Pow'rmax Pulling Limits

[Guest]

Someone mentioned earlier about the limited pulling capability of the Powermax. I think it had something to do with the question of what box scraper is best suited for this tractor. Well, I just had my first practical experience using my new tractor (Pow'rmax) and discovered one of its limitations. I was cutting down some trees along a hillside and planned to haul sections of the trees topside by chain. It didn't take much for the limbs to dig into the hill before the wheels began to spin. The tractor never hesitated but the wheels dug nice holes whenever pulling resistance exceeded tire traction. I see now why 4wd tractors quickly made the 2wd compact tractors obsolete.

[D-17_Dave 12]

A lot of the limitations encountered on anything is how you hook to what your pulling. In your case a short chain so the tractor picks up on the lead end would certainly help. This would also let the load pull down on your tractor increasing the weight and force applied to the ground by the tires. Tire air pressure, weights, and where your pulling from on the rear of the tractor also have a lot to do with the pulling abilaty. If I recall right you have floatation tires on your tractor, so with the right air pressure you should have a great foot print on the ground so weight distribution and hitch points should be closely looked at. I've pulled tremendous loads up hill in mud or loose soil that out weighed the tractor, yet I managed I suppose from how I hooked it to the tractor. I was also carefull not to go over the hill and have a load comeing at me.lol

[Guest]

Good advice Dave. I never stopped to consider how the chain was hooked up to the tractor.

[MPH 12]

It makes quite the difference Steve, I've pulled some fair size logs with the 4040 and with the Landlord by lifting the butt end hooked real short on the rear lift.

[HubbardRA 19]

Biggest problem with pulling heavy objects, especially when you hook high on the tractor to get more traction, is that the front end wants to lift off the ground. Be careful! There have been many people killed on farm tractors because they raised up and flipped over on the driver. You may say that this won't happen on such a small tractor. On the contrary, I flipped a 10 Hp Dynamark over on me, trying to plow a garden with a small horse drawn plow hooked to the back with a neighbor handling the plow. I rolled off to the side and wasn't hurt. It happened so quick that I couldn't get to the clutch or ignition key. Oh Yeah, to answer your original question. In my opinion, the pulling limit is the maximum that you can make it pull. I know on most tractors that you will either bog the engine or spin the tires long before you will break anything. When I was tractor pulling with motorcycle engines on the tractors, I always had a toggle (engine shutoff)switch on the steering near my right thumb so that I didn't have to look or reach for it. One quick flick and the engine was off. Thank goodness, I never had to use it. Since wheelie bars are impractical on a work tractor, I've seen several farmers use two chains when pulling logs or anything heavy. The main pull chain hooks high on the rear of the tractor to pull down on the tires for traction. A second chain is attached to the load, but goes under the rear axle and is attached near the front of the tractor with a little slack in it. If the front end of the tractor raises off the ground the lower chain will pull tight and release the load in the upper chain which is pulling down on the rear of the tractor and causing the front end to lift. This is not guaranteed to stop a flip over, buy prevents it in most cases.