I had a question from Allen wanting to input about which tractor has the least vibration. Allen has arthritis and is very sensitive to vibration, so he's shopping for a tractor that runs really smooth. He asked my opinion and now I'm asking yours...
He wants a tractor between 26 and 60 hp, admittedly, a pretty wide range. My first thought was he'll want to get a four cylinder engine because they're naturally smoother than a three. Here's why...the diesel engines we have today have four cycles, intake, compression, ignition and exhaust. So, with a four cylinder engine, each cylinder is on one of those cycles which gives a natural balance to things. Three cylinder engines don't have that. If Allen gets a four cylinder engine that likely eliminates all of the choices below 40 hp, because that's about where the break is between 3 cylinder and 4.
Twenty years ago I would have told you that the country of origin of the engine would dictate, somewhat, how smooth the tractor was. In my mind, the early Japanese compact tractors ran a lot smoother than their counterparts from other parts of the world. Today, with Tier IV engines, I don't perceive that to be an issue, I think the Korean built engines have caught up to the Japanese in terms of how smooth they run.
PTO rated engine speed, or the RPM's that the tractor has to be running to make it's advertised horsepower, surely has an impact on vibration. If noise and vibration go together, you would think that the higher the rated engine speed, the more noise and vibration the tractor would produce. So, that would tell me a tractor with a rated engine speed of 2350 RPM would have less noise and vibration that one with 2800 RPM. I'm not sure that would always be right because of the many other factors involved, but would think it would be true most of the time. So a major consideration would be PTO rated engine speed.
Other factors to look at revolve around whether it's the manufacturer's bargain tractor, or one the same size that's a couple of grand more expensive. Most manufacturers have a bargain model that they advertise in package deals and with low payments on their website, and a more deluxe model for people who want all of the bells and whistles. Some of the options on the deluxe models can impact vibration.
For example, where the seat is mounted is important...bargain tractors will usually be bolted to the operator area, deluxe models will have a plate with a spring system that takes some of the "jolt" out of the ride and could favorably impact vibration felt by the operator.
Bargain tractors generally lack a floor pad which doesn't seem like a big deal until you look at the thickness of the floor mat on the deluxe models. The thick pad should have an impact both on noise and vibration.
Tractor design will have an impact. On some tractors the driver "straddles" the transmission, in other words, a good part of the transmission will protrude through the floor into the operator area. Many tractors raise the operator up high for a flat deck, which should help minimize vibration, but also possibly make the tractor less stable on hills with the higher center of gravity.
In the end, if noise equals vibration, the easiest thing for Allen to do would be to take a decibel meter with him when he shops and take readings from it in the tractor seat with the engine at PTO rated speed. That might take the guesswork out of the decision.
If you have other ideas, put them in the comments below and we'll try to help Allen get a tractor that he can comfortably use.
LINKS YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT...
The Tractor Fun Store: [ Ссылка ]
Support the Tractor Mike Channel: [ Ссылка ]
Visit the Tractor Mike website: [ Ссылка ]
Visit Facebook Page: [ Ссылка ]
Copyright 2019 Tractor Mike LLC
