Sherman transmission use

The second gear weakness is purely in the drivetrain. Bushhoging comes off the input shaft, so it doesn't matter what gear your in as far as the pto shaft and its loading is concerned. Stalling a bush hog will not damage second gear, though other components will not care for it.

Using a Sherman in say the low range changes the input shaft rpm, so you have to spin the engine up to full speed to get the proper pto speed to spin the hog correctly. Reving the engine up like this puts you at the exact same speeds again that you were at in direct drive, using lower engine rpms. So you don't get away from second gear speeds. That's the "secret" of the sherman, you rev the engine up higher for the same ground speeds or pto speeds, getting more power from the engine as a result.

Now blading is a different matter. That's one that can put a hurting on the drive train, and if you're in second gear, that's the one that likes to fail. Using the Sherman in low range, still using second gear, simply puts more power through that weak gear, increasing the chances of breaking it.

Basically, for grunt work like plowing or blading and such, try to use first gear or third if you can. Those gears can better handle the power and load.

later,dave

I remember Zane clearly saying that most of the second gear failures that he had to repair were due to mowing in second gear, but, since I've "Never" worked on a N trans. I could'nt and would'nt say.

later,dave