Jacobsen 628D

[northcreeek262]

Oh okay. Mine is the 72" right side discharge.

Yeah, same here. Glad to find this forum, there isn't a lot out there for these machines since most are owned by institutions. Mine was one of two from a high school in upstate NY. I can't think of a better mowing machine and I've had a few. Like I tell people, " the only thing that I have to do while mowing, is being there"...Mike.

 

[northcreeek262]

Just some pics of mods that I have made to my machine...Mike.

 

[helomech]

Just some pics of mods that I have made to my machine...Mike.

Yours is way cleaner than mine. Mine has to deal with very rough terrain all the time. I don't have nice grass for it to cut, we are in a bad drought again right now.

 

[northcreeek262]

Yours is way cleaner than mine. Mine has to deal with very rough terrain all the time. I don't have nice grass for it to cut, we are in a bad drought again right now.

The photos were taken on the best part of my lawn, most of my cutting is pretty rough too, with plenty of trees. I think my lawn would kill a lesser machine. We are pretty dry too, I watered a good part of the day to try and save the grass on the slopes of my lawn. Then it rained a few sprinkles that didn't even make it through the trees. Funny thing is that I got the 4wd because it can get sloppy when we get lake effect rains off of Erie but, this year, not so much....:confused3:

 

[helomech]

The photos were taken on the best part of my lawn, most of my cutting is pretty rough too, with plenty of trees. I think my lawn would kill a lesser machine. We are pretty dry too, I watered a good part of the day to try and save the grass on the slopes of my lawn. Then it rained a few sprinkles that didn't even make it through the trees. Funny thing is that I got the 4wd because it can get sloppy when we get lake effect rains off of Erie but, this year, not so much....:confused3:

We got lots of rocks, red dirt, and washouts. No way any zero turn would make it across my yard. The red dirt here turns to slippery snot when it gets wet. BTW the 4wd sucks in reverse.

 

[northcreeek262]

We got lots of rocks, red dirt, and washouts. No way any zero turn would make it across my yard. The red dirt here turns to slippery snot when it gets wet. BTW the 4wd sucks in reverse.

Yeah, I found out about the lack of 4wd in reverse, the "hard way". They say nothing about it in the manual, maybe it provides a sort of differential action when turning, wish I knew the reason .

 

[helomech]

Yeah, I found out about the lack of 4wd in reverse, the "hard way". They say nothing about it in the manual, maybe it provides a sort of differential action when turning, wish I knew the reason .

Polaris does the same thing, you loose 4wd in reverse unless you push a button.

 

[northcreeek262]

Polaris does the same thing, you loose 4wd in reverse unless you push a button.

I asked the question to Jacobsen, here's what they said:
Me:
Hi, Can you tell me the reason for the lack of 4wd in reverse on my 2006 628D TurfCat ? does it have to do with providing a type of differential action on the turning wheels?
Is there a retrofit for a selector switch to gain 4wd in reverse?
thanks, Mike.
Jacobsen:
Mike the 628 Turfcat does not come equipped with a 4 wheel drive reverse, There is no change over kit to make the unit have four wheel drive in reverse. The reason for this is that the rear wheels have to be in a neutral position when backing up or they end up turning into pumps causing the rear wheels to lock up when the unit is backing up.

ps: Personally, I think that with a little more engineering this snafu could have been eliminated but, the bean counters saw this machine going over $30K and put the brakes on....Mike

 

[helomech]

That reason doesn't even make sense.

 

[northcreeek262]

That reason doesn't even make sense.

That first reply was from a dealer, this is what the factory says:

Yes, the differential action is a part of it. No there is not a switch that would lock in 4WD. When the traction pump moves to the reverse direction, the flow of the oil reverses. There is a check valve in the rear wheel motors that opens up allowing some of the oil to by-pass the wheel motor. This is done to protect the rear wheel motor and so you don’t tear up the turf when steering in reverse.

Jay Draeger
Customer Care
jdraeger@textron.com