As long as the surface is slick, or soft enough you could leave it in 4×4 all the time..

In 4WD tractors all four wheels are supplied with power from the transmission which leads to less slippage and improves performance. In 4WD tractors front wheels “help” rear wheels to pull tractor forward and thus the rear wheels have better traction and reduced slippage.

The small tractors NEED 4WD because the small tires will dig in and with a front end loader you have so much weight on the front you need traction there. Older tractors are much heavier/horsepower, and will therefore lift heavier implements.

Mechanical Front-Wheel Drive

How to Disengage a Stuck Four-Wheel Drive Line

1. Check to see if you have manual hubs and that they are in “free” mode.
2. Put your vehicle into four-wheel high mode.
3. Drive forward for about a quarter of a mile.
4. Stop the vehicle and shift from four-wheel to two-wheel drive.

The differential lock will slide a pin through the differential, stopping one wheel from spinning while the other has no traction. You get more pulling power by locking both axles together, but you can’t switch the tractor. That’s why you only use the differential lock when it’s necessary.

Center differential lock gives you the ability to lock front and rear axles to divide the engine power (rotational force & rotational speed) equally between both front and rear wheels. This may bit confusing to you.

Locking differentials (generically referred to as “lockers”) can lock the axles together to provide 100% of available torque to the wheel with traction. During turns, a locking differential operates like an open differential – the wheels can rotate at different speeds.

What vehicles have a locking differential? According to Car and Driver, designated off-road vehicles such as the Jeep Wrangler or the Mercedes-Benz G-Class SUVs have the option for a locking differential. Also, the Toyota Tacoma pickup truck has locking differential ability––according to Toyota.

Yes, you can drive a 2wd vehicle on sand. You have to reduce your tire pressure and keep the necessary speed for momentum through out the sand. But there’s a huge probability of getting stuck your 2wd vehicle on sand than a 4wd vehicle.

Limit your speeds to 55 MPH or less or you may damage the transfer case. When to use Low: To maximize both power and traction, you can rely on low-range 4×4 for crawling over rocks, fording creeks, plowing through deep sand, or negotiating steep off-road trails.

All-wheel-drive vehicles which only operate in four-wheel drive when the vehicle senses slip at a wheel are ok for flat sand running. However, if you are going to be travelling long distances in soft sand or trying to scale dunes, you need a permanent four-wheel drive system.