How to drive a two cylinder

I thought this could make an interesting discussion.
Last year I drove a late styled G (not my tractor) pulling a people shuttle around town during the big fourth of July celebration. In one area of my route I go down a fairly steep grade for about one block. During that stretch the old G with the loaded shuttle pushing it starts to race, over-rev and back fire like it wants to fly apart. A couple of times I tried popping the clutch and letting it coast down the hill. That way I don't get the backfiring, but I've never quite gotten the hang of engaging the clutch again without sending the people on the shuttle sprawling.
I'm sure some of you have experienced this when pulling trailers and such down the road. How do you handle it?
Oh yeah, we usually pull in fifth gear.
 

Haven't driven the tractor in 49 weeks, but as I recall the brakes worked fine. I can give that a try this year. The owner of the tractor might not be too happy if at the end of my shift all the paint is burned off the brake drums.
 
You only have two options: avoid it or correct it.

Slowing way down before the decline will avoid the
problem. But once you're overspeeding, brakes are
the only option (unless you carry an anchor).

Anytime you've got weight pushing more than the
engine can push back, you're going to speed up.

It'll feel a little awkward, but slow way
down right before going into the decline. If you do it a few times, you'll eventually find the right speed to hit the decline so that as you build speed down the hill, you'll be at the normal speed by the time you hit the bottom.

If you end up going too fast, you have to use the
brakes (with clutch engaged).

A gentle touch should bring the speed under
control pretty quickly.

pump them - a few good presses (but light enough
so people don't feel it) is better than just
feathering them the whole way.

If you are toasting the brake drums, you're using
the wrong tractor for the job. But I think you'll
find the brakes on a G can take it. (of course, I
haven't seen the hill or the wagon... so hard to
say for sure)
 
Richard,
If that old G's worn trans. jumps out of gear you will be looking for the brake pedals. Thanks to Deere, the G had good brakes if they were adjusted properly. Don't worry about a little paint.
 
Hummmm does it also have a straight pipe ? If so get a muffler on it so it has some back pressure too.

also stop and shift to a slower gear before going down hill and never ever disengage the clutch as then it can really run away from you !

I had a load of gravel behind my 50 in a gravity wagon going down a hill once. I did down shift before going down but not to a low enough gear ! Man that is a hairy ride. I burnt the paint off my brakes that day !
 
Having pulled tandem forage boxes with an A, G,
70, 720 etc I have had my share of experience
ascending and descending hills with loads, usually
much larger than what they should have been.

As was well stated below, don't EVER take it out
of gear (disengage clutch). That is the fastest
way to lose control. Idle the tractor back, and
use the brakes intermittently to control speed...
never allowing engine speed to go above rated
speed. Remember to apply the brakes evenly, so as
not to steer the tractor off course. A little
backfiring is par for the course, depending on how
many exhaust leaks you have, etc. This is where
the diesel 2 cylinders really shine- that big
compression ratio will really hold back the load.

Expect a little burned off paint on the brake
drums... but it won't be as bad as you think. To
me it's a sign the tractor runs, and does what
it's supposed to. It is much easier to fix than
the damaged caused by piling up at the bottom.
Remember, you are hauling people, are far bigger
liability than any load of farm commodities.
 
To me, it's just automatic to throttle these tractors down when going downhill. I see so many people that just leave them wide open and experience much the same effects as you did. Throttle down, keep your feet near the breaks, and be safe. If you gear down and still leave the tractor wide open it will do the same things, just at a lower ground speed. Mike
 
If you over rev a great deal you'll be working on the governor. The back firing is the Johnny Popper....firing ignition on the exhuaust stroke...a wagon full of people is dead weight "excuse the pun" think I'd use a 70-80 hp tractor for safety....
 
I have never seen a Diesel that will hold back a load worth A DAM UNLESS IT HAS A JAKE BRAKE and there are no jakes for 2 cyl diesel
 
We have caught the brakes on fire a time or two with the mounted picker on the 60,,we have some "Real" hills around here...
 
