear shift and nothing seems be wrong. It does the same thing in 2x4 and 4x4. I am in a similar situation where I will have to haul it to dealer over 60 miles away and trying to avoid this especially with ONLY 7 hrs on it.

 

[lugbolt]

Inconvenience is no excuse for not addressing a potential problem. According to warranty statement, you have I think 10 business days from time of failure to get it to the dealership for warranty address of repair. If you wait and warranty department knows about it, they're denying it. This happened a bunch in the last year or so. They're getting really strict.

Yes the L2501 is gutless in high gear. That is the downside to this tractor. The little tractor is almost identical to the L3200 but with a BIGGER engine. But here's the deal--the L2501 only turns 2200 RPM at full throttle and the L3200 runs about 3000 give or take. So in order for the L2501 to have an acceptable travel speed and 540 rpm PTO speed that is close to the L3200/L3301/L3910, the gearing had to be changed in the transmission. That change also results in a loss of torque which was made up for in low and medium range's lower gear ratios, but high remains gutless. Sort of like putting bigger tires on a pickup truck without changing the final drive ratio, you WILL lose some pulling power.

Yes the L2501 will feel like it's going to die in high range if you mash the HST pedal. That is considered somewhat normal particularly if the throttle is not advanced and even when it is, a cold engine and full HST pedal, it's going to whine and feel like it has no power, because, it doesn't. It's only 25hp.

Once folks get used to the HST and the L2501, they absolutely love them. I'd like to have one myself.

 

[Nicfin36]

I agree on the gutless in High comment. I tried High on my L2501 a couple of times when I first received the tractor. I realized right away it is absolutely useless in High unless I was maybe moving along a flat road. I haven't put it in High since.

 

[dirtydeed]

I agree on the gutless in High comment. I tried High on my L2501 a couple of times when I first received the tractor. I realized right away it is absolutely useless in High unless I was maybe moving along a flat road. I haven't put it in High since.

That's interesting, and a bit of a bummer I suppose.

I run mine (B2650) in high most of the time unless I'm pushing into something or in mud. I often run my trailer down the road with the SSQA hitch on loader in high (with bh77 on as well) without any issue at all. Trailer is a heavy landscape trailer that weighs close to a ton. The road is flat so I'm not pulling hills at all.

I think my B is roughly 800 pounds lighter than the L2501.


Maybe its the smaller tires and engine tops out at around 2600 rpm?

 

[Dunbar]

I run in high on my L2501 without any issues.

 

[beex]

This topic reminds me of old tractors. In the old days, 50’s - early 70’s a 25-30 hp tractor was typically heavier than today’s. Getting them going in high gear towing something was a project. I usually started at about 1/3 throttle to minimize clutch wear. Once I got the clutch fully engaged, then go to WOT.

Once you got the thing going they pulled along ok but you didn’t want to stop until you got where your going. You could go up a slight hill at WOT if you start on flat, any more than slight you just ran it WOT till it about puked, then pull back the throttle and disengage the clutch and shift down. If you double clutch it you could get in gear without stopping and having to get the whole shebang rolling again.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[Shadetree03]

I am having the same issue with my L2501 HST with ONLY 7 hrs on it! I understand how the HST works and know it is not like a car accelerator. The Low and Medium gears work fine. I have checked all fluid levels and linkages from the treadle pedal and gear shift and nothing seems be wrong. It does the same thing in 2x4 and 4x4. I am in a similar situation where I will have to haul it to dealer over 60 miles away and trying to avoid this especially with ONLY 7 hrs on it.

I've had the 2501 HST a couple of years now, but only have 87 hours on it mostly light work with the landscape rake. A couple times a year it gets worked with the 5 ft king Kutter brush hog in high brush and Russian thistles.

The first month or so I stalled it several times trying to doze some paths with the 6 ft bucket it came with an my tendency to mash down on the treadle. I dont remember what range I was in. Now I am amazed at the torque it will develop in Low Range, with the RPM pulled up, in 4WD, and just a little treadle push... I listen to the engine, ease off the treadle and pull back the throttle and let my ear tell me what it needs.

 

[Gillie Dog]

I run in high on my L2501 without any issues.

You are the first I have heard of, wish ours did.

Our L2501 with FEL, filled rear tires and rotary cutter hung on back (not running) will at full throttle not pull full travel speed in high. Very, very slight down hill and it will pull full speed with rotary cutter on back. Drop the rotary cutter and at full throttle it will just barely pull full travel speed in high on flat road, struggling to keep full rpm.

Slower speed in high works fine, say 75%, and of course medium and low work perfectly at full travel speed holding set rpm quite well.

Nature of the beast it seems.

GD

 

[lgeist04]

I only run it in high when I am on the road and I have no implements on it. I have done this many times and it was fine. BUT the last few times I have done this it has acted differently. I know that High is basically only a road gear and that's what I am driving it on when its acting up. I guess I will just have to take it to the dealer and see what they say. The guy I talked to on the phone said it sounds to him like the range selector lever was bent and it was not going all the way into high but IDK about that.

 

[beex]

yea, the bent lever story sounds like boloney, part way in gear would mean it might pop out back to neutral, but not bog down the tractor.

 

[dlundblad]

Very well put lugbolt.

A 25 horse engine on a 40 horse platform can only do so much. It does fine in medium and low for me and thats all that really matters. If it does see road travel, its me going to the neighbors. Thats about it.

Back in the day, my dad was in the market for his first L. He originally tested a L3010, but to him it behaved much like my L if not worse. He ended up going with the L3710 I believe? Not that he ever goes in high down the road anyways. Lol.

I wonder if the L3010 wasnt regeard for the smaller engine. He said you could be on flat ground and feel the tractor losing speed. I didnt know they did this with the L2501 either.

 

[Tornado]

I have a new L2501 HST with about 40 hours on it. Got it back in May 2019. The issues described by the OP doesn't match my experience with my tractor. I don't use High a lot, and its only when I'm driving back to where I want to start working. The tractor does have an increased whine in High gear, that has always been true, but I've never had the engine bog down as is being described, or choke, or sputter, or anything of the sort. It is true that tractor has little power in the gear, and Id never want to work in High, but if youre on flat ground, and arent trying to drag or pull something, or driving through mud, I dont think the engine should be bogging down as described. Also, many people are saying the tredle peddle is not an accelerator, but thats not entirely true. Pressing the peddle down does indeed accelerate the tractor faster in high gear, much like pushing the control arms further forward on a zero turn increases your mowers speed. It is different from a typical gas engine acceleration (Like in a car) in that it doesn't increase Engine RPM with the increased speed.