Needed to get out in a pasture and through-bolt some split
fence posts with carriage bolts.
Nice wet, gooshy, grass...so much so that the rather floaty
1956 International 300 tractor is leaving some unsightly ruts.
So I wanted to get out there with the least damage to the
pretty pasture, but I didn't want to walk, and I REALLY wanted
the 110V outlet for the drill.
Amazing. Put the thing in 4L to allow A-TRAC to be activated,
pushed the button, put the AT in 1st, and just floated out there
without doing much more than bending the grass over. I don't
know for sure, but I suspect that the A-TRAC was changing
it from 'make a mess but get there' to 'get there while treading
lightly.'
Oh, and I don't know how I ever lived without a power inverter.
It's soooo much nicer to drill a bunch of holes through six-inch
fence-posts with a real drill, rather than a cordless. Probably
saved 45 minutes of work.
When I came through a gate, I had to drive on bare mud---in
A-TRAC it left nice tire-prints that looked like REVOS---nothing spun
a millimeter, or dug a hole, or ripped anything up.
I was almost tempted to go to an inconspicuous spot and see
what would happen if I shut A-TRAC off...but I didn't want to
ruin my record.
Also had to ford a little muddy creek. Last time in 4Hi there was a bit of
wobble, which wasn't really desirable because the next obstacle
is a gate that's about a foot wider than the FJ. With A-TRAC it
just went straight.
AND the back bumper makes a great seat for changing out of muddy
boots!
This is a lot more convenient than putting all the tools in a bucket on
top of the bush hog.
It is good to hear these personal experiences with the FJ. It gives us all an opportunity to understand what the FJ can really do. Thank you gascolator for this.
the original Land Rover was designed for the farmer....sounds like you're making use of the FJ in the same way. Now to just add a PTO or two
I've seen films of JEEPs being used as tractors, post WW2, and they had
PTOs. When JEEP was trying to 'find' its identity after the war, they
dabbled with the idea, I guess. I'm sure it didn't work. First of all,
tractors were really starting to grow bigger by then. Second of
all, I don't think JEEP engineers really apprecatiated the scale of
things like castings, bearings, and shafts required to turn 30-40
HP into something over 10,000 pounds of straight line pull, and
continue doing it not for years but for decades.
Sort of like putting a quarter horse up against an ox in a plowing contest.
How'd they rig that up? My first guess would be that it was some
sort of hydro lash-up. Another hint is that the postholer in the second
photo looks like it's a hydro-drive.
Otherwise, it would be awkward to use in a vehicle without an
engine governor.
Speaking of awkward, when using rear-mounted PTO equipment, you
really want to see what it's doing, and THAT would be awkward in
a, low-forward-seating position, too.
And the draw-bar only hitch would really be limiting. Without a fixed,
hard, hitch with hydraulics, most things just become difficult if not
impossible.
The lash-up in the first picture looks like it might be good for spreading
manure or spraying pesticide. I sure wouldn't want to have to pasture-mow
or get anywhere near a fence line!
My International 300 has 5 forward speeds, plus a torque amplifier that
makes for 10. 'Top' gear is the 'road gear' that gives you 17MPH max.
The bottom 4 take you from about .25 to 5.5 MPH at the rated PTO
RPM (engine speed that gives 540 RPM out the PTO, the correct
speed for implements and usually the torque peak on the motor),
so you can appreciate that the working gears basically range from
'crawl' to 'crawl really slow,' something which 4x4's just can't match
while retaining much usefulness as traveling machines.
Oh, the engine is a 190CID 4-cyl. unit by Continental that makes
40 real (at the drawbar, not marketing bhp) HP. It idles at 300RPM
and I think the 'max governed' RPM is like 1450! I fouled a plug one
day and had a cylinder go 'cold' while snow plowing. Was able to
finish.
Interestingly, the tractor's weight, with wheel weights installed, is
within about 100 pounds of an FJ Cruiser!
How'd they rig that up? My first guess would be that it was some
sort of hydro lash-up. Another hint is that the postholer in the second
photo looks like it's a hydro-drive.
Otherwise, it would be awkward to use in a vehicle without an
engine governor.
Speaking of awkward, when using rear-mounted PTO equipment, you
really want to see what it's doing, and THAT would be awkward in
a, low-forward-seating position, too.
And the draw-bar only hitch would really be limiting. Without a fixed,
hard, hitch with hydraulics, most things just become difficult if not
impossible.
The lash-up in the first picture looks like it might be good for spreading
manure or spraying pesticide. I sure wouldn't want to have to pasture-mow
or get anywhere near a fence line!
My International 300 has 5 forward speeds, plus a torque amplifier that
makes for 10. 'Top' gear is the 'road gear' that gives you 17MPH max.
The bottom 4 take you from about .25 to 5.5 MPH at the rated PTO
RPM (engine speed that gives 540 RPM out the PTO, the correct
speed for implements and usually the torque peak on the motor),
so you can appreciate that the working gears basically range from
'crawl' to 'crawl really slow,' something which 4x4's just can't match
while retaining much usefulness as traveling machines.
Oh, the engine is a 190CID 4-cyl. unit by Continental that makes
40 real (at the drawbar, not marketing bhp) HP. It idles at 300RPM
and I think the 'max governed' RPM is like 1450! I fouled a plug one
day and had a cylinder go 'cold' while snow plowing. Was able to
finish.
Interestingly, the tractor's weight, with wheel weights installed, is
within about 100 pounds of an FJ Cruiser!
you're right..it looks like the second one had nothing to do with a PTO.
as far as regulating the engine, some Rovers had a control right below the dash (note right below the key in this pic). anyway...I hope I'm not getting off topic...I was just always fascinated by how the Rover was designed for farm use
__________________ MT6 Titanium
roof rack, skid plate, rock rails, TRD exhaust, VIP, UR2, and side airbags.
as far as regulating the engine, some Rovers had a control right below the dash
I thought that was just a hand-throttle. They used it in 'The Gods Must
Be Crazy' to make it possible to set the Anti-Christ on its way and catch
up to it later.
Big diff between a throttle and a governor, and the latter is critical
to agricultural tasks where the load constantly varies but you want
a PTO powered implement to proceed at the same RPM and the tractor
to keep going at a steady rate, too.
Linear Mode
