PTO 1000 / 540 Speed What do you use it for

PN14

Lads,
Query in relation to different PTO speeds and what ye use them for. We have a tractor with 1000 & 540 PTO selection. Now previously we only ever had older fergusons with one PTO selection so no experience of selectable PTO. For last few years we have only ever used the 540 selection on the newer tractor and I'm wondering what would ye use the 1000 pto selection for. We only have general smaller gear i.e. disk mower, fertilizer spreader etc all rated for 540 pto speed.
Would ye use the 1000 pto speed for topping or the like and run the clock revs lower at the 540E mark on the rev counter. Would this damage the mower?
Just looking for some info really.

Sam Kade

PN14 wrote: »

Lads,
Query in relation to different PTO speeds and what ye use them for. We have a tractor with 1000 & 540 PTO selection. Now previously we only ever had older fergusons with one PTO selection so no experience of selectable PTO. For last few years we have only ever used the 540 selection on the newer tractor and I'm wondering what would ye use the 1000 pto selection for. We only have general smaller gear i.e. disk mower, fertilizer spreader etc all rated for 540 pto speed.
Would ye use the 1000 pto speed for topping or the like and run the clock revs lower at the 540E mark on the rev counter. Would this damage the mower?
Just looking for some info really.

You use 1000 speed for power harrows and some trailed silage harvesters. You need to change the shaft for 1000 speed as it has more splines.

dharn

1000 rpm for power washer

bbam

We use 540 for the topper, power washer, fert spreader, and slurry tank

Bactidiaryl

I use 540 for spreading slurry and 1000 for filling.

reilig

Ours also has a 540 economy which needs 1/3 less revs to reach 540 rpm than ordinary 540. Use it for agitating, slurry tanker, hedge cutter etc. it's a real saver on diesel.

towzer2010

reilig wrote: »

Ours also has a 540 economy which needs 1/3 less revs to reach 540 rpm than ordinary 540. Use it for agitating, slurry tanker, hedge cutter etc. it's a real saver on diesel.

I would love to have the econ mode on mine. Pure pain in the ass having to rev hard just to keep up the pto speed

yellow50HX

reilig wrote: »

Ours also has a 540 economy which needs 1/3 less revs to reach 540 rpm than ordinary 540. Use it for agitating, slurry tanker, hedge cutter etc. it's a real saver on diesel.

i thought the 540e was for the lighter work like fertilzer spread, power washer, sprayer etc. thought you might need need more grunt for the heavy work like using a mower, agitating and fillign the tanker and driving the hedge cutter

Manoffeeling

Work the hay bob in the 1000 and see what happens

Dampintheattic

yellow50HX wrote: »

i thought the 540e was for the lighter work like fertilzer spread, power washer, sprayer etc. thought you might need need more grunt for the heavy work like using a mower, agitating and fillign the tanker and driving the hedge cutter

I was sure that was the case also.
1000 rpm should have much less grunt than 540, and hence I thought for mowing etc, wouldn't have a hope.
Filling slurry tank though should be no prob. People have a bad habit of over revving the vacuum tank pump. The pump needs only 350 rpm, if I remember correctly.

pakalasa

I use 1000 for the Vicon Wagtail and 540 for everything else, topping, side spreader etc. You will have higher torque available at the 540 than the 1000.

st1979

Manoffeeling wrote: »

Work the hay bob in the 1000 and see what happens

Absolutely nothing different than save diesel. You run the tractor in the 1000 box and rev it only half way so the output is still 540. I agitate in the 1000 box and spread fert or grass seeds. And i power harrow in the econ mode which is 750 rpm. But obviously run all at 540

ford bo

I am thinking of buying a fiat 70 90. And I have a John deer 550. It requires 540 on pto which she has. Would she be alright cutting meadows.....

ford bo

I am thinking of buying a fiat 70 90. And I have a John deer 550. It requires 540 on pto which she has. Would she be alright cutting meadows.....

kevthegaff

can use the 1000 for agitating thick slurry?

dharn

70 hp should be fine

reilig

yellow50HX wrote: »

i thought the 540e was for the lighter work like fertilzer spread, power washer, sprayer etc. thought you might need need more grunt for the heavy work like using a mower, agitating and fillign the tanker and driving the hedge cutter

Only thing we use the 540 for is mowing. Agitator, hedge cutter and tanker are easy run so the 540e is perfect. I'm sure if you have a bigger agitator or hedgecutter, 540e might not be enough for it, but in our case it is.

iliketomoveit

I was thinking about this earlier and this was my logic on it.

Say if you normally top, mow, etc with pto at 540, with 20 (x100) rpm on the dial.

