# John Deere 2020 running PTO wide open for 8+ hours/day?



## basicguy5 (Jan 9, 2017)

Hello, I'm hoping to get a more educated opinion here.

My father in law has an old John Deere 2020 with some sort of upgraded 1000rpm PTO on it. He runs the manure pump via the PTO for 8-12 hours a day WIDE OPEN. Last week I was helping him and backed the throttle down about 2k rpm and it didn't see any change in the amount of manure coming out. I mentioned it to my father-in-law that he might save gas and make it a bit easier on the tractor if he backs it down a little but he just think I don't know what I'm talking about (He's 88yrs old). I should also mention he's had to rebuild that same tractor at least 5 times in the past 20 years. Maybe more...

Thank you for any input you have. I'm not a tractor guy but I do live on a dairy farm (I married the farmer's daughter .


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## Hoodoo Valley (Nov 14, 2006)

Welcome to the forum basicguy5! My pops is 81 and stubborn as hell.......... Sometimes you just have to yield to the old man! 

This is an age old argument that has fueled tractor forum debates many times over. Myself.. I always run my tractors with the least amount of throttle I can comfortably get away with because I myself do feel that operating at full throttle when it's obvious that it's not needed, is engine abuse! Kind of like driving your truck at 60 miles an hour in third gear as opposed to in 5th.


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## TraderMark (Nov 15, 2011)

Welcome basicguy5.

All tractors have a certain engine speed they need to run to turn the PTO at it's rated RPMs. The engine speed is different for different brands and models.
Here's a pic of a tachometer for a 2020 so you can see where the engine speed needs to be to get the PTO to turn at its rated speed. As you can see, the engine RPM should be around 2100-2200 RPMs.

HTH,
Mark


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## Hoodoo Valley (Nov 14, 2006)

TraderMark said:


> Welcome basicguy5.
> 
> All tractors have a certain engine speed they need to run to turn the PTO at it's rated RPMs. The engine speed is different for different brands and models.
> Here's a pic of a tachometer for a 2020 so you can see where the engine speed needs to be to get the PTO to turn at its rated speed. As you can see, the engine RPM should be around 2100-2200 RPMs.
> ...


Now, it should be mentioned that these indications on the tach. are to direct the operator to achieve the rated PTO horse power as per the machines specifications. A person could run at less horse power for a given PTO driven implement at the operators discretion, providing it wasn't putting a burden on the equipment. On my Kubota BX2200, I only mow at 1/3 throttle, well below the rated PTO recommendation, and it works just fine, however, I do bump up the throttle considerably more if I get in to extremely tall grass, or I hear the engine lugging down. It's a matter of preference.


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## TraderMark (Nov 15, 2011)

Very true tractor beam.
The indicator on the tach is to provide a guideline to engine rpms for "rated" PTO speed and hp. If the operator needs 540/1000 rpms from the PTO then the engine needs to turn at, in this case, 2100 rpms. If the situation warrants less rpms/hp, that's for the operator to decide.

Quite often I'm asked, "Can you tell me why my mower (Bush Hog) doesn't cut like it should?" When I ask them to operate it so I can see what's going on, they have the engine at 1000 rpms or so and use a higher gear to get the ground speed they want. They are usually amazed when I show them the indicator on the tach, and set the engine rpms at that speed, then use a lower gear to get proper ground speed. In most cases the mower does a much better job at rated PTO rpms.

Mark


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## tcreeley (Jan 2, 2012)

My tiller likes a pto speed of 2200 rpm and my bush hog likes 1800 rpms.
I drive both in Medium range, 1st gear.
I go by how it sounds.


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## basicguy5 (Jan 9, 2017)

Thanks for input everyone! The tractor itself is stationary when hooked up to the pump. He definitely doesn't need it to be wide open. When I back it down to about 17 and I still don't see any difference in the arc of the manure coming out of the sprayer (AKA Sh*t cannon). Somehow he thinks its normal to have to rebuild a tractor engine every 3-4 years. He spent over $8k rebuilding it last year and I don't think its even worth that much...


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## RC Wells (Dec 26, 2008)

The older John Deere diesels are engineered to operate the most efficiently at about 80% of the rated horsepower RPM. Rated power is produced at 2,500 ROM, and 80% is 2,000 RPM. That assumes an appropriate load on the engine. 

The gasoline engines used in that series are also rated at 2,500 RPM, but should be operated at around 2,100 RPM on a full load for maximum life and power.

If the load on the engine is not taking the full 50 horsepower, back the throttle down until the load is just working the governor and still accomplishing the job. Run it so there is just no black smoke from loading down and trying to fuel to catch the power up when a solid shoots through the pump. That avoids contamination of the crankcase oil with fuel, and makes the bottom end last much longer.

As far as the rebuild time on these engines, the diesel should easily run about 15,000 hours if maintained, and the gasoline version will last about 4,000 hours with the gasoline that is available today.


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