When I was a kid the fun was always in the
backfiring. Of all the tractors in the fleet
(Farmall "C", Ford Jubilee, Allis Chalmers WD-45,
several Allis D-17's, and my uncle's old John
Deere "A"), the "A" was the most fun to drive on
the road (and we're talking HILLY roads of
northeast Iowa). So going between farms on the
county roads with a heavy load pushing it down
hill and with the throttle closed, that old "A"
would really POW!, but only about every 5 seconds
or so. Sounded like a 12 gauge going off out of
the muffler. The Farmall wouldn't backfire at
all, the Ford just emitted wimpy little quiet
puttering sounds instead of backfiring, and the
Allis would bark out lots of angry little snapping
pops that sounded like a string of little
firecrackers going off - but not quite as loud.
So we kids used to take turns seeing who could
create the loudest backfire out of the old "A".

I had a perverse liking of torturing that old "A",
but it didn't seem to care and just kept on
popping away despite the abuse we kids heaped on
it.

Anyway, we learned that it could be really
dangerous going down hill on those gravel roads
with a big load pushing the tractor. Just because
you had enough traction to pull the load uphill
certainly didn't mean you had enough traction to
keep the load under control going downhill - the
main reason being that when pulling, the front end
becomes lighter thus transfers more of the tractor
weight to the rear wheels, and when being pushed,
the opposite occurs - the front end gets heavier
and the rear end gets lighter (and thus has less
traction). And there's not many things scarier
than heading down a long hill with a big load
behind you, the engine is overspeeding
dangerously, and you try braking a little and the
rear wheels start sliding on the loose gravel.
There are only two things to do then; either
decide to head for the ditch and hope the damage
is minimal, or kick it out of gear and let her go.

I remember once riding in a wagon full of shelled
corn with my uncle at the wheel of the Ford
heading down a long, steep hill. He lived a
little dangerously anyway, and so he was going as
fast as he could when we started down the hill.
And, of course, the load started overpowering the
little Ford. A little braking did nothing but
almost cause a jack knife, but my uncle got off
the brakes right away and popped it out of gear.
We were probably doing around 35 MPH by the time
we got to the bottom of the hill. The speed was
bad enough, but the sloppy steering linkage of the
wagon let it whip back and forth across the road
as we careened down the hill. Life can be
exciting on the farm...

So the moral of the story is take it slow and easy
and make sure your tractor is big enough to handle
your load. And don't be afraid to use the brakes
- gently and EVENLY to prevent engine over-
revving. And if the hill is long enough, or there
are some liability issues (such as human
passengers with a bunch of ambulance-chasing
lawyers lurking around waiting for an
opportunity), it would be best to shift down to
the lowest gear that would allow the engine to
keep the load under control when descending a
hill.
 
(quoted from post at 12:25:02 06/17/14)
Haven't driven the tractor in 49 weeks, but as I recall the brakes worked fine. I can give that a try this year. The owner of the tractor might not be too happy if at the end of my shift all the paint is burned off the brake drums.

I'll bet tractor owner will be more upset with grill screens demolished than paint burnt off brake drums.
 

I have no choice as to what tractor I'm using. I get the G because I'm one of the few volunteers who knows enough to pull the clutch lever back and not just start jamming the left brake when I want to stop.
I'm not sure that slipping it into a lower gear before beginning my descent is an option. I'd probably have riders start to jump off in an unauthorized unloading zone if I stopped to shift.
 
FWIW (since both points of view were raised)...

Diesels generally do not have "engine braking" effects nearly as large as gasoline engines.

In a diesel, most of the retardation is due to simple friction (this friction could be considerable especially as RPM increases). And most of the energy lost during the compression strokes is regained during the following "combustion" strokes (with or without fuel).

A typical gasoline engine likewise has the friction component. But it also benefits (in this regard) from the suction of air past the (presumably closed) throttle plate/disk. The effect is from the closed-throttle partial-vacuum. It is the work the engine has to do against this restricted air flow that provides the braking effect.
 
(quoted from post at 12:18:00 06/17/14) FWIW (since both points of view were raised)...

Diesels generally do not have "engine braking" effects nearly as large as gasoline engines.

