Go BottomLoaders and 2wd tractors
 | Craig Hill
Join Date: Posts: 1 
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2001-01-15 23436
I have a John Deere 850 ps 2wd and would like to add a loader. Can I hang the finish mower on the rear 3pt for ballast, or am I just going to spin my wheels? My understanding is that 2wd tractors can't effectively use loaders.
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| mark
Join Date: Feb 2002 Posts: 188 Virginia
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2001-01-15 23437
Craig, I have a 2wd JD-950 w/power steering and a JD-75 Loader. The tractor w/loader works great for my appilcations. I have rear ag tires which are loaded with calcite and I use a 6ft. rear mounted mower for extra weight. I would estimate the combination of rear ballast adds 1,200 lbs to the rear of the tractor. The only thing that I have found is directional control can be a problem. Especially when the front of the tractor is raised slightly off the ground. The only solution here is to feather the brakes to maintain a particular forward direction. I am sure a 4wd would handle much better but I believe weight properly placed on a 2wd can go a long way to help. IMHO a loader is money well spent as not only do you get the use out of the loader while you own the tractor but it will also add to the resale value when you go to sell it. It seems as though everybody wants a 4wd tractor and "loaderless" 2wd tractor will sell for a lot less in my area. A 2wd with loader is much more desirable set-up than plain 2wd. Hope this info. helps and good luck. Mark ....
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| Bird Senter
Join Date: Jun 1999 Posts: 962 
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2001-01-15 23441
Craig, I'll take the opposite position from Mark. He's got a 2WD and is happy with it and a loader, and of course, depending on the kind of work you do, different equipment works well for different folks, but generally speaking, I think you'll find 2WD and loaders just don't satisfy most folks. Before I bought my first compact tractor, I was looking at a used one and told the owner than I was going to put a front end loader on whatever I bought, and fortunately, he was honest enough to tell me that I could do it, but that I wouldn't be happy with the loader unless I also had 4WD. He was right. I now have my second compact tractor, and I would have sure been unhappy to have spent the money for a loader if they hadn't also had 4WD. ....
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| DanaT
Join Date: Jun 1999 Posts: 138 Clay Center,Ks
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2001-01-15 23443
Craig, If you have ag tires you could probly hang enough weight on the back to work, or chains will help aswell. When I was growing up on a farm (before they came out with FWA tractors) they did work. The harder the digging the more you will spin. If you take your time you might be happy with it. I do very little loader work in 2WD, There is a big difference with a front axle to help you.
My thoughs ....
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| al
Join Date: Posts: 1
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2001-01-15 23444
i have a 4wd tractor and wil tell you that i accidently had the tractor in 2wd while trying to use the loader, coulden't figure out why i coulden't fill the bucket, then i realized what was wrong, big difference, thats my two cents, for what it is worth.
al ....
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| Roger L.
Join Date: Jun 1999 Posts: 0
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2001-01-15 23445
Craig, that 850 is a nice tractor and in 2wd is just about bulletproof. I've had a variety of 2 and 4wd - most all with loaders. I admit that I prefer $WD..... or 4WD as some call it. But you will get plenty of decent work done in 2wd. True, sometimes you will spin the tires trying to get a load, but you'll figure out how to get around this. Or not. Besides, you can spin a lot of tire on a tractor that you already own. It doesn't hurt anything. The only real problem with 2wd comes when trying to drive up and down hills with the bucket full. Particularly up...Down is easy...way too easy....On hills it is possible to get the rear tires so light that they can't scratch out good traction. But you will get there. Hanging something heavy on the three point really helps the traction in all respects. That 850 has a beefy 3pt hitch for its size, so don't be shy.
HEY! I see that you have ps on the 850! That's wonderful! That does it!!... With power steering I wouldn't hesitate to slap a lightweight loader on it. I think you'll be happy with it. Be smart and go for a lighter weight loader instead of a beefy monster. And get the smaller width bucket. So what if the smaller loader means that you make a trip and a half instead of one trip? Its all for fun anyway.
....