Wouldn't that be roughly the same as mowing with pto at 1000, and 10 (x100) rpm on the dial?
This would save a lot of diesel, and making everything a whole lot quieter.

I was able to do this with the powerwasher ( I now use 1000), but don't want to risk it on the topper we use, as its our neighbors and I don't want to break it.

Insp. Harry Callahan

Use 540 for almost everything,round baling, one pass, slurry etc except the power washer, the 1000 speed for it and also its very good for chopping straw in the tub feeder, and for emptying it out completely after feeding, just give it a wizz in the 1000 speed

larthehar

People get a bit obcessed with saving diesel and don't see the consquences of running the tractor in the economy box for high power/high speed applications.. this is what leads to the ruination of engines in tractors.. labouring engines is extremely bad for them.. the question I always ask is do you drive everywhere in top gear because is is more fuel efficient?!

yellow50HX

larthehar wrote: »

People get a bit obcessed with saving diesel and don't see the consquences of running the tractor in the economy box for high power/high speed applications.. this is what leads to the ruination of engines in tractors.. labouring engines is extremely bad for them.. the question I always ask is do you drive everywhere in top gear because is is more fuel efficient?!

yeah i'd agree, things like spraying and spreadign witha wag tail are not that hard on the PTO but anything like cutting or stirring or pumping may be a lot harder. it also depends on your HP. a 120hp yoke wont be under as much pressure as a 70hp runnign a hob bob through fresh grass

st1979

yellow50HX wrote: »

yeah i'd agree, things like spraying and spreadign witha wag tail are not that hard on the PTO but anything like cutting or stirring or pumping may be a lot harder. it also depends on your HP. a 120hp yoke wont be under as much pressure as a 70hp runnign a hob bob through fresh grass

Exactly i have 150hp on agitator that a 80hp is at her best on. I can run the tractor at 2200rpm for 540 or 1500rpm in the 1000box.

Dampintheattic

st1979 wrote: »

Exactly i have 150hp on agitator that a 80hp is at her best on. I can run the tractor at 2200rpm for 540 or 1500rpm in the 1000box.

Agitating is a hoor of a job. No point faffing around with anything less than 110hp in 540rpm.
Used to do my own with 80hp tractor. Invariably needed water added. Used to take four bloody hours or more. That was working from two agitating points.

Had fella there in spring, with 130 hp tractor and big agitator. He was out the gate in 45 minutes.

8k2q1gfcz9s5d4

iliketomoveit wrote: »

Say if you normally top, mow, etc with pto at 540, with 20 (x100) rpm on the dial.

Wouldn't that be roughly the same as mowing with pto at 1000, and 10 (x100) rpm on the dial?
This would save a lot of diesel, and making everything a whole lot quieter.

depends on the tractor. the engine would have to work harder with the pto at 1000 and at lower revs as its running a higher gear at lower revs.

pakalasa

The power in any spinning shaft is the speed of the shaft multiplied by the torque. So if you up the revs, the torque will go down, and vice versa.
The danger is with the torque going too high. Like someone said above, if you keep the revs too low, you run the risk of driving up the torque and damaging the equipment or the gears in the tractor.

iliketomoveit

Zara Old Trefoil wrote: »

depends on the tractor. the engine would have to work harder with the pto at 1000 and at lower revs as its running a higher gear at lower revs.

pakalasa wrote: »

The power in any spinning shaft is the speed of the shaft multiplied by the torque. So if you up the revs, the torque will go down, and vice versa.
The danger is with the torque going too high. Like someone said above, if you keep the revs too low, you run the risk of driving up the torque and damaging the equipment or the gears in the tractor.

I understand a bit better now. You'd think that you'd be able to hear the engine struggling if there was to much torque, something similar to the sound of travelling in too high of a gear, but then again its the pto shaft, so you might not.

Damo810

You need to be awful careful using 1000 PTO speed on gear that it wasn't designed for. Most the gearbox's weren't designed for that speed and running them over the recommended amount isn't going to extend their life. You don't actually know what speeds your spinning the PTO at. It's not something you can just judge by eye, it's too fast for that. Your also putting the engine under far more strain. Your well away from the tip of the power curve, so your just working it the whole time.

If you want to save diesel, increase your ground speed, check tire pressure, make sure everything's clean and clear (oil, filters etc) because a bad gearbox in a baler costs a tidy sum to replace.

st1979

Ah here. My tractors are all 15yrs old and they have digital read out of pto rpm. And using a large tractor for low hp pto work its a good way of saving fuel as long as its a low power requirement job relative to the size of the tractor.
I have 4 different pto speeds to choose from. 540 540e which is actually 750, 1000 and 1000e which is 1250. You would wonder why they bothered if i was to stick to the 540.