In a diesel, most of the retardation is due to simple friction (this friction could be considerable especially as RPM increases). And most of the energy lost during the compression strokes is regained during the following "combustion" strokes (with or without fuel).

A typical gasoline engine likewise has the friction component. But it also benefits (in this regard) from the suction of air past the (presumably closed) throttle plate/disk. The effect is from the closed-throttle partial-vacuum. It is the work the engine has to do against this restricted air flow that provides the braking effect.

I'll also point out that this explicitly ignores things like the jake brake. In that type of system, exhaust valves are opened at the end of the "compression" stroke so that the is no air pressure pushing the piston back down - the energy of the compression is thus lost and engine braking is achieved effectively.
 
Before putting it on the road make sure you have good brakes and they don't grab. Before you reach the top of hill, stop & shift into 4th or 3rd then proceed. I prefer 3rd gear but it depends how heavy your load & how steep your descent down the hill . If the motor starts to over-rev from the load you're pulling then gentle apply some brakes evenly until the motor comes back down. Keep doing this until you've reached the bottom of the hill. Do not let the clutch out... ever, unless you have to stop.
 
Is the people hauler built on a running gear? Find a running gear with surge brakes and make sure they work. Probably should have brakes on the people hauler anyway.
 
You can get more weight on a people hauler than you would imagine,, and I don"t even want to think about the liability night mares...
 
Shift down a gear, throttle back and let the engine brake you down the hill. Do this BEFORE starting down the hill.

Pushing the clutch in going down hill with a load is not a good idea, and NEVER take it out of gear going down a hill. You have a very critical load with people in it. Get a bigger tractor if not absolutely confident in the safety.
 
I was once driving a pickup truck in a prade pulling a wagon full of
people. A deputy sheriff stopped me and wanted to see if I had a
buss license. I asked him if this truck and wagon looked like a
buss.
 
This has been interesting to read. I must say some of the advice has been crap. Diesels do hold back better then gas without the jake brake. More compression means more engine load, period. A lower gear will hold back better then a higher gear, period. disengaging the clutch because you are going too fast is very dangerous, period. I live in the Driftless region of Wisconsin and we farmed hills that should not have been farmed with small tractors (or any tractor for that matter) and you learn to work the hills or you could pay the ultimate price (many have). My advice... either start out in a lower gear and make the trip take longer, or stop at the top of the hill and shift to a lower gear before going down and if someone jumps off, oh well, they may be better off if you "free wheeled" down a hill with a load of people behind you. If you need to use the brakes, use them, screw the paint! Sorry if I sound crude but it's one thing to run down a hill with a load of hay and risk your own life, but a wagon of people...
 
"How do you handle it?"

I believe the best advice would be NOT TO.

It wouldn't be the first parade tractor pulling a trailer to wreck and maim folks.
 
(quoted from post at 13:41:44 06/18/14) This has been interesting to read. I must say some of the advice has been crap. Diesels do hold back better then gas without the jake brake. More compression means more engine load, period. ...

Actually not. The spring effect of the compression on the up stroke is (nearly) all given back on the down stroke. So there is as much pushing back down on the piston as the piston was pushing up in the first place. The two even each other out. Friction, of course, would remain more or less constant all else equal.

Now of course, things are never is equal. A larger (more cylinders, longer stroke, more bearings) engine turning at a higher RPM will experience more friction (and thus friction loss).
 
I agree with the rduck. Look at the tire tracks when you go down the hill with a load of people . I'd bet thet they are slipping and you are close to a disaster . You need a much bigger tractor . take the number of people and estimate them at 200 lbs, then add the wagon and the tractor . You will outweigh the tractor a lot . I have been around for 70+ years so I've learned a little . Used to pull a big high 1000 gal water tank with an 8n ford tractor down the hill with tires sliding. We just pulled the throttle wide open and watched for signs of jackknife . I was just a 5th grader and didn't know anybetter .
 
(quoted from post at 16:16:41 06/17/14) Is the people hauler built on a running gear? Find a running gear with surge brakes and make sure they work. Probably should have brakes on the people hauler anyway.

This is the best idea so far!
 

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