Any speculations on what causes freewheeling? I'm referring specifically to when you raise the entire machine (stabilizers and bucket) and use the backhoe and the rear wheels spin.
Easy way to stop that. Take it out of gear on the gear lever. When Im digging for long periods of time I got in the habit of doing it. Or put the park brake on. I forget exactly why it does it though. Take it out of gear is easier that way you dont have to hit the e-brake every time you have to push or pull yourself with the hoe.
When you remove all load from the drive wheels and the tranny is in a gear, there is enough residual oil flow in the torque divider to move the gears and driveline. You can actually grab a wheel and stop it at an idle. I wouldn't try it at a higher RPM though. Good idea to take the machine out of gear or apply the park brake.
Ah. I hadn't realized that the machine had to be in gear. Now that makes sense. Thanks guys!
We now have a Deere 410G and one thing I dont like about the powershift is that I can't fully take it out of gear. I went under the machine the first week we had it to grease the driveshaft points only to find out there was 1 grease fitting. It was a pain to look though. The 580 Id just leave in neutral and spin the shaft or tires by hand to line up the fittings.