Best thing with the different shaft speeds is to keep all machines on the 1 type of splines so you dont need to change the stub shaft on tractor. Then depending on the machines power requirement and the conditions you are working in you can use lower or higher revs on the tractor engine to get the required rpm on the pto.

I cant understand where the confusion is. Some people think if you put it in the 1000 box you are going to drive a 540 gearbox at 1000.

Dampintheattic

What about ground speed PTO? What's that for?
Would it work for spreading slurry?

stanflt

pakalasa wrote: »

I use 1000 for the Vicon Wagtail and 540 for everything else, topping, side spreader etc. You will have higher torque available at the 540 than the 1000.

I did that years ago by mistake and it broke the wagtail

st1979

Dampintheattic wrote: »

What about ground speed PTO? What's that for?
Would it work for spreading slurry?

Its only for driving wheels on a trailed implement like a big trailer or tanker in wet or steep conditions. A veg grower might use a trailer with ground drive cause they need to harvest for supermarkets in bad conditions. Think you need to have it geared for your make of tractor and wheel size etc. Very rare now. Was on old masseys and you could get Howard rotaspreaders ground driven.

kfk

There is a second pto shaft on my tractor underneath the pto shaft that I always use. What is it for? Lower implements?

st1979

kfk wrote: »

There is a second pto shaft on my tractor underneath the pto shaft that I always use. What is it for? Lower implements?

Probably 1 is 540 and other is 1000. You should be able to tell easy that 1 spins twice as fast as other. Or else 1 is ground drive in which case it will only turn as you move and its speed will be relative to your travel speed. But far more likely its 540/1000. What make of tractor and has 1 shaft got 21 splines and other normal.

iliketomoveit

Damo810 wrote: »

You need to be awful careful using 1000 PTO speed on gear that it wasn't designed for. Most the gearbox's weren't designed for that speed and running them over the recommended amount isn't going to extend their life. You don't actually know what speeds your spinning the PTO at. It's not something you can just judge by eye, it's too fast for that. Your also putting the engine under far more strain. Your well away from the tip of the power curve, so your just working it the whole time.

If you want to save diesel, increase your ground speed, check tire pressure, make sure everything's clean and clear (oil, filters etc) because a bad gearbox in a baler costs a tidy sum to replace.

Yea fair enough, I'd say you'd probably hear if the engine was under a large amount of strain. It might be safe enough cos the shearbolt would break if I put too much torque on the topper. I might just leave well enough alone, as it could end badly; I'll probably mention it to the owner though.

lefthooker

Took the topper out for her first spin on the paddocks today. 1000 box and 1100 revs. Tractor just ticking over and nice handy gear, no mad revving and going light on the diesel. No problems and a lovely tidy job

iliketomoveit

lefthooker wrote: »

Took the topper out for her first spin on the paddocks today. 1000 box and 1100 revs. Tractor just ticking over and nice handy gear, no mad revving and going light on the diesel. No problems and a lovely tidy job

Nice one!

kfk

st1979 wrote: »

Probably 1 is 540 and other is 1000. You should be able to tell easy that 1 spins twice as fast as other. Or else 1 is ground drive in which case it will only turn as you move and its speed will be relative to your travel speed. But far more likely its 540/1000. What make of tractor and has 1 shaft got 21 splines and other normal.

Both shafts have the same splines as far as I remember. I will take the cover off today and see what the difference is with the pto turned on. Someone suggested a long time ago that it spun the opposite direction but I doubt this is right. Its a Lamborghini 879-90 btw.

pakalasa

lefthooker wrote: »

Took the topper out for her first spin on the paddocks today. 1000 box and 1100 revs. Tractor just ticking over and nice handy gear, no mad revving and going light on the diesel. No problems and a lovely tidy job

Is it a high Horsepowered tractor? With a lower horsepower tractor and the engine revs higher, you'd actually use less fuel per acre.

PN14

So lads whats the consensus. Tractor is MF 4345. It has selectable 1000 PTO & 540. If on the power washer, wagtail & light topping with disc mower select 1000 PTO and run at say 1100 revs on clock or where dial is marked. Tractor has digital dash which reads PTO speed seperately so as long as I dont exceed 540 rpm on dash it should be fine. I presume there's no need to change PTO shafts if doing this? This would allow me to tip away at lighter engine loads rather than reving to 2200 revs and having the tractor roaring on light work.

lefthooker

pakalasa wrote: »

Is it a high Horsepowered tractor? With a lower horsepower tractor and the engine revs higher, you'd actually use less fuel per acre.

Was using a landini, 4 cylinder turbo c.95hp