Foot Pedal Control On The Ff

KennyP · Oct 11, 2013

I'm still debating this. I have some parts to work with from a Ford LGT. But, after plowing with this tractor again, I am leery. At times, I had to 'ride the left fender' for traction. I don't have the tires loaded as yet, just the 75# weights. With a foot pedal for travel, I would have to stay in the seat.

My original idea came from trying to adjust the existing linkage to get maximum speed both fwd & rev. Not an easy task. Plus, the lever will not stay put, even after adjusting it so it is hard to move. The FF linkage is fairly simple, yet hard to adjust. & I have found nothing to tell you how to adjust it, all trial & error.

Right now, on the #2 FF, I have good forward speed, but very slow in reverse. I need to look at both tractors and see what I have different on this one. A piece of the linkage is just below a frame cross member, thus limiting the travel.

I'll see if I can get a pic of the parts page to show what I up against here. I may try to get some pics, but most have to be taken from under the tractor and not sure if you could see anything.

Here's the parts pic:

I marked the linkage parts with a red dot, hope it shows.

BairleaFarm · Oct 11, 2013

Foot controls are great. My last gt had them and I'll be adding them on every one from now on if it can be done without messing anything up. I wouldn't worry about having to stay in your seat as the lack I'd weight is easily fixed.

Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk 4

skyrydr2 · Oct 11, 2013

Boy is that a bunch of "stuff" !! The Ford linkage is way easier to rig up , but not if you don't have the clearance??

olcowhand · Oct 11, 2013

I have always been a big supporter of foot control on a hydro, but I gotta say, plowing is one area where a hand control is better in my opinion. With the foot control, you have to have that foot steadily holding the right spot, and it can get a cramp going pretty quick. My Hogzilla has foot control, but I am going to add a handle to the foot control as well, with some sort of friction device to hold it in place. It's a bear with the touchy foot control on Hogzilla, especially with the HP the thing has. It'll take off on a wheelie when you aren't ready. I still want the pedal for when I'm doing other garden work, or just driving it around doing simple chores. I am going to make the friction device to where it's easily adjusted so I can loosen it some for pedal control, and snug it up for hand control.

skyrydr2 · Oct 11, 2013

Make your cruise control with a trailer brake magnet, so it can be turned on and off and still ajusted :thumbs:

KennyP · Oct 11, 2013

Good to see some other ideas brought into this.

As far as clearance, that remains to be seen. I have an idea of how using as much Ford parts as I can. Whether that will work, remains to be seen.

Since Daniel brought up the idea of still having a lever, may see what that would entail.

Keep the comments coming, folks. That helps a lot!

twostep · Oct 11, 2013

skyrydr2 said:
Make your cruise control with a trailer brake magnet, so it can be turned on and off and still ajusted :thumbs:

Have you done this? I would really like to see some an example of this... I guess you could also use an electric PTO to do this. It would probably be too strong to adjust without disengaging though.

skyrydr2 · Oct 11, 2013

This is how Toro did it on some of theirhydro rigs.

IamSherwood · Oct 12, 2013

Foot control on a hydro is great, but as Daniel said, the foot can cramp up on you.

My MF1450 and 1650 have it. I like it, but at times it'd be nice to have a hand

lever too. If I recall, George's HD-12 had both.

olcowhand · Oct 12, 2013

IamSherwood said:
Foot control on a hydro is great, but as Daniel said, the foot can cramp up on you.

My MF1450 and 1650 have it. I like it, but at times it'd be nice to have a hand

lever too. If I recall, George's HD-12 had both.

Yes, HD-12's have a handle mounted to the pedal. That's what made me decide to do that to Hogzilla.

JDBrian · Oct 12, 2013

Foot controls are great but some sort of cruise control is needed for when you want to maintain a constant speed for long periods of time. On the JD2320 and the X475 I had previously the cruise control was nice to have when pulling a scarifier on the driveway. The systems I have looked at use a pawl with a staircase like set of notches. When you have the speed where you want it you pull the Cruise Control lever and the nearest notch on the pawl will engage with the hydro linkage and hold it in place. As soon as you push on the hydro control pedal or the brake it disengages. It looks simple, but getting the lever lengths and spring rates correct is not that easy. You need to be able to disengage/ override the CC quickly or it becomes a real hazard. The travel control on the 314/317 has a brake adjustment that sets the amount of drag on the lever so that it will stay put once it's set. That works pretty well but overall I'd rather have 2 hands to steer, especially on a tractor with manual steering.

DH1 · Oct 12, 2013

Both foot and hand would be nice if you could do it that way.

KennyP · Oct 12, 2013

JDBrian said:
Foot controls are great but some sort of cruise control is needed for when you want to maintain a constant speed for long periods of time. On the JD2320 and the X475 I had previously the cruise control was nice to have when pulling a scarifier on the driveway. The systems I have looked at use a pawl with a staircase like set of notches. When you have the speed where you want it you pull the Cruise Control lever and the nearest notch on the pawl will engage with the hydro linkage and hold it in place. As soon as you push on the hydro control pedal or the brake it disengages. It looks simple, but getting the lever lengths and spring rates correct is not that easy. You need to be able to disengage/ override the CC quickly or it becomes a real hazard. The travel control on the 314/317 has a brake adjustment that sets the amount of drag on the lever so that it will stay put once it's set. That works pretty well but overall I'd rather have 2 hands to steer, especially on a tractor with manual steering.

I have something similar in the brake lock parts off the Ford. I'll get pics of it.

Alc · Oct 12, 2013

I'm picturing Keiths idea of a trailer brake magnet would be a easy mod. I would think having a peice of flat stock attached to the linkage with the mag mounted solid it would only need a toggle sw to lock it to the flat stock and keep it there once you set the speed with the foot control . I hope we get see some pics of what it looks like in really life

JDBrian · Oct 12, 2013

Alc said:
I'm picturing Keiths idea of a trailer brake magnet would be a easy mod. I would think having a peice of flat stock attached to the linkage with the mag mounted solid it would only need a toggle sw to lock it to the flat stock and keep it there once you set the speed with the foot control . I hope we get see some pics of what it looks like in really life

I've never seen that but if it's functioning as a magnetic clamp that would be slick!

IamSherwood · Oct 12, 2013

skyrydr2 said:
This is how Toro did it on some of theirhydro rigs.

Any idea which models?

That's an interesting idea. A couple of my MFs have the "creeping hydro lever" ailment.

I've tried several times to adjust the tension.

skyrydr2 · Oct 12, 2013

268h is one. What they do is attach a plate to the control arm so the magnet has something to grab. Then they have a safety switch relay setup to kick it off when the brake is applied.

KennyP · Oct 12, 2013

Here's the Ford brake parts I spoke about earlier:

Might even be able to use that to run the fwd/rev!

olcowhand · Oct 12, 2013

I've been mulling over in my head how to do my friction lock. Maybe on the pedal shaft put a round disc, and just use brake pucks with a quick adjust so I can lessen the friction as needed between foot & hand control. I figure it would need a lighter setting for foot control, but only way to know is to build it & try it. Using electromagnet would work, but more to power & something else to burn out & that would of course be at the worst time.

Foot Pedal Control On The Ff

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