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| Jim
Join Date: Posts: 1
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2001-01-15 23446
You know it's funny. It seems like the land in this country has changed in the last few years. Now, everybody has to have 4wd. For the last 65 years 2wd tractors w/loaders were just fine. I guess the "greenhouse" effect is having more of an effect than we imagined.... I have to agree w/Mark. Up here in the slimy, hilly wet N.E. 4wd's are nice, but I sell almost as many 2wd's as 4wd's
and the majority of the tractors on the farms are 2wd. As for the 850 JD, the 2wd is fine w/a loader, and ag tires. I have sold 20+ 850/950 tractors w/loaders and people are happy. there are several things that will make the 2wd acceptable. Counterweight, Chains(even a 4wd is useless on ice w/out them), and putting a little wider, heavier front tire on it. Also, the 850 has Diff lock. ....
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| Bird Senter
Join Date: Jun 1999 Posts: 962
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2001-01-15 23448
Jim, I'll agree with you that things are changing. When 2WD was about all there was, you made do with it, but when something better is available . . ., well, I'm all for it. And of course you're right about most of the real farm tractors being 2WD, but I live in farming country and it's changing; even the big farm tractors are going more and more to 4WD. I have one neighbor who's running 3 John Deere, all in the 100-120hp range, air-conditioned cabs, all with front end loaders, and all 2WD, and he told me he'll never buy another new tractor without 4WD. And of course the big TLBs are usually 2WD, but have that backhoe both for weight on the back end and it can pull them out if they get stuck. So, I'd be more inclined to agree with you if you're talking about big tractors, say more than 50hp anyway, but I was talking about compact tractors. ....
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| Roger L.
Join Date: Jun 1999 Posts: 0
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2001-01-16 23449
Bird, Jim, Craig.....Don't get me wrong. I do prefer $WD over 2WD. It is clearly much better. That is why my own compacts are 4WD. But saying that a 2WD cannot be effectively used with a loader is just wrong. What it can't do is handle a loader like a 4WD. But with counterweight - 3pt, not just tires - and using a lighter loader there is a lot of good to be gotten. ....
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| Bird Senter
Join Date: Jun 1999 Posts: 962
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2001-01-16 23450
No argument there, Roger. I think we agree; just expressed it a little differently.LOL ....
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| Brent Pepper
Join Date: Feb 2002 Posts: 58 Athens Alabama
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2001-01-16 23455
When you talk about 2WD tractors with FELs that were sold years ago, you have to remember that most of them were BIG HEAVY tractors, not 2000-3000 pound compact tractors. Even an MF231 that would have been considered a small tractor 20 years ago would be a big tractor compared with todays compact tractor. Yes a loader will work with a 2WD compact, but just not as well as a 4WD compact.
Brent ....
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 | Murf
Join Date: Dec 1999 Posts: 7249 Toronto Area, Ontario, Canada 
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2001-01-16 23458
Before throwing my two cents in (3.2 Canadian cents) I tryed a little experiment of my own. I took the Kubota L3450 that is on snow removal duty at my own house for the winter and shifted it into 2WD mode then tried some loader work with it like that. The tractor is equipped with full turf's, not loaded, a 750# 3pth weight block that sits centered 12" behind lift point, and an Allied 395 loader with 6' g.p. bucket. Braking was required for steering when scraping, but then it usually is. For stacking snow banks, no problem as long as the rear wheels were not on snow/ice. For loading the sanders (ice storm last night) it worked quite well, only difference was smaller bite, flip sand to back of bucket using curl, then take a second bite to fill front of bucket. Took a couple bites a frozen pile of limestone screenings, no go, shifted to 4WD, still a no go. switched to forks and unloaded a skid of (bagged) salt, no difference from normal. IMHO, put the loader on the 4WD. ....
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| Mark Goehring
Join Date: Posts: 1
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2001-01-16 23459
If I were buying new, I'd definately go MFWD, but since you already own the 2WD, then putting an FEL on it should work fine. Keeping in mind, of course, that you will get less traction, so less bite. On the other hand, you've been working the 2WD, so you should know perfectly well how well it works! ....
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| John Miller, III
Join Date: Posts: 1
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2001-01-23 23624
I had a Massey Ferguson 135 with a trip bucket loader. Just plain 2 wd, I had no other reference and thought I was in heaven. I used it mainly for brush hogging, protecting the sheet metal on the tractor and ripping the tough stuff out of my way (had manure forks mounted on bucket)with a 5' rotary cutter mounted on the rear.
I also had a Satoh S650G w/ loader, full double action bucket (moving up in the world folks) and that little 25 hp was a can do tractor, all in 2wd!
Well years later, I recently bought a John Deere 5202 MFWD with loader and 90% of the time it's still in "2wd".
So yes, a 2wd tractor can work great with a loader! ....
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